October’s halfway point brought huge headlines — from WPRA and PRCA award season to circuit finales and the richest barrel race ever held.
DM Sissy Hayday Named 2025 Nutrena Horse of the Year presented by AQHA
- STILL Great: 7 Years Between DM Sissy Hayday’s Horse of the Year Titles
- “Magic” Horse of the Year Crosses: Sun Frost x Casey’s Ladylove
For the first time since 2018, DM Sissy Hayday earned the title of Nutrena Horse of the Year presented by AQHA. The legendary palomino mare owned and ridden by Hailey Kinsel is making her ninth consecutive NFR qualification in 2025, with a record that includes four world titles, three reserve world titles, and now, another major accolade.
With $3,428,801 in lifetime earnings, DM Sissy Hayday remains the all-time leading barrel horse by over a million dollars.
The reserve Horse of the Year honor went to Seis Corona (“Jagger”), ridden by Megan McLeod-Sprague, who has mounted an incredible comeback season after injury concerns sidelined him a year ago. The #3 Horse of the Year went to reigning world champion Force The Goodbye (“Jarvis”) with Kassie Mowry, who recently surpassed the $2 million mark in lifetime earnings after his Pink Buckle Derby and Open victories.
According to data compiled by Tanya Randall, the Horse of the Year order mirrored each horse’s WPRA earnings for 2025 — a testament to how dominant these athletes have been across both rodeo and incentive competition.
Texas and Badlands Circuit Finals Results
Circuit Finals season kicked off with standout performances in both Texas and the Badlands.
In Waco, the Texas Circuit Finals required $15,760 to qualify. Tricia Aldridge opened the weekend with a win on Adios Pantalones, and Gracen Harman and This Guy Will Moonya took over from there — winning Rounds 2, 3, and 4, breaking the arena record, and earning over $8,000. The gelding, a 2018 son of Guys Canyon Moon out of VF Red Lights, won over $150,000 as a futurity colt with trainer James Barnes and is now proving himself as a standout rodeo horse.
In the Badlands Circuit Finals in Minot, North Dakota, Lisa Lockhart earned the year-end title aboard Blazin Ta Betty(“Sasha”) after winning the second round and placing high across the weekend. Molly Otto won the average championship aboard Dashin On Fire (“Mesa”), a 5-year-old owned by Katie Lindahl who also earned the WPRA Badlands Rising Star award. Otto and Lindahl are the same team behind Teasin Dat Guy (“Chewy”), now running under Emily Beisel — making Mesa’s transition from futurity success to rodeo headlines especially meaningful.
Pink Buckle and Young Guns League – Guthrie, Oklahoma
The 2025 Pink Buckle and Young Guns League combined for the richest 10 days in barrel racing history, paying out more than $4.8 million at the Lazy E Arena.
Kassie Mowry and Force The Goodbye were unstoppable once again, winning both the Pink Buckle Derby and Open Average, setting a new event record with a combined 33.331 on two runs and adding $146,000 to Jarvis’s lifetime earnings.
Taylor Miniat dominated the Derby rounds on Kissa Goodbye TGBL and JH Single Lady, both by The Goodbye Lane, posting back-to-back 16.6s on different mares. Jessica Leach and her homebred mare Aint An Angel (“Ellie May”) had a career highlight weekend, finishing reserve in the Futurity and adding $84,000 to lifetime earnings.
Heidi Gunderson and Wonder If I’m Lucky continued their 2025 dominance, winning the Young Guns League Futurity Championship and rolling into Pink Buckle earnings to total nearly $90,000 for the week, bringing the gelding’s LTE to nearly $350,000.
Ceri Ward and Gamblingslick capped off a record week with over $197,000 won, highlighted by a blazing 16.558 run — the fourth fastest ever on a standard pattern at a Pink Buckle event. The mare, by Slick By Design and out of HMB Soon To Be Famous, swept the Futurity Average, both Sale Grad sidepots, and the Owner/Rider categories, marking a milestone for the Ward family’s breeding and training program.
The mare’s dam, HMB Soon To Be Famous, also produced two other sub-17 second runners during the event — High Cotton Lane (Paige Jones) and Roarrrin Ta Fame (Jimmie Smith) — solidifying her as one of the sport’s premier producers.
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