Laughlin Tops Leaderboard in Denver

By Jolee Jordan

Denver, Colorado — It’s been just over three years since Christine Laughlin made her first appearance at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) and it has no doubt felt like a long road to get back to rodeo’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas for the cowgirl; she has finished inside the top 30 twice in the last three years, coming oh so close to a second qualification as only the top 15 money earners each year earn a spot at the Finals.

But one road that was not long for the Pueblo, Colorado cowgirl was the one that brought her to the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, stop one in her quest to compete inside the Thomas & Mack once again. In fact, it’s less than two hours from her home to the Denver Coliseum, home of the rodeo since 1952.

The National Western is set up as a two go round event with competitors taking their long round runs in back-to-back preliminary performances. At the conclusion of the 19th performance on Saturday night, January 20, the original field of 110 barrel racers was pared down to the fastest 12 on two runs for the Championship Finals.

On her first trip to Vegas, Laughlin relied heavily upon her lightning quick grey gelding Six Pack but she’s added another bullet to her gun in the last year in the form of the nine year old sorrel mare Jessi who is registered Jess Undeniable.

Laughlin took the reins from Kelley Schnaufer last summer and has quickly built a solid partnership with the speedy horse who is owned by close friends Jack and Patsy Vanwey. Vanwey also helped train Six Pack and has been a mentor to Laughlin throughout her career.

“Jack did an amazing job training her and Kelley did a great job seasoning her,” Laughlin noted. In fact, Schnaufer qualified to compete at the Calgary Stampede aboard Jessi, advancing all the way to the Final round there and finishing 29th in the 2016 WPRA World standings.

Laughlin and Jessi were on a tear toward the end of the 2017 season, winning Phillipsburg (Kan.) and Amarillo (Texas), finishing third in Stephenville (Texas) and making the short go in Dodge City (Kan.).

Kicking off 2018 inside her home circuit, Laughlin took her first two rounds at Denver on the final Saturday, part of a wicked fast group that sent four ladies to the finals including Kylie Weast, who won the second round with the rodeo’s fastest run of 15.10 seconds on Saturday night.

Weast—whose sister is 2003 WPRA World Champion Janae Ward—rode her great upcoming superstar Reddy who is just six years old. She qualified to the Finals ranked first in the average, the first lady to surpass Cayla Small during the duration of the rodeo.

The traveling duo of Tammy Fischer and 2017 WNFR qualifier and current WPRA World number one Taci Bettis both advanced to the finals from the Saturday group along with Laughlin, who shared seventh in round one to come back third, just .18 seconds behind Weast.

The first go round win was claimed on Friday night by new WNFR-arena record holder Hailey Kinsel and her freaky-fast palomino mare Sister. The pair scampered through the pattern in a blistering 15.18 seconds for the win.

Former WNFR cowgirl Carley Richardson returned to Denver aboard a new mount, the horse she calls Money, and picked up a big win in the unsanctioned Colorado vs. the World event on the Saturday before the National Western Rodeo kicks off. She came back two weeks later and also punched her ticket into the finals of the rodeo after competing in the Friday night-Saturday morning set of barrel racers.

The final 12 to battle for the title here came into the final round with just .38 seconds separating Weast in the number one spot from Tiany Schuster, who won out in a tie breaker for 12th.

Per WPRA rules, short go rounds are randomly drawn for competition order and Richardson drew out first with Laughlin right behind her. The pair on their fast sorrels set a high bar for the competition with Richardson stopping the clock at 15.32 and Laughlin on her heels at 15.35 seconds.

Laughlin took the early lead for the average on three at 46.24 while Richardson’s time was 46.28.

2017 Badlands Circuit Finals Champ Nikki Hansen ran third, posting a time of 15.63 on her gelding Sky, while fellow Badlands cowgirl Lisa Lockhart followed on Louie. That dynamic pair did what everyone expects, putting together a flawless run of 15.34 seconds to slip in between Richardson and Laughlin in the round.

Lockhart’s average time of 46.41 put her just .17 seconds behind Laughlin.

Cayla Small and her horse Gator have battled through injuries—both human and equine—to return to the arena together and put together a pair of runs in the first two performances here that were tough to beat. A little bad luck caught up with them again in the short go, putting them out of the average money in what became an incredibly tight barrel race.

Schuster came behind Small in the draw; she and Show Mance put up 15.43 seconds to slide behind Lockhart in the average. Fischer and Ziva were next, putting 15.44 on the board to tie Schuster up.

Bettis ran right behind her hauling partner and mentor and just bettered her time with a 15.39 second effort on her great horse Smash. She jumped to third in the average behind Laughlin and Richardson, who had just four more cowgirls to sweat through.

Young gun Haley Wolfe took her mare Mia to a tie with Bettis at 15.39 seconds to move ahead of Schuster and Fischer.

Laughlin’s biggest obstacle to the win was Weast and Reddy, who came into the finals in first place and ran tenth on the ground. The pair posted a 15.56 second time, falling two one hundredths short of Laughlin and staying ahead of Richardson by the same margin.

Turquoise Circuit champ Lori Todd and Mountain States Circuit Finals qualifier Wendy McKee brought the National Western to a close with their runs. Todd ran a 15.51 while McKee brought down the house with a 15.37 from 12th out aboard her horse Snoop.

When the dust had finally settled, the short round paid out four monies with just five one hundredths of a second separating all four ladies. The average was double close too with Laughlin hanging on to the win ahead of Weast and Richardson. In fact, the top five spots were only nine one-hundredths apart on the clock.

“Great weekend at the National Western Stock show in Denver!” Laughlin posted to her Facebook page. “Jessi had three consistent runs … winning the average!! Super proud of her.”

“A great start to 2018… road to the NFR!”

Laughlin picked up $8,756 toward the 2018 WPRA World standings while Weast won nearly as much at $7,889. Just like the times, the money won was spread out evenly amongst the top winners with four ladies earning more than $5,000 while in the Mile High City.

Bettis will continue to lead the WPRA World standings while Weast and Richardson simply added to their already cushy spots in the standings. Laughlin will make her first 2018 appearance inside the top 15, a position she plans to hold for the next nine months until the regular season ends.

For more information, visit www.nationalwestern.com and stay tuned to www.wpra.com.

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Results

1st Go

1. Hailey Kinsel, DM Sisters Hayday, 15.18, $3,451
2. Jennifer Barrett, Beduinos Prospector, 15.28, $2,958
3. Liz Herrin, Bogies Lil Mikey, 15.31, $2,465
4. Taci Bettis, Bogie is a Smash, 15.38, $2,137
5. Cayla Small, Shameon U, 15.39, $1,644
6. KL Spratt, KK Cash Colours, 15.40, $1,315
7. Carley Richardson, Flit Money/Christine Laughlin, Jess Undeniable, 15.45, $822
9. Kathy Grimes, KG Justiceweexpected, 15.46, $493
10. Lori Todd, Wranglers Bedrock, 15.48, $329

2nd Go

1 Kylie Weast, Hell on the Red, 15.10, $3,451
2. Small/Haley Wolfe, Mia Fabulous Fame, 15.37, $2,712
4. Tiany Schuster, Show Mance, 15.39, $2,137
5. Wendy McKee, Little Snoop Dog/Laughlin, 15.44, $1,479
7. Michelle Darling, Morning Traffic, 15.45, $986
8. Lisa Lockhart, An Okie with Cash, 15.46, $657
9. Bobbi Grann, DMO Dashin Honey, 15.48, $493
10. Nikki Hansen, Sky High Guy/Kelly Bruner, Suzytresseis/Cassidy Kruse, Guys Dashing Girl, 15.49, $110

Finals

1. Richardson, 15.32, $2,557
2. Lockhart, 15.34, $1,917
3. Laughlin, 15.35, $1,278
4. McKee, 15.37, $639

Average

1. Laughlin, 46.24, $5,177
2. Weast, 46.26, $4,438
3. Richardson, 46.28, $3,698
4. Bettis, 46.29, $3,205
5. McKee, 46.33, $2,465
6. Lockhart, 46.41, $1,972
7. Wolfe, 46.45, $1,479
8. Schuster, 46.51, $863
9. Tammy Fischer, LK Sheza Hayday, 46.51, $863
10. Todd, 46.56, $493

Total Money Won

Laughlin, $8,756
Weast, $7,889
Richardson, $7,077
Bettis, $5,342
McKee, $4,583
Lockhart, $4,546
Small, $4,356
Wolfe, $4,191
Kinsel, $3,451
Schuster, $3,000
Barrett, $2,958
Herrin, $2,465
Spratt, $1,315
Darling, $986
Fischer, $863
Todd, $822
Grimes, $493
Grann, $493
Hansen, $109
Bruner, $109
Kruse, $109

Courtesy of WPRA