The Barrel Futurities of America World Championship rolls into Guthrie, Oklahoma, at the Lazy E Arena from November 11–19, 2022, where next year’s crop of hopefuls make their long-awaited debuts and the superstar futurity and derby horses you’ve watched all year long battle it out for world title honors.

Check back here with Barrel Horse News magazine and follow along on social media @BarrelHorseNews for 2022 BFA World Championship live updates, results, stories, videos from our friends at 3-2-1 Action Video, and more from barrel racing’s capstone futurity.

—> Read more: BFA All-Time Leaders

View official BFA schedule, draws and more at BFAworld.com/finals.

By Blanche Schaefer

Kassie Mowry Wins BFA World Championship Futurity and Reserve Championship

Kassie Mowry turns the first barrel
Kassie Mowry won the 2022 BFA World Championship Futurity on board 2018 gelding Force The Goodbye (The Goodbye Lane x VF Forcit First x Burrs First Down) with a 15.303 qualifying time and a 15.486 in the finals, averaging 30.789 to earn $38,281 for owner and Mowry’s fiance Michael Boone. Photo by Kenneth Springer

NOVEMBER 19, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — With four horses in the 2022 BFA World Championship Futurity Finals field of 50, by numbers alone Kassie Mowry stood the best chance to take home a title. Add in Mowry’s $5 million in career EquiStat earnings, five overall titles at the BFA with one being the Futurity, and a combined $822,815 in 2022 earnings alone on the futurity horses she qualified to the short go, it’s safe to say most bet their money on the EquiStat all-time winningest barrel racer to take it all at the 2022 BFA World Championship Futurity. And take it all she did.

Mowry won the BFA World Championship Futurity on Force The Goodbye for $38,281 and finished reserve on Sir Epic for $26,603 to put a cap on another record-breaking year for the Dublin, Texas-based trainer.

“We laid it all out. I came into it knowing this was it for us. I hated that they don’t get a chance to run at Oklahoma City [Futurity in December], because they did so good there [last year as juveniles], and I do love that futurity. I was like, ‘This is it, guys, we have to let it all hang out,’” said Mowry, who heads to her third Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December. “They really stepped up to the plate and delivered and did everything that was asked of them. It’s such an incredible ending to such a fun futurity year.”
 
Force The Goodbye entered the Futurity Finals with the fastest qualifying time of Mowry’s group of four finalists, a 15.303 to win the second round. The 2018 gelding, by The Goodbye Lane and out of VF Forcit First by Burrs First Down, owned by Mowry’s fiancé Michael Boone, took care of business in the Finals with a solid 15.486 from draw position No. 20. His average of 30.789 held throughout the remaining 30 horses to earn “Jarvis” the BFA World Championship Futurity title.
 
Jarvis has earned over $300,000 his futurity year, and Mowry says the young gelding’s greatest quality is his mind.
 
“You just can’t shake him. He’s the same, and he doesn’t get rattled by anything. He’s not the biggest runner, and he always gives me extra room. He really does not want to hit a barrel — I can now say we didn’t hit a single barrel all year,” said Mowry, who plans to have Jarvis on her trailer for the NFR as an option in her rodeo horse Famous Ladies Man’s absence due to injury. “He won’t cut corners, but that’s also a great attribute. [Taking him to the NFR] sounds crazy, but if there was a colt that could handle it, it would be him.”
 
Sir Epic, who has shown time and again his ability to shut the clock off but hasn’t had the spotlight in 2022 like KL Touch Of Heaven and Jarvis, proved he wanted a piece of the pie, too. The 2018 gelding by JL Sirocco and out of So Very Epic by Epic Leader entered the finals with a 15.352 qualifying time from a third-place first-round run. He backed it up with a 15.471 in the Futurity Finals to average 30.823 for the BFA World Championship Futurity reserve title and $26,603.
 
Mowry says “Sir’s” performance at the BFA is a huge accomplishment, because the big leggy gray was a slower-maturing colt, even with over $143,000 won so far before the BFA.
 
“This one is the star athlete of the group. He can really run,” Mowry said. “It’s always nice when they finish the year stronger than they start out. That’s what you want as a trainer to set them up for their career. I’m really glad he grew and handled all of it. We never put more pressure on him, because we felt it wasn’t in his best interest. He was well-managed and showed what he can do. I’m really thrilled for him, because he’s a good solid horse now with a big future.”
 
Owned by Dave and Lori Zabel, Sir was bred by Mowry’s longtime friend and EquiStat leading breeder Karma Loftin and purchased by the Zabels as a yearling. Dave says witnessing Sir’s development into an elite athlete has been exciting.
 
“Just to slowly see his progression — every futurity he just got better and stronger. We knew we really had something. We’re pretty proud of him,” Dave said.
 
Mowry’s other Loftin-bred standout KL Touch Of Heaven (JL Dash Ta Heaven x Junior Country Girl x Deep Note Jr), whose 2022 earnings are over $372,000, also placed in the Futurity average after a 15.810 qualifying time and a 15.616 in the Finals. For Mowry, a strong finish at the BFA is the perfect ending to a storied futurity year with a special group of horses.
 
“They’ve been such fun horses to haul. They get along so well, they’re nice to be around, they have fun personalities. I’m way more attached to them than I should be! They try so hard, and you’ve just got to give it to them when they do that,” Mowry said. “I’ve known them since they were literally babies. I knew the day they were born and saw them when they were just little guys. We bought Jarvis when he was a weanling, so I’ve been a part of all of them from the ground up. It’s been such a fun process.”

Jolene Montgomery Clinches BFA Derby World Championship

License To Kill 2022 BFA Derby win photo
Jolene Montgomery won the 2022 BFA World Championship Derby on 2016 mare License to Kill (JL Dash Ta Heaven x Buggin To Kill x Flit To Kill) with two times of 15.389 and 15.314, worth $8,105 for owner Mattie (Little) Jackson. Photo by Kenneth Springer

NOVEMBER 19, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — Jolene Montgomery added BFA World Championship title No. 5 to her extensive resume with a dominating performance on License To Kill in an incredibly salty BFA Derby Finals.
 
Montgomery and “Cersei,” a 2016 mare by JL Dash Ta Heaven and out of Buggin To Kill by Flit To Kill, owned by Mattie (Little) Jackson, entered the Derby Finals with the third-fastest qualifying time, a 15.389 from a second-place run in the second round.
 
The duo was the picture of not only consistency but speed, clocking a 15.314 in the short go to clinch the BFA World Championship Derby with an average of 30.703, worth $8,105.
 
“She’s just an amazing athlete. The way she leaves the first barrel is insanely fast; you can feel it,” said the EquiStat earner of more than $2.5 million. “She’s so quick-footed. She’ll get her head up sometimes at the second and the third she’ll loop it, but her daddy did the same thing. The thing is, they just never slow down, so it’s still fast.”
 
Cersei’s family connections run deep for Montgomery, who trained and campaigned Cersei’s sire JL Dash Ta Heaven while working for Jackson’s father, the late great EquiStat All-Time Leading Breeder Jud Little. She has ridden many of the stallion’s offspring to much success. She says Cersei hasn’t been easy, but between Montgomery and Jackson, the two have worked slow and steady to bring out consistent winning runs on the mare.
 
“Phil Haugen broke her, and we both had a few choice words for her at first — she was named Cersei from Game Of Thrones for a reason,” Montgomery said with a laugh. “She won a little early in her futurity year, but it was sporadic. She’d get wound up and get an attitude, but she clocked up really good a few times and then was all over the place. Mattie took her home after Fort Smith her futurity year and slowed her back down, kept working her and kept her easy. Mattie has sent her back to me for each BFA and Fort Smith since then and kept her going. She’s gotten better every time. Now a year and a half later, Mattie is winning on her too, and I was lucky enough to get to ride her for this one.”
 
Montgomery has won two BFA Juvenile titles and two BFA Futurity titles in her career. 2022 marks her first BFA Derby title. She says it’s special for everything to come full circle — she won her first BFA championship in the Futurity in 2007 while working for Little’s program.
 
“It’s really, really special. She’s out of Mattie’s good rodeo mare, and Mattie raised her and loved her,” Montgomery said. “I worked for Jud for four and a half years, and Mattie and I always got along at the ranch, so it’s been really fun to stay connected and end up riding with her. Mattie is just great, down-to-earth, fun and appreciative, and I’m very appreciative she lets me keep running her horse.”

Pete Oen Earns BFA Juvenile World Championship, First Career BFA Title

man standing with horse at barrel
Pete Oen and 2019 mare Streak Gypsy Streak (A Streak Of Fling x Hip Swingin Gypsy x Firewaterontherocks) won the 2022 BFA World Championship Juvenile for $9,383 with two times of 15.599 and 15.912 for owner Angela Richardson. Photo by Kenneth Springer

NOVEMBER 18, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — Pete Oen has multiple American Quarter Horse Association world titles to his name, countless futurity wins and a resume a mile long, but one of the only accomplishments missing was a Barrel Futurities of America World Championship. On Friday night in an exciting second round of juvenile competition, Streak Gypsy Streak brought a BFA world title home for Oen and owner Angela Richardson, clinching the BFA World Championship Juvenile average for $9,383.

“This is my first BFA title. It’s a bucket-list deal. It’s one of those things I’ve always dreamed of and desired to hopefully do,” Oen said. “For it to be the 3-year-old juvenile class, it means even more because it means I have the most ready 3-year-old; the best so far. I’m proud of that more than anything.”

The 2019 mare by A Streak Of Fling and out of one of Oen’s biggest futurity earners Hip Swingin Gypsy by Firewaterontherocks certainly looked like one of the best 3-year-olds of the week across three runs. She started with a 15.833 in the Super Stakes slot race to earn $15,000 for fourth. The mare was electric in the first round of the juvenile with a 15.599 for second and $4,972, and Oen’s smart riding in the second round resulted in a 15.912 for eighth and $1,773. Her average of 31.511 netted $9,383, narrowly defeating BFA Juvenile Reserve World Champion Brian Wheeler’s 31.553 on SBW Feelin The Pressure (No Pressure On Me x Feelinthefirewater x Heavenly Firewater), who won the second round in 15.570.

Oen and Streak Gypsy Streak also topped the Future Fortunes Juvenile Sires Slot for $40,000 as well as the BFA Juvenile Sale Stakes side-pot for $3,168.

“After I watched my slot race run, I thought I went chicken to the first barrel. I told myself I’d run her harder to the first barrel in the first go-round and let her work as good as I thought she could. She ran pretty correct overall; she’s one-two-three, not a lot of fancy work in between. I was a little shocked to see a 15.5,” Oen said. “My plan for the second round was to make as fast and solid of a run as I could and not try to run her in over her head, because they’re just 3-year-olds. I told myself not to push her past her limits — you’ve trained her and you know what her limits are at this age.”

Pete Oen turning the first barrel
Pete Oen’s 2022 BFA Juvenile champion mare Streak Gypsy Streak earned $34,296 in BFA money and banked $40,000 for winning the Future Fortunes Juvenile Sires Slot. Photo by Kenneth Springer

Streak Gypsy Streak handled the pressure of three runs at her first futurity, a trait that Oen says comes from her dam Hip Swingin Gypsy, whom he ran and futuritied to over $100,000 in earnings.

“Her mother was similar in that the more I asked of her, the more she gave, and the more serious she got about her job. This mare, I don’t know how she understands our communication, but when it’s important, she’s got this,” Oen said. “I don’t know if she likes the lights or the noise, but she’s very similar when it comes to adding the pressure. It’s cool that [Hip Swingin Gypsy] is throwing that in these colts, and she’s been bred to several different stallions and they’re all making barrel horses. She is the first mare I’ve actually gotten to ride foals out of, and they’re all 1D horses. There was just a flair that mare had, this swagger about her.”

Surprisingly, a few months ago Streak Gypsy Streak was not Oen’s No. 1 pick out of his group of 2023 hopefuls before the October 1 deadline for the Super Stakes. However, a chain of misfortune for his other colts thrust her into the starting position on the roster, and she stepped up when it counted.

“In the beginning, she was No. 2 or 3 of choices to even be my slot horse, and by self-elimination she became No. 1,” Oen explained. “I had a horse of my own that would have been my slot horse, but he got hurt. I had another filly the Richardsons owned that we were debating which one, and then she hurt her knee, so she’s out too. They self-eliminated themselves, and she was the next ready one. It always works out and happens for a reason.”

He thanked the Richardsons as well as his sponsors Outlaw Equine Hospital and Rehab Center, Equi-Resp, MVP, Burns Saddlery, Bluebonnet Feed & Supply, Best Ever Pads, B-Free of Flies, Fulton Ranch, Iconoclast Sports Boots, Shorty’s Caboy Hattery and Schoneberg Performance Bits.

Kassie Mowry Takes Second Round of BFA Futurity and Makes Four Back to Finals, Futurity Finalists Set For Saturday

girl running out of arena from third barrel
Kassie Mowry runs LK She Famous in the 2022 BFA World Championship Futurity first go-round. Photo by Blanche Schaefer

NOVEMBER 18, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — Kassie Mowry has mastered the art of juggling multiple horses in high-pressure situations, and once again the EquiStat all-time leading barrel racer finds herself in familiar territory with four horses qualified back to the top 50 of the BFA World Championship Futurity finals — Force The Goodbye, KL Touch Of Heaven, Sir Epic, and LK She Famous, a first-time competitor beginning her 5-year-old futurity year.

“With everything being so far away, and I’m as far away as you could possibly get from the arena, it’ll be a struggle. A couple people said they could help, but it’s just hard handing my horses off to people, especially [LK She Famous] since it’s the first futurity she’s ever been to,” said the earner of more than $5 million. “A couple of them don’t need a whole lot of warmup and a couple of them do, so I’ll try to get on them earlier in the day so they’ll be more comfortable and won’t take as much when it gets closer to [the Finals]. I don’t do a ton of warmup on mine — I pretty much ask for their attention right away, so they’re used to getting right from the start.”

Leading the pack is Force The Goodbye, who clocked a convincing 15.303 to win the second go-round of the BFA Futurity for owner and Mowry’s fiance Michael Boone, banking $4,515. “Jarvis” has had an outstanding week at the BFA, clocking a 15.347 to place second in the first round for $3,197. The 4-year-old gelding by The Goodbye Lane and out of VF Forcit First by Burrs First Down started his career here at the BFA a year ago with second-place Super Stakes finish and a first-round BFA Juvenile win, and he’s gone on to win well over $200,000 his futurity year.

Sir Epic comes in with the second-fastest time of Mowry’s group, posting a 15.352 to finish third in the first round. The Dave and Lori Zabel-owned gelding by JL Sirocco and out of So Very Epic by Epic Leader didn’t run in the second round as Mowry elected to turn him out due to draw position and the strength of his first-round time.

Mowry’s biggest winner of the 2022 futurity season, her own gelding KL Touch Of Heaven (JL Dash Ta Heaven x Junior Country Girl x Deep Note Jr), enters the Finals with a 15.810 from the first round. The Mowry-owned mare LK She Famous (Dash Ta Fame x LK Shezapeasadinero x PC Frenchmans Hayday) comes in with a 15.771 from the second round. Mowry had the big picture in mind when determining whether or not to run again in the second round the horses that qualified for the Finals in the first round.

“Force The Goodbye was in the Future Fortunes Round and had a better draw, so I ran him in the second round to see if we could get closer to [Pete Oen’s 15.172 qualifying time and fastest of the futurity]. We couldn’t catch it, but he got me closer, and that all matters for the Finals,” Mowry said of the BFA Finals format, which determines the champion based on fastest go-round time and Finals time. “We left ‘Sir’ with the time he had, and then I did try to get a better run on KL Touch Of Heaven, and he did much better but we caught the second barrel. He felt way better and I feel I got him set up better at least.”

A BFA World Championship Futurity win would mark the second BFA Futurity title for Mowry, who won the 2019 event on Epic Guy. With her third trip to Las Vegas for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo looming, the BFA is her last futurity of the year for the 2022 group. The career futurity trainer says it’s important to her for the futurity horses to finish the year strong.

“They’re trained, they’re solid, and it’s a lot of fun now. I try to send them in there and stay out of their way when they don’t need me, and if they need a little help I try to be there for them. Really, I don’t make a plan, I’m just going to let them go. It’s the last futurity they get to go to; this is it for them. We’re just going to try our best and see where we end up,” Mowry said.

Pete Oen enters the Futurity Finals with the fastest time by nearly a full two-tenths, a 15.172 to win the first round on DR Famous Legacy (Famous Bugs x Bars Sweet Legacy x Rare Bar) for owners Travis and Johnna Dobbs. Scroll down for the story on Oen and DR Famous Legacy’s return from injury.

The top 50 overall times from both rounds of the Futurity return Saturday at 1 p.m. for the finals, as well as the top five in the Junior/Youth Futurity and Amateur Futurity. Find draws for the Futurity Finals here.

Jodee Miller Smokes Second Round of BFA Derby

NOVEMBER 18, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — As one of the last runners to go in the second round of the BFA Derby, Jodee Miller and her 2021 Old Fort Days Futurity champion gelding M R Smashed In Vegas (French Streaktovegas x Jamaka Smash x Big Smash) clocked a 15.346 to win the round, worth $1,981. The top three was as tough a race as it can get — second place went to Jolene Montgomery on board License To Kill with a 15.389, and third saw Ashley Schafer and Born On Derby Day clock a 15.391.

The top 20 overall times from both rounds of the Derby return Saturday at 1 p.m. for the finals, as well as the top five in the Junior/Youth Derby and Amateur Derby.

Find draws for the Derby finals here.

Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi Wins First Round of BFA Juvenile

NOVEMBER 16, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — With a blazing 15.488, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi laid claim to the first go-round of the BFA Juvenile Futurity, earning $7,024. She rode 3-year-old homebred and -trained mare Tres Chasin Babe PZ, now owned by Teton Ridge, by Tres Seis and out of her National Finals Rodeo-qualifying mare Babe On The Chase, out of Tonozzi’s blue-hen producer Streakin Six Babe.

The Tres Seis cross on mares from the Tonozzis’ EquiStat leading breeding program peppered the results of the BFA Juvenile and Super Stakes, with Ashley Schafer riding the Kelly Tovar-owned and Tonozzi-bred 3-year-old full brother Seis On The Chase to a 1D time of 16.250. Tonozzi also jockeyed Chitichiti Bangbang, a 2019 mare by Tres Seis and out of her standard-pattern American record-holder Kisskiss Bangbang by Dash Ta Fame, to a respectable 16.359 earlier this week in the Super Stakes slot race.

Austyn Tobey Tops First Round of BFA Derby

NOVEMBER 16, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — Austyn Tobey and Design In Red are no strangers to the winner’s circle, from futurities to derbies to rodeos. The two finished third in the 2020 BFA World Championship Futurity and came out on top at the Lazy E once again in the Derby, this time posting a 15.360 to win the first round of the BFA Derby for $1,981.

blonde girl standing with sorrel horse
Austyn Tobey rode her 6-year-old mare Design In Red (Slick By Design x RC Back In Black x Ninety Nine Goldmine) to a 15.360 to win the first go of the BFA Derby for $1,981. Photo by Kailey Sullins

Tobey, who has been busy pro rodeoing as of late, says it hasn’t always been easy to ride the 6-year-old mare. You wouldn’t know it looking at the EquiStat report of over $45,000 they’ve won as a team since Tobey purchased Design In Red as a 4-year-old from National Finals Rodeo-qualifying mother-daughter duo and Tobey’s longtime mentors and friends Jane Melby and Cayla (Melby) Small.

“At first it was a bit of a struggle, but once we got over the beginning, we’ve clicked since Day One. It’s taken me a long time to figure out. She’s ratey, she has her own style, and it was hard to get on her after riding other horses,” Tobey said. “I won two rounds at the Great Lakes Circuit Finals this past weekend and ended up second in the average, so my plan [for the BFA] was to continue to do what I did there, and obviously ride hard.”

The Bemidji, Minnesota, barrel racer grew up near the Melbys and credits the family as a large part of her success. Design In Red is by NFR qualifier and sire Slick By Design and out of Jane’s NFR mare RC Back In Black by Ninety Nine Goldmine.

“They’re who taught me how to ride. I grew up an hour from their house, so I went there most days after school,” Tobey said. “Cayla and her husband raised my mares. They helped me more than anything. I talk to them every day, every time I’m gone. They know a lot.”

She says one reason she meshes so well with horses from Cayla’s program are their complementary, yet different, styles of riding.

“I ride really well behind Cayla. She likes perfection; I like to go fast,” Tobey said with a laugh. “She gets them going perfectly and ready to go as fast as I can go!”

BFA First-Timer Ashley Peterson Wins $100,000 SuperStakes Slot Race

NOVEMBER 15, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — “Who was that? Who’s Ashley Peterson?” bounced around the packed stands in the Lazy E Arena after draw No. 20 in the SuperStakes slot race exited the arena to the tune of a 15.633 to take the lead for the $100,000 paycheck. As 40 more 3-year-olds made the first runs of their lives for riders hoping for a piece of the hefty payout, several came close but none could outgun Aint Seen A Love Man and first-time Barrel Futurities of America competitor Ashley Peterson.

“It was unreal. It brought tears to my eyes,” Peterson said after an emotional evening claiming her first $100,000 big check. “I told myself to keep it together, just to ride him — he’s the kind of horse that if you don’t give 100%, he’s going to tip a barrel. I told myself to kick a lot, and I honestly don’t remember much of what happened besides running up the alleyway and running home.”

The Wisconsin barrel racer, who works full time as a dental hygienist, shared the special evening with her young daughter and her mother. Peterson bred and raised “Petey,” by Aint Seen Nothin Yet and out of her former rodeo mare Love Mans Darling, a 2006 cow- and foundation-bred mare by The Love Man (Meradas Money Talks x Lovie Lena x Doc Olena) and out of Darlin Dun It (Hollywood Dun It x Colonel C Hermosa x Colonel Clout).

“I bought his mom as a 4-year-old, and she’s 16 now. I rodeoed on her, made Great Lakes Circuit Finals five times and the RAM National Circuit Finals on her. She actually won a couple [open] slot races and was a really solid horse. I’ve got a couple babies out of her now, and he’s the first one to run. She’ll never leave my place,” Peterson said.

Ashley Peterson standing with her horse
Wisconsin dental hygienist Ashley Peterson won $100,000 for winning the 2022 BFA SuperStakes slot race on homegrown 2019 gelding Aint Seen A Love Man (Aint Seen Nothin Yet x Love Mans Darling x The Love Man) with a 15.633. Photo by Blanche Schaefer

As Petey’s training progressed through summer and fall, Peterson discussed with her husband that they needed to take the chance and try to find a slot for the BFA.

“He’s the most natural horse I’ve ever been on. A lot like his mama. I had a local girl put 60 days on him, got a good solid foundation, and then I took him from there,” Peterson said. “I hauled him all summer, added speed as we went, and he never told me he couldn’t do it. The last three weeks, he really stepped it up. He started running times in arenas that were out-running what his mom used to run, and I was like, ‘OK, we’re on the right track.’ It all came together at the right time.”

While Peterson is no stranger to barrel racing, this year is her first time attending the BFA and her first SuperStakes entry. The experience is one she won’t soon forget, and it’s safe to say her name won’t soon be forgotten either, cemented in SuperStakes history.

“I work full time as a dental hygienist, so horses are just a fun hobby. It’s just crazy. I never, ever thought we’d win. I just thought it’d be fun to come here and experience it. You enter thinking you have a chance to win, but you never expect it,” Peterson said. “I want to thank my family, husband, my mom, and a couple close friends who’ve helped me keep my brain together. Lacey Shortt has been my best ally the last few weeks, telling me I’m here for a reason, because it’s a lot of pressure. You hear everyone’s names, the best trainers in the world, and you don’t ever think you can compete with them, and you can.”

2022 BFA SuperStakes Top Five
  1. Ashley Peterson, Aint Seen A Love Man, 15.633, $100,000
  2. Kelly Bowser, Quarento Tres, 15.639, $35,000
  3. Ceri McCaffery Ward, Sugarcoated Sunshine, $23,000
  4. Pete Oen, Streak Gypsy Streak, 15.833, $15,000
  5. Kylie Weast, Corona Sudden Fling, 15.871, $14,000

Find full results from the SuperStakes here.

Pete Oen Dominates First Round of BFA World Championship Futurity

NOVEMBER 15, 2022 — GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA — DR Famous Legacy left little doubt that he was back and ready to catch up on what he’s missed after being out with injury most of the year. The 4-year-old gelding expertly trained and piloted by $1.5 million rider Pete Oen topped the first round of the BFA World Championship Futurity by two-tenths, clocking a 15.172 to bank $4,616 on behalf of owners Travis and Johnna Dobbs.

“He runs real tight to the first, and when he ducks back, you better hang on. When he turns the barrel and goes forward, I feel like he’s pulling the saddle horn right out of my hands. He shoots down and straight, so he’s very quick and powerful,” Oen said. “He was my slot horse here last year, and he got hurt in the slot race and was out all year for a solid nine months. The Ardmore Futurity end of September was his first futurity back since the BFA last year. He won a little over $40,000 at Ardmore, and since then I’ve only ran him one other time and then the two exhibitions.”

DR Famous Legacy has been in the Oklahoma-based futurity trainer’s program since he left the colt breaker as a 2-year-old. The gelding stayed with Oen throughout the process of rehabbing the injury and resulting fallout from so much treatment.

“Before the BFA last year, I told several people this is the best horse I’ve ever trained. When he got hurt, I was devastated. He went through a lot of MRIs, several injections, we did a partial bone scan on him. It was a lot; we did everything we could,” said Oen, who uses Dr. Josh Harvey, DVM, of Outlaw Equine. “With all the work that was done, he ended up with EPM from all the stress. We did the blood test, and he was off the charts. He was in the 80-90 percentiles. We treated him for EPM, and that was the last thing we did that brought him back to life.”

The gelding by Famous Bugs is out of 2013 American Quarter Horse Association World Champion mare Bars Sweet Legacy, by Rare Bar and out of Sheeza Cash Legacy by Cash Legacy. Oen actually rode the dam and says DR Famous Legacy strongly takes after his mother.

“I didn’t train her, but I got the opportunity to ride the mother long before he was ever on this earth. I qualified her for the AQHA World Championship Show, and Chad Crider the world on her,” Oen said. “It’s a very similar style — bay, head-down, just run in tight, hit a spot and go the other way. Not bendy or wrappy horses, just drag that hock, stop and go the other way. He’s very similar to his mother’s style and looks a lot like her, too.”

As Oen heads into the Futurity Finals with DR Famous Legacy, he doesn’t plan to change much about approaching the run. He also added thanks to the Dobbs, who are longtime clients.

“He naturally runs on his own, so you just sit still and that sucker hauls it. So just give me that run one more time!” Oen said with a laugh. “And the Dobbs are great owners. They are literally like, ‘He’s yours, do what you want, send us the bill.’ Those are the owners that you can have the most success with. They are fantastic.”

Find full results from the first round of the 2022 BFA World Championship Futurity here.

Author

Blanche Schaefer is an avid barrel racer and managing editor of Barrel Horse News. Email comments or questions to [email protected]

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