Barrel Racing Industry Alliance Releases 2023 Graded Races

From lightning fast runs to record-breaking payouts, barrel racers and their equine partners are never afraid to push the limits. Once again, the barrel racing industry is proving to be on the cutting edge of leadership with the introduction of a graded races system.

The list of graded races for 2023 is now available to view at barrelracingalliance.com.

Following the proven model in the racing industry, the Barrel Racing Industry Alliance has developed a system to grade barrel races that are consistently recognized as the highest level and quality of competition.

Qualifying barrel races will be ranked by Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3, with Grade 1 being the highest grade. Races receiving grades for 2023 were evaluated on total entry numbers, payouts and quality of competition by the BRIA Graded Races Subcommittee. Requirements for grading and graded status of races will be reviewed annually by the BRIA committee, with a new graded barrel race list issued for each year based on that evaluation and assignment process.

As 2023 graded races are entered into the system, these grades will appear on AQHA’s QData Database Online Reports. The wins and placings of horses in graded barrel races will then appear on catalog pages produced by the QData Catalog Builder.

This new system will more closely align barrel horse sale catalog pages with race horse sale catalog pages and help breeders, owners and buyers better evaluate the caliber of the horse and its sire and dam. This new grading tool from BRIA is a significant advance in data analysis for everyone in the barrel racing industry.

Learn more about the graded barrel races and view the complete list of graded races at barrelracingalliance.com.

For more information, contact BRIA@aqha.org.

AQHA News and information is a service of the American Quarter Horse Association. For more news and information, follow @AQHA on Twitter and visit www.aqha.com/news.