Kathy Grimes won the Columbia River Circuit Finals average in Redmond, Oregon, Jana Bean won the Turquoise Circuit Finals average in Cave Creek, Arizona, and Amanda Butler won the Wilderness Circuit Finals average in Heber City, Utah, all recapped on this week’s episode of The Rundown on The Money Barrel.
The Rundown November 3: The One Where World Championships Are Won & Millions Are Earned
From the horses that carried the 2026 top 15 to the NFR to the recipe behind the ground at Kansas Biggest Rodeo in Phillipsburg, this week’s episode of The Rundown, presented by Chewy, breaks down the biggest results and what they mean moving forward. Listen to the full episode below.
The sections below run in the order the episode covers them, so they read as a companion while it plays.
The Rundown is presented by Chewy.
Columbia River Circuit Finals (Redmond, Oregon)
Nov. 5-7. Three rounds and an average.
Every circuit’s results live in the 2026 WPRA Circuit Finals rolling results. The short version follows.
- Average champs: Kathy Grimes and KG Just Money, 43.84 on three. Second in Rounds 1 and 2, then won Round 3 in 14.29. $10,123 at the finals
- Year-end champ: Grimes, $75,092. KG Just Money was the circuit’s horse of the year
- Megan McLeod-Sprague won Round 1 in 14.68 on Smokehaus, her 2016 gelding by The Red Dasher out of RF Firefly, and was reserve in the average, 44.22. She finished the year second at $43,888
- Round 2: Anneliese McCurry, 14.63
- NFR Open qualifiers: Grimes and McLeod-Sprague
Turquoise Circuit Finals (Cave Creek, Arizona)
Nov. 5-7. Three rounds and an average.
- Average champs: Jana Bean and Wick, 48.19 on three. Bean won Rounds 1 and 2 (15.91, 16.01) and earned $8,875 at the finals
- Year-end champ: Katelyn Scott held the title by $507, $22,048 to Bean’s $21,541
- Bean’s Vizion was voted the Turquoise Circuit horse of the year
- Round 3: Brittney Hawley, 16.00. She was reserve in the average, 48.80
- NFR Open qualifiers: Scott and Bean
Wilderness Circuit Finals (Heber City, Utah)
Nov. 6-7. Three rounds and an average.
- Average champs: Amanda Butler and TS Kiss Em Goodbye, 45.16 on three. Butler won Rounds 1 and 2 (14.98, 15.04) and earned $10,802, moving to second in the year-end standings at $43,074
- Year-end champ: Carlee Otero, $50,247
- Round 3: Makenna Shook and XV Mario, 15.11. Shook was reserve in the average, 45.62
- Anita Ellis and SGL Rico placed third in the average, 45.70
- Caitlyn White‘s Mr Soul won horse with the most heart
- NFR Open qualifiers: Otero and Butler
2026 NFR Barrel Racing Horses
The horses that carried the 2026 WPRA top 15 to Las Vegas.
Each qualifier’s season is broken down in Meet the Field: 2026 NFR Barrel Racing Qualifiers. The short version follows.
- Hayle Gibson-Stillwell, No. 1 in the world, and Buncha Dinero, the 2026 Horse of the Year
WPRA Payout Changes
- The WPRA’s payout changes are aimed at improving payouts at smaller circuit rodeos
Industry Notes
- Young Guns League stallion enrollment is open to all stallions with foal crops less than 8 years old. Details at younggunsleague.com
- The ground at Kansas Biggest Rodeo in Phillipsburg starts with Ricky’s recipe: sow radish, turnips, sorghum and wheat. It comes up in the fall, dies when it freezes and comes back in the spring, then gets disced under in early summer. The arena is dirt and clay with very little sand. The crop adds compost to the soil and allows it to absorb more water at rodeo time. LandMark Implement provides the tractor at rodeo time and Jones Feed & Seed donates the seed