Barrel racer finds herself ahead of schedule in return to NFR

The sprint down the covered aisle, into the open air and bright lights of the arena. The noise of the Las Vegas crowd cheering loudly. The buckskin-colored drums with Coors logos waiting in a cloverleaf pattern.

Sue Smith has often visualized a run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. The veteran barrel racer and horse trainer fully believed she would make a return appearance to the Thomas &Mack Center soon.

Just not this soon.

“I honestly was just trying to get set up for next year. I was planning on making a run for it then,” Smith said after qualifying for her first Wrangler NFR in more than a decade. “I was just trying to be in the top 30 so I could get into the winter rodeos, and I wanted to do good in my circuit so maybe I could go to the NFR Open and set myself up for next year. In doing that, I just accidentally made the Finals this year.”

Over the course of the 2023 regular season, the Blackfoot, Idaho, native had enough success on her two horses, Centerfold and Heff, to earn $105,644 and place 14th in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association barrel racing standings. She previously reached the Finals in 2009 and 2011.

Smith’s path for an unintentional return to Las Vegas started eight years ago, during some early training with Centerfold, now a 12-year-old sorrel mare. The pair were in Arizona taking part in futurity events when Smith made the decision to send her home. The 4-year-old was fast on the sprints but needed more training on how to turn in barrels.

When she sent Centerfold back to Idaho, Smith made the decision to inseminate her and remove the embryo seven days later, placing it in a recipient mare. About 11 months later, Heff was born while Centerfold was in Arizona competing in futurity events. And that birth was immediately a good omen.

“We won second in the slot race at Diamonds and Dirt that afternoon,” Smith recalled.

Fast forward to 2023 and Smith found herself with two high-quality horses from legacy bloodlines that were drawing interest from other rodeo competitors. Smith wasn’t ready to part with either, so she decided it was time to start competing a little more to see how they would fare.

Centerfold set the tone early with several wins, none bigger than her run in late July at the Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days. An outdoor arena known for its longer runs and big prizes, Smith reached the finals and watched as fellow barrel racer Summer Kosel rewrote the arena record with a blazing time of 16.97 seconds, the first run under 17 seconds in Frontier Days history.

“When Summer goes out there and sets an arena record, I was just like, ‘Well, there’s always second place.’ I thought it was done — I guess Centerfold didn’t feel that way, thank goodness,” Smith said as the duo clocked 16.89 seconds to reset the record and claim more than $22,000 at the rodeo.

Shortly after that record-setting performance, Centerfold suffered a setback that kept her from competing the past few months. The injury forced Smith to change her approach, moving Heff from a back-up horse — seeing competition at smaller rodeos — to primary mount.

While there is a chance Centerfold returns during the NFR, Smith believes in each horse. She had already planned on running both in some form at the event, but she just wasn’t sure how it would all play out.

At the Cinch Playoffs in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in September, Smith got a boost of confidence in Heff as he sprinted to a time of 13.96 seconds in the first round to place third. While his second run led to an aggregate total that didn’t advance the pair to the semifinals, the 7-year-old had given Smith what she needed.

“At Sioux Falls, the arena dimensions and the setup are similar to the NFR, and he ran really well there. I felt a lot more positive and have a lot more confidence in him having run there now,” Smith said. “A lot of times, you’ll take those young horses and kind of put that pressure on them, and they either fall apart or they step up. He, thank goodness, stepped up to the plate for me.”

Smith has one check so far this week, taking third in the third go-round to pocket $18,325, and she’s obviously hoping for a little more on these final two nights. But more than a decade removed from her last visit as a competitor in Las Vegas, Smith isn’t fretting about which horse is available each night. After all, she never really intended to be here — at least this year.

And Smith plans to fully savor the unexpected moment.

“So many people are there rooting for you, and it’s just an extraordinary experience. This year, I’m going to enjoy it, whatever happens,” Smith said. “I’m not going to say I’m not going to try to win some money, because there’s great money there. But no matter what, I’m going to try to have fun this year and not be too worried about everything.”