Fort Worth, Texas — February 28, 2020 — Kassie Mowry has yet to find a situation that Epic Guy can’t handle. The now-5-year-old gelding dominated the 2019 futurities, earning more than $280,000 in Equi-Stat reported earnings in his career with Mowry, including a Barrel Futurities of America World Championship and a Better Barrel Races OKC Futurity Championship.
“King” easily transitioned into rodeos in 2020. The Kristen Williams-owned superstar tied for the win at Belton, Texas, pro rodeo and added another rodeo performance win with a 13.724 in the second perf of RFD-TV’s The American Semifinals.
“He felt great. He walked up the alleyway; he waited for me to let him go. Just having a good clean start here is, for me, crucial to have a good first barrel,” Mowry said. “When he waited for me to break and went, I knew he was on, and he was. He felt really, really sharp and clean in all three turns.”
The two-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier and leading futurity horse trainer from Dublin, Texas, won her fair share in 2019—$656,820 in Equi-Stat earnings in 2019 alone—mostly from futurities and slot races. Yet King had never competed in a situation quite like the Semifinals, so Mowry ensured he was adequately prepared to make his debut on one of rodeo’s premier stages.
“He’s never ran in an arena this small before. I did bring him up here to the barrel races, and I hauled him to the rodeo a bit. I also took him to another rodeo so he could run in a performance,” Mowry said. “There was a lot of preparation for this—I didn’t want to just blindside him. I wanted to give him a legitimate shot, because he really is a wonderful horse.”
In Mowry’s and Williams’ eyes, King has nothing left to prove. Showing him off to the world in AT&T Stadium will be an experience they’ll never forget.
“One run at a time. The horse has done more than we’ve ever expected of him, so this is just icing on the cake and just having fun,” Mowry said. “His owner is here with her family, so we are just having a good time with him.”
From the four performances February 27–March 1, the top 10 fastest overall will move on to RFD-TV’s The American at AT&T Stadium from March 7–8, where they will compete against the top 10 from the 2019 Women’s Professional Rodeo Association final world standings for a chance at $1 million.
Click here for qualifying results from the slack and the buy-back rounds. For complete results, performance round schedules and draw for RFD-TV’s The American Semifinals, visit betterbarrelraces.com.
RFD-TV’S THE AMERICAN SEMIFINALS PERFORMANCE TWO RESULTS
Performance Two horse pedigrees
- Kassie Mowry, Epic Guy, 13.724
- Brandon Cullins, A Cornerstone, 13.872
- Sherry Cervi, MP Jet Royal Money, 13.899
- Sabra O’Quinn, Bring It On Guys, 14.017
- Bayleigh Choate, Hail To Be Famous, 14.079
- Brooke Wills, Fames To Blame, 14.214
- Joao Leao, Flobot, 14.215
- Shelby West, Sunsugar Peppy, 14.312
- Carlee Otero, Streakinlikafame, 19.059*
- Tandy Meyers, Streakin Dusty Light, 19.209*
*denotes penalty
