Rhen Richard and the 2016 mare One Smart Pistola topped the field in the Zesterra Royal Crown 6-&-Under Open Heading in Rock Springs, Wyoming’s Sweetwater Event Center Monday August 8, 2022.
This marks Richard’s seventh futurity win of 2022 and sixth at Royal Crown events. It’s also his second aboard the mare he calls ‘Denim,’ by BR Best Asset out of the Playgun mare Una Pistola, and bred by Oklahoma’s Flag Ranch.
“A horse you can go make a living on”
“She’s a good mare,” Richard, 34, of Roosevelt, Utah, said. “She’s all there, but she works. You just gotta stay on top of her and stay ahead of her. Those are the kind of horses that win at these deals. They’re quick footed and explosive and have that eye appeal. She’s an over-trying kind of horse. She’s out of a Playgun mare, by a Special Leader stud. So if I can keep my finger on her for another year, she’s the kind of horse you can go make a living team roping on.”
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Richard won third in the first round on One Smart Pistola with a 122.95, worth $500. He also won the third round on her with a 121.62 worth $1,500. He and Denim got $4,720 for the average win, wi a score of 489.22. That’s some 13 points ahead of his second-place mare, Rubys Rollin. He won $3,540 on Rubys Rollin, his home-raised 2016 mare by the Richard’s stud Reys Smokin Dually out of the Brookstone Bay mare Rollin. And that’s the same mare he won California Rodeo Salinas on two weeks ago worth $10,600 a man for Richard and Jeremy Buhler, who’s also helped him at every futurity.
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Mare Magic
“I practiced on Rubys Rollin a day or two between Salinas and today, but that’s it,” Richard said. “She’s not a freak athlete, and she’s probably never just going to wow you, but she scores great, she can really run, and she’s easy to follow. She’s a good mare.”
Trevor Brazile’s Relentless Glory rounded off the top three in the Zesterra Open, scoring a 475.08 worth $2,360 with the help of Dakota Kirchenschlager.
“I think mares are where it’s headed,” Richard said. “I know the top guys in the world have never pushed the mare deal, but my best horses are mares. It will be cool to see what it’s like in five or six years.”
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