Kassie Mowry authored one of the most complete and disciplined National Finals Rodeo performances in modern barrel racing history to secure her second WPRA World Championship.
Mowry finished the 2025 season with more than $403,000 in earnings, including $200,481 won at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, successfully defending the No. 1 position she carried into Las Vegas across 10 rounds inside the Thomas & Mack Center.
Over the course of the Finals, Mowry placed in or won seven of 10 rounds while riding two horses, becoming the first barrel racer to win go-rounds on multiple horses at the same NFR since Janet Stover accomplished the feat in 1990. She finished fourth in the average and recorded just one hit barrel for the entire week, underscoring a Finals built on execution, adaptability, and restraint.
Mowry rode CP He Will Be Epic (“Will”) and Heavens Got Credit (“Cornbread”), owned by Mindy Holloway, managing two vastly different horses while navigating evolving ground conditions and the cumulative pressure of a world title race.
Her Finals began with authority. Drawing first in Round 1, Mowry and Will delivered a go-round win that immediately set the tone for the week.
“Will is Mr. Dependable,” Mowry said. “I knew who he was coming in here, and that gave me a lot of comfort.”
Midway through the event, Mowry expanded her approach — and her comfort zone. Round 5 marked the first time she had ever competed Cornbread inside the Thomas & Mack Center, a deliberate decision that required her to adapt her riding style on the sport’s biggest stage. Mowry was unable to bring her former Horse of the Year and the one that carried her to World Championship No. 1, Force The Goodbye, and Cornbread came along to support Will in Las Vegas.
“I’m not a jump jockey,” Mowry said earlier in the week. “That’s not something that I ever do — get on something I’ve never swung a leg over and go run in front of the world. This year, I knew I was going to have to grow myself and my jockeying skills.”
Even as she made the switch, Mowry acknowledged the mental challenge that came with it.
“I was doubting myself a little bit going into this,” she said. “Everything’s happening so fast, and I wasn’t used to where he wants to be.”
Rather than forcing the issue, Mowry focused on feel, timing, and responsibility to the horse beneath her.
“I just told myself I needed to ride good,” she said. “He doesn’t deserve unnecessary passes.”
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One night later, that approach paid off. In Round 6, Mowry returned aboard Cornbread and earned her second go-round win of the 2025 NFR — a result that validated both the decision and her ability to adapt under pressure.
That versatility became the defining theme of Mowry’s Finals. As conditions evolved and margins tightened, she remained disciplined, riding each run independently and allowing the results to build cumulatively rather than defensively.
“I just wanted to leave here with as good a horse as I came with,” Mowry said. “That was my goal.”
By the conclusion of 10 rounds, the numbers told the story: seven checks, two go-round wins, a top-four average finish, and a world championship secured through sustained excellence rather than singular moments.
In a Finals measured by precision and endurance, Kassie Mowry once again demonstrated that world championships are not won in a night — they are earned through consistency, adaptability, and a strong foundation built over time.