FUTURITY / DERBY
KG Juststealingcash, or “Phoenix,” is by Judge Cash and out of Do It For Beau. The 7-year-old sorrel stallion won Grimes her first Derby world title. “Phoenix is more on the serious side — he’s all business,” Grimes said. “It’s great he has this derby world title on his résumé as we progress to some rodeos!” Grimes ran Phoenix in futurities as a 5-year-old and had a good year, but COVID-19 caused many producers to cancel most of the large futurities that year. This gives him an extra year in the derbies, and Grimes says he has been coming along nicely. “He’s been a nice, solid horse that hopefully we will transition to some more rodeos this next year as an 8-year-old!” Grimes noted. Both world titles are special to Grimes and the culmination of nearly 30 years in breeding barrel horses.
“I think that’s really cool that both of them won the world titles. I’ve never done that with any of my horses,” Grimes said. “They’re really nice, solid horses that come from a winning family of barrel horses, so I’m just excited about their futures.” Grimes wants to thank her sponsors LMF Feeds, Best Ever Pads, Purple Rein Creations, and Wheatland Bank. “I am invested in the barrel racing world and my horses come from a long line of barrel racing horses that I have bred, raised, and trained, and then compete on. That’s what I continue to want to do, and I hope that mare owners can see that in my program.”
of that.” Vondra says Peso can be a bit of a handful. He came to Vondra as an outside horse for her to train, and he stayed because he was so quirky. She had then tried to sell him when he was younger, but knew he was going to need to go to the right rider if she did. “I knew that he was not going to be for just everybody and I wanted to make sure that he got put in the right spot, so I held on to him because of that,” Vondra said. Vondra likes the setup of the WPRA Futurity with the 2D, because even though running Peso wasn’t part of the plan this year, he could Colleen Vondra has had great success in the WPRA Futurity 2D division having won the world title four times now with her most recent aboard SRA French Fire Water “Peso.” Vondra and the 5-year-old gelding by Frenchmans Royal CJ and out of SR Firewater Girl carried his owner to the winner’s circle and added another title to her resume as a jockey and trainer. WPRA photo by Rodeobum.com/James Phifer
It was definitely a team effort winning the world titles in the futurity 1D and Derby divisions. Kathy Grimes (middle) called in a favor with good friend Leah Crockett (right) to ride her horses at the WPRA World Finals to get them to the finish line and add these prestigious titles to their resume and Grimes’ breeding program. WPRA photo by Rodeobum.com/James Phifer
still gain experience and earn some money with his late start. “The futurities, especially with the 2D, is a way you can still go and compete, and them not be solid and ready to hit the rodeos yet.” Vondra says Peso went from the horse no one wanted to buy to one she is not selling. She is excited with the progress he has made so far and knows that all the greats have a few quirks. “I want to season him to rodeos this year and maybe a few derbies,” Vondra said. “I think he will have a fun style for our circuit!”
Vondra and Peso earn Futurity 2D Title Colleen Vondra rode SR French Fire Water, or “Peso,” to the Futurity 2D world title. The 5-year-old gelding is by Frenchmans Royal CJ (owned by Ed Pfaff) and out of SR Firewater Girl. The Harvard, Illinois cowgirl first won the Futurity 2D world title in 2010 and has won the title every four years since then. Vondra didn’t have it planned this way, but this year more than ever it just happened to work out. The four-time Great Lakes Circuit finalist had two finished horses she was going to run in rodeos and was not going to run Peso in the futurities. Unfortunately, both her finished horses came up sick, and Vondra’s futurity colts got the call to start running. Peso’s first competition run was made this July and he began to climb in the world standings. Peso placed in the top 10 of the 2D in both rounds at the finals to secure the 2022 world title. “It’s pretty cool,” Vondra said. “It wasn’t really part of the plan, but that kind of just goes to show we’re not the one that’s in control
Colleen Vondra of Harvard, Illinois, won her first WPRA world title in the Futurity 2D division in 2010 and has won the title every four years since then. Vondra didn’t have it planned that way, it just seemed to happen. WPRA photo by Hannah Miller
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 WPRA NEWS 39
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