Top Barrel Racers Kick-Off Competition Featuring A Saturday Evening Event with $75,000 Payout

Friday evening barrel racing draws many of the top names in the sport.

Saturday will see the Futurity starting at noon and the Slot Races with a total prize pool of $75,000 slated to go at 4 pm. The cost of admission is free and the races are being held at the Moose Jaw Exhibition Grounds 250 Thatcher Drive East.

The rains may have been heavy over the past little while but 70 person hours, including a six and a half hour pump out after the last major rain, has left the Bill Gommersall Arena (old Rodeo Grounds) in perfect shape as the top names in barrel racing in Western Canada held their warm-up competition on Monday afternoon.

The inaugural Aurora Wind Feeds/BUCKEYE Nutrition Barrel Futurity Derby and Slot Race is underway.

The event will see $75,000 in total prizes given away in three divisions with the top division winner taking home $10,500 and the other two division winners claiming $7,500 each.

The competition will be fierce with the eventual winner perhaps only claiming the top prize by 1/1000 of a second.

“The futurity is a five years old and under competition and the derby is six and seven years old competition and the derby is a six and seven year old competition. And the slot race is open to any age of horse and any age of rider,” co-organizer Nicole Hicks.

The highlight of the four day event is Saturday afternoon’s slot race which will pay out $10,000 to the top rider in the first of three divisions. The winners of the second and third divisions will receive a top prize of $7,500 each.

The slot race costs riders $500 for each run. The money paid is put into a pot from which the $75,000 in prize money is paid out of. There will be other equine related prizes awarded.

“The slot race is open to any age of horse, any age of rider. It is going to pay $75,000 in total and yeah it is a sweet day in Moose Jaw,” Hicks said.

Charlene Rask gallops between barrel one nd barrel two on Monday afternoon - MJ independent photo

Friday saw 2021 Calgary Stampede barrel racing champion Bertina Olafson from Hudson Bay place fourth in the first division Olafson aboard her horse Frenchman’s Paradise had an 18.415 second run. At this year’s Calgary Stampede Olafson in her debut had a winning time was 17.247 seconds.

Friday’s warm-up event winner was Farrah Fogg aboard Turnpike County with a time of 18.011. Second in the event was e County with a time of 18.011. Second in the event was Nicki Vanderlee aboard Ninja with a time of 18.255. Close behind in third was Taylor Manning riding Little Sexcee Cowboy with a time of 18.261.

Fogg is a big name in the barrel racing circuit in 2021 having a strong run at the Saskatchewan Barrel Racing Association (SBRA) provincial championships recently held in Moose Jaw.

Asked if Fogg’s Friday win was a surprise Hicks said it wasn’t.

“No her horses are really nice and they have been working outstanding all year so it was not a surprise,” she said.

“This is just an intro. What we call a warm-up jackpot. The girls can run and this basically gives them one run before the big show tomorrow.”

Saturday will see the Futurity take place starting at noon and then the competition will roll right into the Slot Race expected to begin at 4 pm.

The slot race will have three divisions. The divisions will be determined based up times with the divisions separated by half a second.

“They all get put into divisions once we know their time. So top time and then half a second later is your second division and then a full second from your top time is your third division” co-organizer Kara Drake said.

Five placings within each division will receive a payout. In the first division the five prizes range from $10,500 to $1,500.

Dana Lovell cuts around a barrel - MJ Independent photo

Friday evening saw 100 entries. There are 150 entries in the slot race and the Futurity Derby will see about 50 entries. Entries are not based upon

Some riders will make extra runs as they have more than one horse they are riding in the competitions.

“We have all ages entered in the slot races. Our youngest competitor would be 11 that will be entered in it and it will go all the way up to our Calgary Stampede champion this year. And we have got some older girls entered…we had three men out here…they are entered in the slot races.”

Although thought of as a women’s sport barrel racing is open to all sexes. The majority of barrel racers in Canada are female.

“You don’t enter it (the Slot Races) if you don’t have a tough horse to be able to win at those times,” Drake said.

Between 100 - 150 people have come to Moose Jaw to be part of the event with the majority camping out at the Moose Jaw Exhibition grounds themselves.

“Absolutely 4 o’clock will be the big show so it will be a good barrel race,” Hicks said adding the public is welcome to come out and see the top barrel racers from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba compete. The cost to attend any of the events including the Saturday main event is FREE and there is a paid concession right at the arena for those who want something to drink and snack on.

The event still to run are:

Saturday September 4th from Noon to finish
Saturday September 4th the main event Slot Races 4 pm to finish
Sunday September 5th from Noon to finish
Sunday September 5th from 4 pm to finish
Monday September 6th from 10 am to finish

All events are FREE to attend and there is plenty of bleacher type seating.

Taylor Manning approaches a barrel in preparation to make a turn - MJ Independent photo

Both Hicks and Drake would like to express their appreciation to their two sponsors - Aurora Wind Feeds and Buckeye Feeds and Visit Moose Jaw.

The major sponsor the Canadian distributor of Aurora Wind Feeds will be traveling from Ontario to attend Saturday’s Slot Races.

“She sells feed all over Canada and she has gotten huge into sponsoring the barrel racing world this year and she has been super generous and her name has come up at pretty well every barrel race that has happened this year as a major sponsor. We are so grateful to her.”