PRESS RELEASE / JULY 9, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Norman, OK - Speedhorse, the producer of the Gold & Silver Cup Barrel Futurities, is pumping $25,000 more added money into the 2005 Tulsa Silver Cup, bringing the total added money in the race to a whopping $60,000. A $10,000 added 4D Open Sweepstakes has also been added to the Silver Cup schedule of events for 2005.
According to Robin Hofmann, Speedhorse Event Coordinator, Speedhorse's decision to add more money was made due to the increase in the number of early futurities. "There are so many futurities now between December 1 and March 1. Many are offering as much added money as the Silver Cup, but with lower entry fees. In order to bring the contestant's attention back to this event we felt we had to 'turn up the heat', so to speak. It is our goal to insure the Silver Cup continues to be ranked among the top three barrel futurities by total number of entries and by purse. Increasing the added money should accomplish this goal, especially considering the entry fee will not increase."
As for the Gold Cup, it is undergoing a complete face lift. 2005 will see Speedhorse implement something that has been highly successful in cutting and reining, but heretofore never tried in barrel racing. The Gold Cup is being split into two separate futurities, a $30,000 added class for the professional riders and a $20,000 added class for the non-professional riders. According to Speedhorse rules a professional rider is anyone who has been ranked among the Top 50 Futurity Riders, Top 50 WPRA Riders, Top 15 IPRA Riders or Top 10 Derby Riders, by money earned, during the past 5 years as reported by Equi-Stat. Anyone who has not been ranked in any of these standings is eligible for Non-Pro status.
"We are excited about trying this format. It will be interesting to see how it is received by the contestants." Hofmann continued, "Horses ridden by Professional riders, as defined by Speedhorse rules, will only be eligible to enter the Pro class. Horses ridden by Non-Pro riders, as defined by Speedhorse rules, may enter the Pro class only if they have earned a check in futurity competition prior to the Gold Cup. Horses, who have not won any futurity money, which are ridden by Non-Pro riders will only be eligible to enter the Non-Pro class. We will send out a Pro class invitation to the eligible horses and Non-Pro riders giving them the option to 'ante up' at the time of the last payment.
"Our biggest concern with this change is making sure both classes will pay big. In order to achieve this we are going back to the format we used in 1998. Each class will be comprised of one qualifying round with a 1D finals and a 2D finals, and the entire purse will be paid on a clean slate finals. The purse will be split 80% to the 1D finals and 20% to 2D finals. All 1D horses will be taken back to their respective short go, this way no one who runs a 1D qualifying time will fall through the crack between the 1D and the 2D. The number of places paid in the finals will be determined by the total number of paid in full entries, as usual.
"Speedhorse has been working on the development of the Non-Pro division for quite some time now. We are taking that program to the next level in 2005 by offering a separate class at the Gold Cup for the Non-Pro riders to compete in. According to statistics from our events over the past seven years the decline in futurity entries is due to a substantial drop in the number of Non-Pro contestants. We feel those contestants have opted to run at the less expensive, yet lucrative big added money 4D open barrel races.
"In order to bring them back to the futurity game we have designed a race that offers $10,000 more added money than they can run for at most 4D's with an entry fee that would be comparable to a 4D race with as much added money. Plus they don't have to compete against any Pro riders in this futurity, and that is something they can't get away from at the 4D barrel races.”
Hofmann finished by saying, “Again, the reason for going back to our 1998 format is to insure substantial checks for all money earners at this event. There are still a few kinks to be worked out, but we’ll have those figured out before the nomination payments are due.”
Contestants interested in entering the Silver Cup should note that the nomination payment will be due October 1, 2004. The nomination deadline for the Gold Cup will be January 1, 2005. Entry blanks and details will be forthcoming, beginning in the September issues of Speedhorse, Barrel Horse News, Barrel Racer News, Barrel Racers Only and on these web sites,
www.ebarrelracing.com ,
www.speedhorsemagazine.com , and
www.betterbarrelraces.com.
