Kevin Dukes had a dilemma. He had two horses for the AQHA World Championship Show junior pleasure driving class.

One was Ray Roles’ Alotta Luke. The other was Carol Harris’ Larks Happy Days, the horse Kevin drove to the 2006 junior pleasure driving world championship. He decided to ask his friend Charlie Cole to take Carol’s horse and he would drive Ray’s.

“Kevin had trained this horse, and he had asked me earlier in the year if I would drive him before I had ever seen him,” Charlie said. “I saw the horse at Congress and I told Kevin I’m excited to drive that horse. He’s really a nice horse.”

So Charlie asked his partner, Jason Martin, to drive his scheduled horse, Emily Harrington’s Artful Persuasion, and he took on “Fonzie.” 

“I had a good drive in the go-round, but he was new to me,” Charlie said. “I had never driven him before and in the finals he drove really good. I just felt more comfortable and I was real happy with it.”

As the placings were announced, it eventually came to only Jason and Charlie still in the arena. As the drum roll sounded over the loud speaker, the reserve champion was announced. It was Jason and Artful Persuasion. Charlie had driven Fonzie to a second world championship.

“It worked out great,” Charlie said. “It’s always funny when it comes down to the two of us. Usually, Jason is on the other end, and he wins and I’m second. But this time, I guess it was my turn.”

After his victory lap, a cell phone was brought down to Charlie so he could tell the good news to Carol, who was laid up sick in a hotel with strep throat.

“Carol, this is Charlie. He won again,” Charlie told her in front of the Coliseum crowd. “He’s a nice horse, and I wish you could have been here to see him win.”