The Relentless Remuda has started the 2024 rope horse futurity season off in epic fashion in spite of the partnership’s 26-time World Champion Trevor Brazile being sidelined after shoulder surgery this December.

While 2023 was a banner year for the Remuda—in which their horses and partner horses raked in over $700,000 in team roping earnings—trainer Miles Baker notched his second-straight futurity win of the 2024 season in Buckeye, Arizona Royal Crown, this time in the 4-&-Under Heeling on Lil Bit O Cash. For the score of 592.83 on four, Baker won $5,960 plus $672 to the stallion owner and $448 to the breeder. Along the way, he picked up the first-round win for $1,500.

Just one day prior, Baker won the 6-&-Under Heading on Sevens Hank 2, while Jeremy Buhler piloted the Solo Select/Relentless Remuda/Kaleb Terlip-owned stallion, Pride And Joyy, to the 6-&-Under Heeling title. Later in the day Friday February 9, two-time World Champion Paul Eaves jump-rode Relentless Remuda horse Gunners Nite Train to win $8,280 a man behind Erich Rogers in the Open jackpot.

Lil Bit O Cash and Miles Baker Win Royal Crown’s 4-&-Under Heeling Futurity

“I guess it’s just further proving the fact that I win first when I don’t have to beat Trevor, maybe,” Baker joked. “I would rather win second and have him here, but it was good.”

Lil Bit O Cash is by Lil Joe Cash out of the Sugar Bar Buckaroo mare Quick Little Texan, and the colt came to Baker and Brazile via $2 million reiner Tom McCutcheon early in the colt’s 3-year-old year.

“He called me about him and said he had a big strong horse that wasn’t gonna make it in the reining,” Baker said. “And then, anyway, he just took to it, I actually headed on him the first probably 90 days because he’s so big. It’s like, he’s just turned 4, but he’s 15.1 and weighs 1,200 pounds.”

Watch Miles Baker Start Lil Bit O Cash on the Heel Side by Breakawaying

Baker was so confident in the playful-minded colt that he threw him to the fire at Fort Worth’s American Rope Horse Futurity in 2023, the only 3-year-old the Remuda showed there. Baker walked away with $14,502 in earnings after winning the heeling’s Top Gun Incentive in the intermediate division, placing fifth in the intermediate and winning fourth in the second round of the Open on him. He was the only 3-year-old in the heeling finals there, so the fresh cattle and booming music at Buckeye were no big thing for the colt they call Johnny Ringo.

“The last time I showed a 3-year-old at Fort Worth and the horse did good, I came here, and I stubbed my toe on him. And that was the Clubhouse horse, and so I had that in the back of my mind. I was just gonna make sure that I caught two feet on four steers, and let the judges determine what happened from there. That horse is just good enough that he did good.”

“He’s got a great mind, and Miles did a great job with him,” Brazile added from home in Decatur. “Miles got him through the point to where he just learned his job at an early age, and he understood the assignment. We have one horse in every class that’s able to go toward the futurity in their 3-year-old year, and he proved he was ready by winning good money there against great horses twice his age. That horse has got a great future.”

After Fort Worth last year, Solo Select’s Ty Smith referred customer Atlee Snyder to Baker to buy Johnny Ringo for his son’s future rodeo and jackpot horse.

“The end goal is to have a seasoned horse when everything’s over,” Baker said. “He’s proven that he can win. And Atlee called and asked if the horse would fit his deal. I told him you’ll drive the wheels off your truck trying to find a horse like this when this one’s 7 as opposed to, you know, you own him now and wait it out. We’ll do things right. I’m already ready for him to be 7 years old and watch his boy riding him.”

Two-time ARHFA World Champ and NFR header Tate Kirchenschlager spun the steers for Baker, as Kirchenschlager also rides horses for Atlee Snyder—including DCC Fools Gold, the horse Kirchenschlager won the 2023 Royal Crown heading in Rock Springs aboard.

For Brazile watching at home, the Remuda wins in Buckeye—particularly including the jump rides by Buhler and Eaves—are proof of the work he’s watched his partner put in.

“Anybody that’s confident in the program that we have is because that’s the common thing we get from anybody who rides our horses: they say they don’t feel like they have to do colt stuff to get the job done,” They knew their job. That’s coming from the extra hours. They’re not just saddled and tied to the fence. They have that much time on their back with purpose.”

Relentless Remuda Earnings

With most of QData’s 2023 earnings in the system, the Relentless Remuda rang the bell to close out the year with $707,079.80 won, between horses they owned, co-owned or showed for owners.

“There were more opportunities, but with new opportunity comes new challenges as far as competition,” Brazile said. “People talk about professional team ropers working at their craft at how good with they get with their rope at an elite level, but they don’t want to talk about putting that time into your horses and horsemanship. But I don’t think any of the horses Miles rode in Buckeye have logged any more hours, and not just hours, but intentional hours, that those horses have. That’s one thing I can say about Miles is the work ethic he has, the discipline for consistency, I would dare say most of the horses he’s riding out there are far more trained than a lot of them because of the sheer amount of intentional hours he spends on those horses.”

Relentless Remuda’s 2023 Earnings Breakdown