Brighton, Colorado-Memorial Day . . . for barrel racers often brings a long weekend of races and fun while remembering the sacrifices of our veterans. It is also known as the unofficial beginning of summer and the theme of beginnings carried through for a pair of race producers. The Mile Hi Barrel Horse Association and the Lynda Ottun Memorial Barrel Race both offered a great start to those WPRA members just embarking upon their professional careers with the inclusion of permit only races with their events.

Approved by the WPRA Board of Directors several years ago, permit only races allow new members the chance to compete only against one another as they pursue the necessary $1,000 won in WPRA-approved races before they are eligible to be full card members.

For Mile Hi, the permit only races present the chance to help aspiring WPRA members achieve their goals of competing professionally.

"Hosting a permit race is an opportunity to provide that final step for the barrel racer in all of us to achieve our childhood dream of becoming 'pro' someday!" says producer Carol Crowder. The Mile Hi's Eighth Annual Formula 707 Memorial Day Classic held at the Adams County Fairgrounds in Brighton, Colo., featured a $1,000 added permit race on Saturday night, May 26.

Taking advantage of that opportunity was Northeastern Junior College freshman Hayden Segelke, who beat 36 other permit holders with her run of 17.514 seconds to win the race and $683. Despite her youth, Segelke is a seasoned veteran of rodeo, attending the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR) as a child to watch her father Tim wrestle steers.

"I've done this so long, there have been so many events," Segelke laughs, adding that what she remembers most about the Wrangler NFR experience was playing with MEGA Bloks in a contestants' family playroom. "But my favorite part of rodeoing is that my whole family does it together. My parents and my sisters . . . my little brother is just starting to rope. That's the coolest thing, that we do it as a family."

The permit only race not only gave Segelke points toward her WPRA card but also presented an "off the normal" revenue source.

"The permit race is definitely a plus," says the Snyder, Colorado cowgirl who is sponsored by Formula 707 and Equine Pride Performance Horse Feed. "It was a lot of fun."

Segelke's success is far from unprecedented. She is already highly decorated in the arena, a champion of the Wrangler Junior High School Division Finals in the barrel racing and two-time winner in the goat tying at the National High School Finals Rodeo. She recently claimed the All Around and Barrel Racing titles for the Central Rocky Mountain Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) and will compete at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in a little over a week in Casper.

"Hayden Segelke was just phenomenal," says Crowder, adding that the cowgirl also won first and second in the $15,000 Formula 707 Barrel Blast Slot Race. "She is just an unbelievable young lady."

"The reason I enjoy hosting these events is because Mile Hi truly enjoys being the launching pad for so many barrel racers in our region," Crowder says. "I get the pleasure of having so many memories of them at various stages and when they do something like Hayden just did, it makes my heart swell. We launched her on into bigger and better things."

Segelke's equine partner in the win was the home grown HPQ Smoking Rascal, a six year old gelding that the young cowgirl trained herself. Rascal was recently named the Central Rocky Mountain Region's Horse of the Year.

"I'm not complaining," Segelke laughs. "I would like to go and see what we can get done."

Following her appearance in Casper where she will run barrels and tie goats, Segelke hopes to enter some WPRA rodeos over the Fourth of July like Cody and Greeley.

The Lynda Ottun Memorial Race is held at Miller's Horse Palace in Billings, Mont., during the long weekend and is dedicated to the memory of Lynda Ottun, a champion barrel racer and WPRA member who lost her battle with ovarian cancer seven years ago.

"We put on this event in her memory to raise money for a crisis fund that we set up to help members of the rodeo and ranching community," says Ottun's daughter Joeleen Ottun-Cox. "We have been able to donate over $26,000 in the last 7 years."

As part of a busy weekend of activities, the Lynda Ottun Memorial hosts a $100 added permit only race and a $250 WPRA side pot sponsored by Wrangler, part of a joint WPRA-Wrangler sponsors program.

Eighteen WPRA permit holders took their shot at earning their card by competing in Billings. After a closely contested race, Heather Knerr rode her horse Bubbles to the victory with a run of 14.680 seconds. She pocketed $192 for the permit race, adding another $445 for sixth in the 1D and third in the average in the co-sanctioned open race.

All totaled, Knerr put herself over the top to be eligible to buy her card, making her a perfect example of what the permit races were intended to do.

For more information on the Lynda Ottun Memorial, please visit them at www.ottunmemorial.com. For more information on the Mile Hi Barrel Horse Association, visit them at www.milehibarrelhorse.com.