The competition was gritty tonight in the Non Pro finals of the 6666 NRHA Derby presented by Markel. Taylor Zimmerman came from the next-to-last draw aboard Spooks Deville to tie Kim Muehlstaetter and Smoky Mountain Rein. The teams claimed the lion’s share of the glory and lucrative payout as Level 4 Non Pro Derby Co-Champions.

Level 4 Non Pro Derby Co-Champions: Kim Muehlstaetter and Smoky Mountain Rein / Taylor Zimmerman and Spooks Deville

NRHA Million Dollar Rider and Owner Kim Muehlstaetter was determined when she arrived in Oklahoma City to make the most of showing Smoky Mountain Rein. The 5-year-old gelding, nominated by breeder Texas Horse Power Ranch in Stephenville, Texas, delivered on her call when he took the lead with a 225.5 from Draw 17 of the Level 4 Non Pro Derby finals.

“He’s so dang good-minded,” said Muehlstaetter, who owns the horse with husband Martin, also an NRHA Million Dollar Rider. “I think he was dead on.”

“He’s a unicorn. I’ve said that all week. He’s just a once-in-a-lifetime horse that I’ll probably never have again,” she continued. “I’ve never had one that’s this consistent and fun to show. It just feels like he gets better each time you take him in the show pen. It’s amazing.

Smoky Mountain Rein (Spooks Gotta Whiz x Sprats Electricspark) arrived at the OKC Fairgrounds with $162,208 in NRHA lifetime earnings. He added $32,854 (including nominator incentives) to his bankroll with the Level 4 Non Pro Co-Championship.

“I just couldn’t find a better fit for me. He’s easy to run, but yet when you quit riding, he’s always wanting to melt into the ground and come back. I think that’s why he keeps showing [so well],” the Scottsdale, Arizona-based rider said. “He’s always looking to come back … looking and hunting the stop.

“I just put my hand on his neck and he goes, and he really hooked up,” Muehlstaetter added. “This arena felt great. I was a little nervous showing in a new pen that we haven’t ridden in much, but gosh, it was so much fun to circle and stop. You had more time to think and more time to run. The dimensions of it, the feel in there — I loved it.”

Muehlstaetter and Smoky Mountain Rein picked up another $5,000 (including nominator incentives) for winning the Prime Time Non Pro Derby Championship.

“My husband pointed out that I’m undefeated in the Prime Time. I said, ‘Well, just what I’ve always wanted!’ But I’ll own it,” she said with a laugh. “Nowadays, there are so many great riders and great horses, and they just get better every year. It’s so dang competitive. It was a stiff competition with great riders.”

The competitive pair to match their performance — Taylor Zimmerman and Spooks Deville (Spooks Gotta Whiz x Miss Tinselberry) — left nothing to chance. They gave it their all from the moment they ran in the pen as Draw 35.

“He was so locked in with me. Every moment was perfect,” Zimmerman said. “There wasn’t really anything that felt bad at all. It was so fun. To me, that’s the epitome of what we’re always reaching for when we show.”

Zimmerman of Springfield, Missouri, advanced to the Level 4 Non Pro finals on all three of her horses for the first time. She admitted things didn’t go as well as she hoped earlier in the evening, so she made sure to dial in for her run with Spooks Deville, a 5-year-old gelding owned by her grandfather, Vaughn, an NRHA $2 Million Owner.

“After the two that didn’t go good — the horses were good and they tried really hard, it just didn’t go good — I really wanted it,” Zimmerman said. “It was just that gut feeling that you can do this, and I know my horse felt awesome, so I was like, ‘I can do this.’”

Showing in the new OG&E Coliseum was another special part of the experience. As someone who’s competed in arenas across the country, Zimmerman said it elevated her confidence.

“The arena is so amazing. It’s probably my favorite I’ve shown in, just as far as the size goes and the color of it,” she explained. “Oddly enough, it makes you feel a certain way. When you get in it, the bright colors around the arena wall make it feel a little wider and bigger, and it was just so fun to show in.”

This win pushed Zimmerman’s NRHA lifetime earnings past the $600,000 milestone. Spooks Deville, nominated by breeder Tammy Brown, of Gainesville, Texas, more than doubled his record, bringing him to nearly $60,000 in earnings.

Level 3 Non Pro Derby Champions: Jesse Boyd and Gunna Be First

Finishing first in the Level 3 Non Pro Derby aboard Gunna Be First left Jesse Boyd feeling emotional. Missing the top of the Level 4 Non Pro by a narrow half-point margin with a 225 to tie for third was an added bonus.

“It was amazing. I would have never guessed I was going to mark a [2]25,” said Boyd, who owns 7-year-old stallion Gunna Be First with his partner Sierra Wright through Unhitched Partners. “You know, one of the guy’s grooms that was stalling next to us, when I was walking out to go warm up, he said, ‘You’re going to mark a 25.’ I said, ‘No way!’ And here we are. It was unreal. I’ve never ran circles that fast in my life.”

Boyd, who is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, said he takes the opportunity to work with Gunna Be First (ARC Gunnabeabigstar x ARC Wallas First) any time he can. The horse, bred by William Newman Jr. of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, and nominated by NRHA Professional Trent Harvey, of Marietta, Oklahoma, also gets pampered and spoiled as much as he can stand.

“He’s been getting carrots every day, and the spa. I have probably the largest tab of anybody at the spa,” Boyd said. “My wife has been spoiling the crap out of him in the spa every day, and when we’re done riding, she feeds him carrots and I feed him carrots. He’s such a kind animal and just wants to please, and he’s so good, so we just take care of him. We love him.”

Boyd and Gunna Be First, nicknamed “Justin Beiber,” added $20,000 to their records from the Level 3, which combined with an $11,457 check in the Level 4 for a total payday of $31,457 (including nominator incentives). With that, Gunna Be First and Boyd both surpassed $100,000 in NRHA lifetime earnings together. 

“It means a lot. I was a rookie two years ago,” Boyd said. “Andrea [Fappani] has spent so much time with me and worked with me and taught me so much over the last few years. I’m forever grateful to him for that. Being second in the Level 4 and winning the Level 3 is amazing.”

Level 2 Non Pro Derby Champions: Blair McFarlin and Sundrop

Blair McFarlin clinched one for the home team tonight when she piloted homebred and self-nominated Sundrop to the Level 2 Non Pro Derby Championship with a 221. The Franklin, Tennessee-based reiner and her 5-year-old gelding, who also tied for third in the Level 3 Non Pro and eighth in Level 4, amassed $28,714 (including nominator incentives).

“I’m still trying to take it all in a little bit,” McFarlin said as she stood outside the OG&E Coliseum reflecting on her win. “He was there every step of the way. Anytime I called on him, he answered, even more so than we thought. He has blown us away. I mean, I didn’t have to touch him. He was in the bridle every step of the way. He was fantastic.”

McFarlin rides with NRHA Professionals Kaci O’Rourke and Jack Daniels, and works on her family’s ranch raising cattle. She said she enjoys reining for the challenge and thrill, and she felt extra sentimental about her achievement in the finals because she raised Sundrop, a son of NRHA $4 Million Sire Hollywoodstinseltown and Sheza Chic Olena.

“I showed his mother as a youth a long time ago,” she said. “It’s been super special to get to raise one that turns into such a nice horse like he is. He’s a puppy dog. He’s a barn favorite, and he has no bad habits — he’s perfect. He’s a unicorn!”

Sundrop nearly quadrupled his lifetime earnings with this win. McFarlin started competing in reining 15 years ago, and tonight she watched her record climb to around $135,000.

“I just woke up one day as a young kid and decided I wanted to ride horses, so my dad bought me a few riding lessons for Christmas, hoping that it would get it out of my system,” she said. “And here I still am. I’m hooked.”

Level 1 & Youth Non Pro Derby Champions: Blaze Of Glori and Kynley Bell

Kynley Bell didn’t let her first time competing in the 6666 NRHA Derby presented by Markel stop her from claiming the first Level 1 and Youth Non Pro Derby titles to be awarded in the OG&E Coliseum. She blasted into the pen from Draw 20 aboard Blaze Of Glori to mark a 221 that held through both sections of Non Pro competition.

“I was thinking to be slow and smooth,” Bell said of her strategy going into the finals. “She was amazing in the prelims. No matter what, she’ll come back to me in the large fast. I really wanted to get my shutoff in my turns perfect; that was my main goal. I know the mare can stop.

“I knew we really needed to be smooth going into the rundown because that mare’s always ready to go, no matter what,” the Maysville, Oklahoma-based youth member continued. “[I] just wanted to be quiet and wait for her. That was my plan.”

Bell, who serves as the National Reining Horse Youth Association event coordinator, garnered $5,000 for her Level 1 championship and another $2,000 for winning the Youth division. That sum nearly doubled the 15-year-old’s NRHA lifetime earnings of $4,691 prior to the event. But marking a 221 on such a prestigious stage may have carried the most meaning.

“I ran down there and she stopped huge, and I put my hand down and was like, ‘Great. I did my job and my horse was great,’” Bell recalled thinking as she wrapped up her finals performance. “I was figuring it was a 218.5. When I heard that score, blood rushed through my veins and I was ecstatic. I saw everybody at the back gate screaming. We were all ecstatic.”

Blaze Of Glori, a family-owned 6-year-old homebred mare affectionately known as “Jovi,” is by NRHA Hall of Fame inductee Spooks Gotta Whiz and out of Myo Starlight. She is a full sister to 2016 NRHA Level 4 Open Futurity Champion Spooky Whiz, whose NRHA offspring earnings passed the $450,000 mark with Bell’s success tonight. Bell feels lucky and proud that her father, Spence, had faith in her ability to show Blaze Of Glori, and she proved him right.

“My dad bred and raised her,” Bell said of Blaze Of Glori, who was started by NRHA Professional Dallas Cunningham. “My dad graciously let me show her at NRBC [National Reining Breeders Classic] and I was super excited. Everybody loves that mare that’s ridden her and I really hope he doesn’t take her back because I love that mare.”

Masters Non Pro Derby Champions: Frederick Christen and Gonna Outbid U

Frederick Christen made a comeback splash today when he marked 218 from Draw 62 in Section 1 of the Non Pro Derby finals. His performance with Gonna Outbid U reached a 221 with a 3-point handicap to secure the Masters Non Pro Derby Championship, worth $2,000 (including nominator incentives).

Christen, of Whitehouse, Ohio, came to the 6666 NRHA Derby presented by Markel set on leaving his mark with his homebred 7-year-old gelding by nominator Story Book Stables’ stallion Wimpys High Bid.

“I haven’t had a run of this type for three or four years,” he said. “I decided to try and really do my job because my trainers have done their job. It was very satisfying. I didn’t believe my score. It was reviewed, and when they announced it, I had to ask some people to pull it up on the phone [to double-check]. I’ve been in a slump lately.”

It’s safe to say Christen is out of that slump after his performance in the OG&E Coliseum. He credited much of that to Gonna Outbid U, who arrived at the Derby with earnings of $13,179. The gelding is out of Christen’s great mare Msdreamy, who garnered $263,131 in show pens during her decade-long performance career, and Christen said he thinks Gonna Outbid U has a lot left to give.

“He’s just getting better. He’s like a fine wine; he’s just getting better with age,” Christen said.

The first section of the NRHA Open Derby finals starts tomorrow at 9 a.m. The second section, which showcases the Level 4 Open competitors, is set to begin at 5 p.m. Tune in live and catch up on other news from the 6666 NRHA Derby presented by Markel at nrhaderby.com.