JunieWood and John Mitchell

Junie Wood Tops Showdown In Cowtown Open Go-Round


Non-Pro

After Dont Look Twice (High Brow Cat x Tapt Twice x Dual Pep) missed the finals by 1.5 points in the Showdown In Cowtown Open with trainer Phil Rapp, she came back in the Non-Pro with Ray Baldwin to mark a 225 and win the go-round by a 3.5-point margin.

Baldwin originally planned to ride Manytimes (One Time Pepto x Cats Twisted Whisker x High Brow Cat) at the event, but he was given the chance of a lifetime when Rapp offered him the ride on Dont Look Twice.

“I got a text from him [Rapp] asking me if I wanted to show Dont Look Twice,” Baldwin said. “Immediately, my heart started pounding, and I just got this rush of emotion and excitement. There was just this realization that I might get to show her. I was excited, and I knew it was a gift.”

Baldwin had only ridden the mare once before his run at the Showdown, but he knew that as long as he was able to make smart cuts and stay with the mare, they would have a good performance.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to hold on or what she would feel like,” Baldwin said. “She is so powerful, but so smooth and so controlled. It was a feeling I had never felt before on a horse.

“Usually when I do a run, the only people I can hear cheering are my parents and my kids, but I could hear the entire arena this time get really excited after I made those first two cuts.”

Baldwin describes his run in the Watt Arena as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, saying, “I hope we do well in the finals, but that two and a half minutes was the most special run I have had so far.”

The top 14 riders in the Non-Pro will advance to the finals on Monday, Nov. 30.

Horse/Rider/Go-round score

  • Dont Look Twice/Ray Baldwin/225
  • Meteles Cat/Cody Hedlund/221.5
  • Holly Is Smooth/Kyle Manion/221.5
  • Pepto Boom/Paula Wood/221
  • Mr Connerey/Glenn Barlow/221
  • Sannman/Alvin Fults/220.5
  • Boon Tooth/Kelsey Conn/220
  • SS Blacks Lil Kitty/Julie Jarma/220
  • Vespaa/Blakley Colgrove/219.5
  • Spooked By A Cat/Carol Ward/219
  • PKR Big Mac/Steve Anderson/219
  • That Smarts Cat/Chad Bushaw/219
  • QB Cat/Stacie McDavid/218.5
  • Hes A Heapinspoonful/Madalyn Colgrove/218.5

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