After a dynamic runoff saga, Brian Bell and Crystalized Whizkey, a 3 year old Mare owned by Wallace Wood sired by Whizkey N Diamonds out of the dam, Lonely At The Top, win the 2023 NRHA Futurity, which is a first time Futurity win for Brian.
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After the Futurity, we conducted a detailed analysis of the officiating in the Open Futurity 2023 held in Oklahoma City. You can listen to the full podcast below, or on the Episode 26 page here.
Crystalized Whizkey Ridden by Brian Bell Win the futurity after a run-off with a 224.5 = ave 74.8
Inferno Thirty Five, ridden by Andrea Fappani, is 2nd after a run-off with a 223 = ave 74.3
The basic data from the 2023 Futurity:
The Open Futurity was made up of
The big question from the industry becomes: was there a tie?
The fact is Crystalized Whizkey and Brian Bell won the Futurity after a run-off.
As in all sports, you can feel, think and have an emotional reaction to the final outcome, this is the fun of being a fan, and the engagement we gain from our sport. The officiating of the competition is the final say as the record books are set. How the game is played is set by the current administration.
The science says that a big factor on why objective analysis becomes flawed is due to an emotional chemical reaction that is produced as officials attempt to make hard decisions. This is a big reason why we are in the stands and the officials are paid to be in the chairs. Selection of officials, prep and management of officials is another topic for another time – but it matters.
Removing the emotion and doing an analysis on an objective level, the officiating system decided the following:
When you look at all five score cards, how did they get to a tie in the first place?
The officiating system uses five officials for this purpose as it minimizes personal /individual subjective decisions. A 360 degree view & distinct decisions of the competition.
If you add all 5 scores
Crystalized Whizkey marks 376
Inferno Thirty Five marks 375.5
This creates a 0.5 point differential.
In the official process we drop the high and low scores and add the three remaining.
Crystalized Whizkey has a 1.5 pt spread on all five score card; 74.5 -to- 76
And Inferno Thirty Five has a 1 pt spread on all five score cards; 74.5 to – 75.5
It is not one official’s decisions, it is collective.
More officials view & decision, the better.
Inferno Thirty Five was labored and had to be obviously pushed throughout the entire run
> Both horses carried different styles and horse balance to their execution of the pattern.
> The fine distinction of quality of control, dictated to completely, finesse & smoothness were key fine distinctions that had to be dealt with and quickly answered.
There are 3 maneuvers that separate these two runs at the maneuver level according to the score cards:
They end up in a tie and then what a mess. The administration announces Co-Champions and begins the awards ceremony. The crowd begins to leave and in due time they announce a run-off will occur.
Crystalized Whizkey and Brian Bell repeat their dynamic run and here’s the results:
Inferno Thirty Five and Andrea Fappani
> What maneuvers created separation in these runs (it was due to very fine distinctions). In this run off it was the 1st stop, the 1st spin and the last stop that made the difference and sent Crystalized Whizkey and Brian Bell to the winners circle and bank for deposit.
This emphasizes the differences of the two runs and the difficulty demanded on fine distinct decisions. The fundamental difference between the runs is the style and degree of difficulty; as being dictated to completely, and determined by the team of officials.
Brian Bell was more clear cut and Andrea Fappani had more of a score difference in final judges decisions.
This also is a great example of the pressure on the officiating of this sport and the need for the system to be upgraded and elevated. For the horses sake, the owners sake and the sports sake. Using an advanced system there would not have been a run-off in the first place.
Keep Your Questions Coming
Email questions to exec@cowboyoffice.com. We’ll continue to catalog your questions for our next question and answer segment.
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Images provided with permission by Brian and Naike Bell.
Official Scores at NRHAFuturity.com
After the submission of an anonymous question about improving the reining judging system, past judges and NRHA monitors outline necessary steps and 3 practical ways advancement to officiating could happen.
A compelling year of reining concluded in Oklahoma City at the 2023 NRHA Futurity with a tie for Champion. In an epic scoring analysis, Brian and Jody break down whether there should have been a tie to begin with.
Reining judges analyze competition, covering NRHA Rules, judging systems, variable scores, and the acceptable range of score spreads and variances, emphasizing the importance of managing mistakes for a fair judging assessment.
The 2022 Open NRHA Reining Futurity episode unfolds as Andiamoe, ridden by Shawn Flarida, claims victory with a 0.5-point edge over Customize My Dream, analyzed through a comprehensive officiating breakdown by the Cowboy Office.
