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| This is the second Bayer Select World championship for Whoa Fritzie Whoa and Kelly Bergo-Gully |
Kelly Bergo-Gully and Whoa Fritzie Whoa were the last of 15 riders in the Bayer Select World Championship Show reining finals. By the time the pair entered the Amarillo National Center on August 30, Jim Babcock and Cowboy Smarts had the lead with a 216, but Kelly didn’t know that.
“I didn’t know what any of the scores were,” she said. “But I was just a little bit nervous going in because you never know what might happen. But my trainer Carol Metcalf said, ‘Don’t fool around. Go run that horse. So I did.’”
And Kelly didn’t fool around. Performing AQHA Pattern No. 4, the Newell, South Dakota, resident moved “Dottie” into their first fast circle.
“We started out in those right circles pretty fast, but she came back good,” Kelly recalled. “And when we went to the left, she went really fast and I was thinking it might be too much, but she came back again. So it was good.
“Running down the center, she’s a big stopper. It felt good. I was really happy with her. I honestly didn’t know what the score was. That was good.”
Good enough that as Kelly and the 12-year-old mare walked out of the pen, the score was announced: a 217.5, the same score they marked in the prelims on August 28.
“That mare is just a great mare. She’s the same all the time. I don’t always run her that hard but she’s a good mare. She is really solid,” Kelly said.
This was the second trip to the winners circle for Dottie and Kelly. The pair won their first Bayer Select World reining title last year.
“Feels good to win again; as good as the first time,” Kelly said.
Kelly bought Dottie as a 7-year-old. By Master Boot Jac and out of Melissa Parker by Bull Parker, Dottie has carried two foals: one by Boomernic and another by Chic Please.
“The Chic Please is a 2-year-old this year,” Kelly said. “We are just kind of getting started with him and see what happens.”
With two world championships, will Kelly now retire Dottie to the broodmare band?
“Nope,” she said with a smile. “I’m pretty sure we’ll be back again next year.”
