CFR 51 Primer Barrel Racing

– BY BARB POULSEN, CANADIAN RODEO NEWS WRITER

Jayden Wilson and her equine sidekick, Fame is Dynamite (Whiskey), arrived on the Canadian Pro Rodeo barrel racing scene in 2024 with authority. The Gleichen, Alberta barrel racer competed at 47 rodeos and qualified for her first Canadian Finals Rodeo in third position with $34,352. A solid first Finals saw her finish eighth overall in Canada

Fast forward to this season. Wilson attended almost the same number of events and was a commanding presence among her colleagues from early on. The second generation cowgirl/financial analyst earned close to $60,000 in regular season earnings and sits in the top spot heading to Rogers Place. She was quick to credit her horse as the big reason for the tandem’s success.

“Whiskey just does his job every time,” Wilson noted. “He makes the same run everywhere we go and with every setup. and that makes it a lot easier for me and gives me a lot of confidence going in. Whether we’re running at Ponoka or Hanna, you know what to expect with him.”

Wilson is not the only one who feels that way about her tremendous eight year-old as Whiskey was crowned the 2025 Horse With the Most Heart.

“It’s hard to put into words what it means,” the Gleichen, the first-time winner of the coveted award said. “I just love this horse, but to have other competitors think highly enough of him to vote for Whiskey means the world. He’s always been special to me, having had him since he was born. He’s always has so much heart and try, and always gives me his all. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.” 

And with that heart and consistency comes a bit of a change in the way the 27 year-old talent views this season and the future.

“It kind of makes all the things that I’d dreamed about an actual possibility. At the start of the year all I really wanted was a chance to go back to Edmonton, but around July 1 I was in the top three in the standings and I started to think, wow, this season leader thing just might be something, so I decided to just go everywhere and see what might happen.”

What happened was that at the Night of Champions it will be Jayden Wilson who will step onstage to receive the season leader saddle. And she’ll carry a $10,000  lead over the rest of the barrel racing field (defending champion Taylor Manning is in second spot)  when she charges into the CFR for Wednesday night’s round one.

In addition to Wilson and two-time champion Manning, the CFR 51 barrel racing field features an interesting mix of veterans and rookies. On the veteran side are 2023 Champion Lynette Brodoway and repeat qualifiers Blake Molle, Karli Cowie, Jennifer Neudorf and Lisa Groves. The rest of the field are all CFR first timers: Madison Wilkerson, Taylor Cherry, Pamela Morrison, Kirby Penttila and Caitlin McArthur.

With the outstanding array of well-bred barrel horses combined with an exciting roster of skilled, gritty competitors, barrel racing action will be fast and furious as the 2025 CFR kicks off Wednesday, October 1 with five performances in total through October 4^th.


2025 CFR BARREL RACING QUALIFIERS