Joseph Harrison kicked off July with the Cowtown Classic heeling title on CR Better Be Tuff, and he’ll close it out the month gunning for $100,000 on the Woody Be Tuff gelding owned by Tara and Darren Johnson at the July 25-27 Old West Futurity in Wallsburg, Utah.
In Fort Worth, Harrison won $10,732.50 for a score of 943.47 on four head, including a short-round topping 238.42 on the gelding out of Calie Del Rey by Dual Rey.
“Well, Darren and I had talked about going to Utah, and it was expensive and a long ways up there, and honestly, they hadn’t scored me good several times. I placed a round on him and he’d been holding his own, but, you know, not primarily a high-scoring horse, as say, like Bougie (Nu One Time Blues) or Tony (Copperton) had been. But I just decided that, you know what, he’s one of my three, so if Mr. Darren don’t want to take him, then I’m just gonna do it myself. I told him that the other day on the phone on the way home from Fort Worth, and he said, no, no, I got it. I’m on it. I got it. So, he’s going.”
In Fort Worth, Harrison won second, on Copperton, a 2018 gelding by Spots Hot out of Copperish by Metallic Cat, for another $8,586, and followed it up with third on Bet Hesa Smooth Cat by Bet Hesa Cat out of SDP Quiverin Step for another $6,439.50.
“It’s getting to where it’s tough to win,” Harrison said. “You know what I mean? It’s getting harder all the time. So I can remember back several years ago where, you just completed the course and don’t mess up, catch two footers every time—shoot, it was like stealing. And it’s not that way now. You know, the guys, they all figured out how to show them, how to train them to be shown, and then they catch on them.”
Harrison is now the top rider in ARHFA history, having won over $500,000 in ARHFA competition since its inception in 2017.
What is the Old West Futurity?
Produced by A&C Racing and Roping and Redgie Probst, the Old West Rope Horse Futurity runs July 25 to July 27, 2024, in Wallsburg, Utah. Boasting a $405,000 payout, the producers promise $100,000 to first in the 6-&-Under Heading and 6-&-Under Heeling, as well as $50,000 for first in the 4-&-Under Heading and 4-&-Under Heeling. It’s also paying $25,000 for first in the intermediate heading and heeling, and $20,000 for first in the breakaway.
