Dubliner Kassie Mowry claimed the title of WPRA World Champion Barrel Racer of the Year for the second year in a row, placing or winning seven of her 10 runs at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December 2025.
Mowry claimed the win with $200,437 in checks earned in the seven rounds and would have won the average by more than three seconds, if not for a downed barrel in her final round. This was her only hit barrel for the week as she took the buckle through consistent technique and skill rather than a few stand-out moments.
Mowry also racked up $403,882 in season earnings despite only competing in 28 season rodeos and the NFR (roughly 60% less appearances than her competition according to Sports Illustrated).
The local champion earned the win on the backs of CPC He Will Be Epic (Will) and a borrowed horse Heaven’s Got Credit (Cornbread). She was due to take Force the Goodbye (“Jarvis”) back to the big show after claiming the 2024 title with him but an EHV-1 exposure in late November stopped those plans.
“When it came down to it, the risk wasn’t worth the reward to me,” Mowry said in an interview with Barrel Racing.
Will actually caught the respiratory form of the virus in Waco but battled his way through it and started testing negative in the weeks leading to the championships.
“So my vet said, ‘Hey, he’s about the safest choice you could go in there with,’” said Mowry. “And so, I felt comfortable bringing Will.”
Will actually helped Mowry in a standout showing in the 2022 NFR, but the cowgirl said she uses him sparingly because the gray gelding is big and she worries more prone to injury. Mowry said she had some doubts since he wasn’t ‘her first stringer,’ but dubs him ‘Mr. Dependable’ and he lived up to that moniker.
The pair clocked a 13.66 in the opening run of Round 1, a score that remained no. 1 through all 15 racers.
After four runs, Mowry switched to Cornbread owned by Mindy Holloway. The 11-year-old gelding was one of the top futurity horses as a 4-year-old and broke an arena record at Fort Smith before an injury in the BFA short round led to a year off and a spinal injury in his sixth year.
Mindy and her husband, Cutter, still believed in the horse so they immediately agreed to buy Cornbread from original owners, Edwin and Tiany Schuster that year.
Cornbread has been a carefully managed athlete since then with Mindy Holloway picking events where he can shine such as setting the arena record at Waco’s Xtreme Million this past season.
As a well-conditioned and sound performer, Cornbread was a perfect fit for Mowry whose options were narrowing following the outbreak as the NFR approached.
Mindy had never seen another rider on Cornbread since they bought him, but she was less apprehensive about lending him to a world champion.
“I mean, it’s Kassie Mowry so...If a state trooper asks for your keys, you just hand them over,” Holloway told Barrel Racing.
The quarantine and schedule didn’t leave much time to practice but they prepared as much as they could. Although they didn’t place in Round 5, they showed promise that was fulfilled in the next round.
Mowry and Cornbread stopped the clock at 13.42 in Round 6 for first place. She followed that night with third place in Round 7, fourth in Round 8 and sixth place on the final two nights.