Day 8 at the Calgary Stampede rodeo: Kassie Mowry recaptures barrel racing record
Just ask Kassie Mowry and fellow barrel racers at the Calgary Stampede.
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But again and again and again in the same week?
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And counting.
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'Watching it through the whole week, I was fortunate to be at the end (of Friday's round),' said Mowry moments after posting the fastest barrel-racing run ever — 16.74 seconds — at the Calgary Stampede. 'I could see that the grounds have been just really fast and really consistent. So I was excited.
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'These guys are doing an amazing job with the ground.'
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And the racers and their rides are doing an amazing job getting around the cloverleaf.
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Mowry previously held the arena record — at 16.82 — on her way to being crowned Stampede champion in 2022.
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That standard stuck until Day 3 of this year's edition of 'The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth', when it was twice broken — by Oklahoma's Emily Beisel and Idaho's Anita Ellis.
'I was watching, so I knew she did it,' said Mowry, of Ellis setting that time to beat — 16.79 — last Sunday. 'And that's a great horse (Axe) she's got.
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'When she lays one down, it's hard to beat. I knew that.'
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But Mowry did it on the second day of Pool C competition, barrelling around the cloverleaf in a best-ever trip.
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Fellow Texan Hailey Kinsel wasn't far behind with a 16.84 run, also one of the five fastest trips ever at the Stampede. Her runner-up money of $5,500 keeps her in top spot ahead of Mowry's $10,250 heading into Saturday's final day of Pool C. Third on the three-day money-total list from the pool is another Stampede veteran in Oklahoma's Leslie Smalygo, with $8,750.
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And that in itself is quite the who's-who list of champions here — Smalygo is the reigning queen, Mowry won it in 2022 and Kinsel was the Stampede champ in 2018.
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Throw in the new threat of Stampede rookie Ellis, who went sub-17 in all three Pool A rounds to win all three days for a whopping $21,000, and Pool B winner Carlee Otero — a hungry veteran at this rodeo — and Showdown Sunday is shaping up to be a darn fine championship day.
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'Yeah … I guess this is just going to be back and forth, and we'll just see how it goes,' added Mowry. 'I feel like the way it's heating up, the record might get broken again before this is over.
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'I feel like my horse gets to show what he's capable of here at Stampede,' added Mowry, continuing to praise the grounds crew in Calgary. 'I love that it showcases all these horses. For them to do that, they love their job and they're trying to work for us. And it makes it so much fun to be on a team with them.'
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