STARKVILLE — The Mississippi Horse Park will host the fourth annual Lucky Dog Barrel Race on Saturday through Monday.
This is the second sold-out horse event at the Horse Park in 2015 and it will draw contestants from multiple states to compete. All horses will be barrel racing regardless of the breed.
Lucky Dog was founded in 2009 with the goal of producing affordable, quality barrel races. The low entry fees make it economical to travel to these events and is a huge drawing point for contestants.
The entry fees are low but the stakes are high as competitors race for the lucrative payouts and quality awards. In 2014, Lucky Dog paid out more than $509,000 in cash and more than $57,000 in prizes at eight events in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.
The two Mississippi events are held in Tunica and Starkville.
The Horse Park was able to convince Lucky Dog to come to Starkville with the help of the Starkville CVB Sponsorship Program.
“This is a great example of how the CVB program was used to entice an event to move to Starkville and generate new tourism dollars in our community,” said Bricklee Miller, facility director. “The Lucky Dog Barrel Race has sold-out all the horse stalls for three years and is now an established event at the Horse Park,”
In 2014, the Starkville Lucky Dog Barrel Race had 1,797 entries from across the southeast and paid out $65,308 in prize money to contestants. The event is sanctioned through the Better Barrel Races Association and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. With the barrel race being a D format, it allows all calibers of horses and riders to win.
Contestants of all ages and levels compete this weekend.
The show is free for the public to attend.
The MS Horse Park is a division of Mississippi State University Extension Service. For more about the Horse Park please visit www.mshorsepark.com or like their Facebook page “MS Horse Park.”
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