A long-standing barrel racing arena record broken, not once, but three times in two years at the Daddy of ‘Em All.
On Championship Sunday, Summer Kosel and her gelding, Apollo, broke their own 17.02-second record from the 2022 Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) with a smoking 16.97 run. However, Sue Smith and her mare, Centerfold, came in hot with a time of 16.89 seconds to take over the 2023 win and the record.
Summer Kosel
From Glenham, South Dakota, Kosel has earned more than $62,000 by attending just over 30 rodeos in the 2023 season. The wife and mother of four has only held her Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) membership since 2017, after her kids were old enough to peewee rodeo themselves; but her and Apollo have made waves in the barrel racing world the past three years.
Sue Smith
Smith’s win and new arena record are proof of her exceptional horse training; but it’s not the first time her training has led to a CFD win, as the horse Andrea Busby won the legendary rodeo on in 2022 won more than $76,000 on the futurity scene with Smith. After being crowned champion in Cheyenne, Wyoming at 68 years old, Smith jumped from number 17 in the world standings to sixth with earnings of more than $89,000 in her most exciting rodeo season since 2009, when she finished fifth in the world.
Big things are happening for both CFD barrel racing winners and the horses carrying them to great heights, and an exceptional end to their seasons is expected for the two experienced horsewomen!
