Money talks, and that was certainly apparent at the 2015 Big Barrel Blow Out, which took place March 26–29 at Twin Lakes Covered Arena and Training Center in Fairfield, Texas. One highlight of the speed-filled weekend was a $5,000-added Paint Barrel Racing Incentive Program race that drew 92 Paints to the Central Texas event.
Regular Registry and Solid Paint-Bred horses ran together in this PBRIP-sponsored event, competing for a cut of the $5,000 5D purse.
Taking top honors was A Kool Talent and Katelyn Scott of Odessa, Texas, who navigated the cloverleaf in a smoking 15.436 time. The duo was one of five teams who clocked sub-16-second times in the 1D PBRIP race; the others included:
– Trudy Holloway and Genuine Doc Barjet, a 2001 sorrel tobiano gelding (15.445)
– Morgan Breaux and SS Streakers R U, a 2002 brown solid gelding (15.659)
– Kristi Tuinei and Razors Slick Chick, a (15.807)
– Brittany Ellis on Dry Docs Star (15.861)
Katelyn’s win, which was worth nearly $1,400 in the PBRIP race, came aboard a horse owned by her sister, Lorissa Merritt of Thorndale, Texas. Lorissa purchased “Tally” in April 2014, and Katelyn says she’s been riding the mare since about September. In January, Katelyn and Tally won the Better Barrel Races-sanctioned qualifier for The American Rodeo at the PacWest 3 Drum Classic in Buckeye, Arizona.
“The run felt great,” Katelyn said about her PBRIP winning ride. “I ran her last night, and she did pretty well; I came back today and ran her harder to my first and pushed her harder across the pen to my second. She had a better second and third today.”
A little sisterly love is the reason Katelyn and Tally even participated in the PBRIP race—Lorissa had seen the PBRIP program and $5,000-added race advertised at a Twin Lakes event she attended previously, and she made sure herself and her sister both signed up for the program.
“My sister saw it at the Twin Lakes Arena, and she had me get my card,” Katelyn said. “I think it’s a great program. It’s another opportunity to show Paint horses and their talent—and there are a lot of Paints out there. As long as I have the mare, I’ll be showing up at these PBRIP races!”
At the conclusion of the PBRIP race, APHA’s year-end PBRIP awards were presented to winners—that included the headline presentation, one year’s use of a Hart Short-Go Series Trailer to Teresa Watson as the top PBRIP point-earner for 2014 aboard her Paint, Nates Skipster. More info about the year-end results can be found here or on pbrip.com; check out our photo album from the event on APHA’s Facebook page. Check out PBRIP.com to learn more about this great program for Paint barrel horses and how you can start earning cash rewards just for running your Paint.
Following are the payout results of the PBRIP race at the Big Barrel Blow-Out; times were eligible for roll-over into the Open 5D race, and full results are available on the Twin Lakes Arena website—just click on “Blow Out Results” on the homepage.
1D
- A Kool Talent/Katelyn Scott—15.436 for $1,371
- Genuine Doc Barjet/Trudy Holloway—15.445 for $822.60
- SS Streakers R Us/Morgan Breaux—15.659 for 548.40
2D
- Wins For Fun/Gina Cox—16.040 for $1,142.50
- Docs Sonny Fashion/Abbey Garner—16.052 for $685.50
- Diamond Stinger/Diane Wright—16.130 for $457
3D
- Skippy Charlene/Ginger Fuchs—16.458 for $914
- Imagesoffireontherock/Royena Clifton—16.491 for $548.40
- Jameen Double Dee/Dina Allred—16.554 for $365.60
4D
- Twomcolonelshadowbaby/Aubrey Hollifield—16.995 for $685.50
- Rockin Carlito Babe/Elizabeth Rose—17.038 for $411.30
- Maggiesfastimeluna/Michelle Donaldson—17.143 for $274.20
5D
- Libertys Second Comin/Lauren Webb—17.467 for $457
- Gonnagetluckytonight/Kathy Warren—17.479 for $274.20
- Lacees Lil Ms/Ty Reynolds—17.559 for $182.80
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[Reprinting all or part of this news release is permitted, so long as credit is given to Flash and a link provided back to myflashyride.com]
About Flash
Flash is an annual publication produced by the American Paint Horse Association that celebrates Paint Horses excelling in timed events—racing, barrel racing, roping, shooting and sorting/penning—along with the people who love them. Check out our free digital magazine at MyFlashyRide.com or pick up a printed copy of Flash at major events across the country. And check MyFlashyRide.com/news often for the latest news about fast, flashy Paints.