The DT Horses Western Derby took a scary turn for Veronica Swales when one of her four mounts fell during the preliminary cow work, sending the rider to the ground.
Swales emerged without any broken bones and decided to soldier on with her remaining mount, Desires Sweet Pepto, in the final round. The freckle-faced sorrel stallion was the only horse she was able to complete a run on before the fall, but he also was an extremely solid competitor.
“There was the thought a little bit about sitting it out, but then I wanted to come and kind of redeem myself from from my cow work,” she said.
Desires Sweet Pepto fired in all three events throughout the finals for Swales, marking a winning composite of 659.5 (217.5 herd/220.5 rein/221.5 cow). That also earned them third place in the Intermediate Open.
Although Desires Sweet Pepto might not have been the most physical of the four horses Swales entered in the competition, he knew his stuff and of all her mounts was most solid in all three events. And, he’s very good in the cow work.
“He’s a pretty solid fence horse,” Swales said. “It doesn’t really matter kind of what you get for a cow, he’ll go work it for you.
The win in the Limited Open was good for a first-pace paycheck of $4,323 for owner Robin Lynn Morrison.
Bred by L. Arnold and D. Caraway, of Weatherford, Texas., Desires Sweet Pepto is a son of Equi-Stat Elite $5 Million Sire Sweet Lil Pepto and out of Desires Lil Scoot (by Scootin Boon). He’s the sole money earner recorded in the Equi-Stat database for his dam.
