03/12/2023
๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ & ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐
๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ
A raucous crowd was entertained by incredible runs in the Jim Norick Coliseum as the scores of the 2023 National Reining Horse Association Futurity MS Diamonds TX Level 4 Finals climbed higher and higher. The audience was confident that Brian Bell and Crystalized Whizkey would take the win with a 225.5, but if the sport has proven anything, itโs that itโs not over until itโs over.
The crowd was one of the largest in Futurity history, and the energy was palpable as NRHA Eight Million Dollar Rider Andrea Fappani ran into the pen as the last draw of the night, and attempted to circumvent the lead.
With another 225.5, Fappani had secured what could have been a co-championship. But for Bell, who had yet to win his first Level 4 Futurity Championship, it wasnโt enough. He rewrapped his horse's legs, zipped up his chaps, and ran in again to earn another impressive score of 224.5 to earn the coveted title.
โIโve been second twice, by half a point,โ Bell said. โI just couldn't do it, I needed to know that I risked it all.โ
Bell rode Crystalized Whizkey, a mare by Whizkey N Diamonds out of Lonely At The Top, owned by Wallace Wood. This win earned the pair an incredible $350,000, with a portion of that, $17,500, going back to the nominator, Rhodes River Ranch.
Crystalized Whizkey is a niece of Shesouttayourleague, one of the competitors in the last run-off that occurred at an NRHA Futurity, in 2015. Making the event one for the history books, Fappani rode Inferno Thirty Five, a son of NRHA Two Million Dollar Sire Inferno Sixty Six, the other competitor in the 2015 run-off.
Heading into the NRHA Futurity, Bell was just shy of the money needed to be eligible to compete in The American Performance Horsemen presented by Teton Ridge in 2024, which factored into his decision to risk it all and go for first place, as second-place earnings wouldnโt qualify him.
โI just decided to go for it,โ Bell said. โI know Iโve got a good horse, sheโs strong, and sheโs gutsy, so Iโm not going to back off.โ
Anyone who was a part of that roaring crowd, whether they were one who threw their hat in the arena or not, will keep this historic championship close to mind, but for Bell, itโs certainly a night heโll never forget.
๐ธ Carolyn Simancik Photography
