By Michael Mahaffey
The beginning of June brought a wave of heat and severe weather to much of the nation, but turbulent weather did not stop 450 barrel racing teams from heading to Rock Springs, Wyo., June 3-5 to run in the Red Desert Classic.
The event, which took place at the Sweetwater Events Center, featured a payout of more than $41,000 as barrel racers competed in a variety of classes, lead by the Red Desert futurity and derby.
Brenda Seeley and Firewater Breeze Jones claimed the victory in the Red Desert Futurity, scoring an Average time of 31.479 seconds on two runs to top reserve winners Toni Hardin and Karens Lucky Leader by more than two tenths of a second.
The duo started their run to the title with a reserve championship run in the Futurity’s first go round of 15.713 seconds—finishing more than a tenth of a second behind BBR Finals Futurity champions Hayden Selgelke and HPQ Smokin Rascal. The duo ran just a touch slower in the second go, posting a 15.766 second run to place fifth in the round, more than two tenths of a second behind Stacy Maxfield and Leons Law.
Seeley secured $3,135 in paychecks for her performances with Firewater Breeze Jones, which also included the 1D win in the Wyoming-bred Futurity sidepot, as well as an eighth-place 1D check for their Open run on Saturday. She also won Futurity cash with Soxi Chick and Open cash aboard Raw Silver Tonto.
In all, Seeley left the Sweetwater Events Center with $3,410 added to her bank account.
Cami Bauer and Shake Em Dyna earned the Average win in the Red Desert Derby, scoring a time of 31.586 second on two runs. The pair started strong in the first go round, crossing the eye with the round-winning time of 15.487 seconds—the fastest run of any event all weekend.
Bauer played it safe in the second round, taking care to keep all of the barrels up, as she guided Shake Em Dyna to a fifth place finish of 16.099 seconds.
The win brought Bauer a total payday of $1,050, which included $223 for a fifth-place 2D finish in Saturday’s Open race.
AT-A-GLANCE:
Red Desert Classic
When: June 3-5
Where: Sweetwater Events Center in Rock Springs, Wyo.
Entries: 450
Total Payout: $41,576.50
Winners: Futurity Average: 1) Brenda Seeley/ Firewater Breeze Jones/ 31.479/ $1,069; 1st Go: 1) Hayden Segelke/ HPQ Smokin Rascal/ 15.587/ $1,038; 2nd Go: 1) Stacy Maxfield/ Leons Law/ 15.526/ $1,038.
Derby Average: 1) Cami Bauer/ Shake Em Dyna/ 31.586/ $418; 1st Go: 1) Cami Bauer/ Shake Em Dyna/ 15.487/ $409; 2nd Go: 1) Lindsay Diston/ ADH Be A Speck Famus/ 15.732/ $413.
Saturday Open: 1D) Stacy Glause/ Rhythm Warrior/ 15.559/ $581; 2D) Dusdee Shepperson/ HH Famous Willard/ 16.062/ $535; 3D) Debbie Williams/ VF Rock Your World/ 15.559/ $465; 4D) Carolyn Bonser/ Toby/ 17.065/ $419; 5D) Ruth Stevenson/ Sparky/ 17.560/ $326.
Sunday Open: 1D) Shannon Hill/ Jet/ 15.579/ $489; 2D) Carol Peterson/ Tricky/ 16.108/ $449; 3D) Karson Bradley/ Flowergirl Fever/ 16.598/ $391; 4D) Jane Jeffries-Orr/ Freckles Fitz/ 17.080/ $352; 5D) Jeana Allmaras/ Bo/ 17.658/ $274.
Michael Mahaffey is associate editor of Barrel Horse News. E-mail comments on this article to [email protected].
