The Road To The World Championship

Event overview

The third qualifying event on the road to the American Rope Horse Association World Championship Futurity was the 2021 Red Bud Spectacular Rope Horse Futurity that took place last week in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  The  event was hosted at the State Fair Park by Jay and Lindsay Wadhams of Phoenix, AZ , in conjunction with the AQHA Red Bud Spectacular. This years event included Open Heading and Heeling Futurities,Non Pro classes, and the Open Calf Roping Futurity. The event was a huge success with over 300 entries and riders taking home $137,300 in prize money. 

Open Futurity Calf Roping

The $7,500 added Open Futurity Calf Roping brought 32 entries to Oklahoma City, all competing for a top payout spot. The short round was a battle between Cody McCartney and Logan Harkey, both bringing multiple horses back to the finals. PRCA Calf Roper, Cody McCartney took the lead on One Busy Fred, by Smart Little Fred and out of One Busy Colonel, owned by Matt McMurry. McCartney took home $6,990 on One Busy Fred, along with an additional $4,800 on his other two horses. Harkey also left the arena with over $7,500 in prize money, finishing second on Sly Spender, by Im Countin Checks and out of Sly Angel, owned by Wyatt Imus. His other two horses, Playmates Blue Blood and Big Smokin Time finished in the top 6. 

Open Heading

The Open Heading had a turnout of 76 horses and a payout of over $42,000. Coming into the short round on four horses was Trevor Brazile, taking the lead in the top two spots on Boom Boom Firecracker and Wnd Affair, owned by Treda LLC. Brazile scored a 230.96 in the finals to win the event on Boom Boom Firecracker, by Firewaterontherocks and out of Taras First Note. He left with a combined total of over $18,000 in the short round. Brad Lund was able to capture the top two spots in the Limited Open on Playmates Blue Blood, owned by Shank Edwards and Chelsi Dickerson, and Seven S Big Easy, owned by John E Taylor.  Also finishing in the money in the Limited Open was Rhett Nelson, Clay Logan, and Dustin Rogers. 

Open Heeling

As always, the Open Heeling was no walk in the park. With 101 of the best performance horses in the nation, the Heeling Champion had to excel consistently above the rest to maintain their spot at the top and have a chance at the $53,500 total payout.  After three tough rounds, Shay Carrol and JKC Hesaplayinrascal, took the win in the short round to crown them the champions. JKC Hesaplayinrascal is a 2015 Bet Hesa Cat out of Play Dual by Freckles Playboy and owned by Shay Carrol. They scored a combined total of 922.09 earning them a four point lead and a check for $8,600. Scoring a 918.38 total and finishing in second place was Joseph Harrison aboard Spinners Little Step, by I Spin For Chicks and out of Megas Little Step. Spinners Little Step is owned by Ivy Jo Hurst. Riders following in the next top five places included Dakota Kirchenschlager, Andy Holcomb, and Cade Rice. Leading the Limited Open was Jason Thomas and Royaletta Playboy owned by Riley and Tori Smith. In second place was Play With Sparks owned by DT Horses LLC and shown by Reno Eddy. 

Non Pro Heading & Heeling

The Non Pro Heading and Heeling had a great turnout with a total of 49 entries. Leading the heading with a combined total score of 667.34 was Haze Bruce and his horse, Webbs Broken Box, by Blue Badger Zan and out of Tristar Lena, taking home $2,200. Coming in close behind on both of his horses was Ryan Day. His two horses both scored a combined total of 661, separated by only 0.4 points to take second and third. Day’s horse Two Red Shooters finished second, followed by Show Me A Rockette. 

In the Heeling, Jack Morris and Travlelin Sly made it out on top with a big lead scoring 688.19 on three. They took home a check for $2,670. Darren Johnson and X My Ich also had three great runs to finish in second place and win $2,225. Both events had a total payout of $19,700.

The American Rope Horse Futurity Association would like to thank all sponsors, competitors, and fans who were able to attend the Red Bud Spectacular Rope Horse Futurity. We look forward to seeing everyone at the Corn Husker Classic Futurity in Lincoln, NE June 19 & 20.