Devon Brown gambled on the opportunity to partake in the inaugural Rookie Ruby class at the 2024 Ruby Buckle Central race in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and walked out with over $22,000 in her pockets for the barrel racing gamble thanks to one horse, IKnow Im Blazin Fast.
Brown rode IKnow Im Blazin Fast, a 2016 gelding by Blazin Jetolena and out of IKnow SheKnows I Know by Tres Seis who went 16.805 seconds to win Round 1, and 16.854 to win Round 2 of the inaugural Rookie Ruby.
“I knew he had the speed but didn’t know he was going to be that fast (in Round 1),” Brown said. “We don’t run on standard patterns very often, but his fastest time before this was a 17.2 at (Pink Buckle in October 2023), so he definitely surprised me.”
The inaugural Rookie Ruby class was open to both athletes competing at their first Ruby Buckle event, and horses that had missed nominations to Ruby Buckle before their 4-year-old year and took advantage of the opportunity to enroll their horse in 2024. First-time Ruby riders could compete in the Futurity or Derby if the horse had previously been paid in and roll to the Rookie Ruby, but horses paid in for the first-time were only eligible for the Rookie Ruby, Youth, Open classes and sidepots like the sale graduate or owner/rider.
On top of the $4,740 Brown earned for herself as the owner, $593 for breeders Cody & Renae Smith and $593 for Blazin Jetolena in each round of the $164,000 guaranteed Rookie Ruby, she rolled her times to the $100,000 owner/rider sidepot to win the first round and place deep in the second, plus placed in both rounds of the $600,000 Open and finished third in the aggregate behind the storied teams of Michelle Alley aboard Lipstick N Stilletos and Danyelle Campbell on Return Of The Mac for a total of $22,270 to herself, plus $2,786 each for the Smiths and Blazin Jetolena.
“I missed the opportunity to nominate Otis the first time around because I misunderstood the rules,” Brown said. “When I heard they gave us an option, I jumped on the opportunity. I am so appreciative that Ruby Buckle decided to do this.”
Brown purchased Otis in 2019 from Renea and Cody Smith. After four months with Audra Masterson, Brown took over the barrel training to prepare the gelding for 5-year-old futurities.
“He’s continually gotten better over the last three years,” Brown said. “In the last year or so, he’s really started to come on and run in the 1D consistently. He’s so easy to run and a ton of fun overall.”
Weekend playdays and local speed event shows with a family friend opened the gateway for Brown into the horse world. Her parents didn’t come from a horse background.
“My parents had no idea what they were getting themselves into,” Brown said. “I was about 10 years old when I got into speed events at the playdays, then a few years later I started getting into barrel racing. I has a couple of great horses that taught me a lot.”
Barrel racing provides a change of pace from Brown’s work life. She works as a pharmacy technician at her family’s pharmacy and aids in running the business.
