Jason Vanlandingham earns Back to Back Million Dollar Competition Title on Gunnabebigtime
After qualifying for The Run For A Million (TRFAM) 2024 on Gunnabebigtime, Jason Vanlandingham decided that he would give “Big Jake” a chance at the 2024 title at South Point Equestrian Center in August. Vanlandingham and Gunnabebigtime came out victorious with a 229 score and a back to back Million Dollar Competition Championships.
Million Dollar Competition DreamsVanlandingham had been preparing the 2017 stallion (Gunnatrashya x Big Time Jazzy x Shine Big Time) months for this event and rode him at The American Performance Horseman earlier this year.
“I’ve shown that horse a lot, and I had him at The American this year, and I failed him,” Vanlandingham admitted. “I mean, the horse had the thing won and I go in there and I break pattern and spin him three times and I should not have made that kind of a mistake.”
Many fans wondered if Vanlandingham would ride the 2023 TRFAM Champion Best Shine (Shine Chic Shine x Best Stop x Custom Chrome), but Vanlandingham felt that Big Jake had earned his chance to shine. Aside from being mentally prepared himself, Vanlandingham said the most preparation Big Jake needed was to stay legged up.
“He’s one of those just super laid back kind of horses. I bet I don’t ride him 15 minutes a day. I mean, [he’s] just one of those that you can keep legged up, and that’s about all you have to do,” Vanlandingham said.
Taylor Sheridan came on stage to help present Jason Vanlandingham’s awards. * Photo by Amy Olson
With a good feed program and a caring wife (Adrienne) backing his horses. Vanlandingham just had to ride the best pattern he could. With four large fast circles behind the two, they had three stops to complete before hearing their score.
“I knew that he was awfully good,” Vanlandingham said about the first half of the run. “My biggest thing was I knew he was a little bit tired. As hard as I ran him in there I thought ‘Do I have enough?’ You know, am I going to be able to get him down there? And thankfully, his heart showed through and he went down there and did his thing. Really the whole thing, [I’m] just trying to think about how I need to set him up for success. And then once the run was over, I knew we’d done something pretty special.”
The $500,000 winner’s share of the Million Dollar Competition pushed Gunnabebigtime’s lifetime earnings to more than $879,766, according to EquiStat.
Millions of Honors
Luca Fappani took home the Reserve Championship and crossed the NRHA Million Dollar Rider mark. * Photo By Amy Olson
Luca Fappani and Mr Abracadabra (Gunnatrashya x Nu Magic Cash x Nu Chex To Cash) marked a 228.5 for the Million Dollar Competition Reserve Championship and added $100,000 to their lifetime earnings. That money official boosted Fappani to become a National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Million Dollar Rider.
NRHA Hall Of Famer Shawn Flarida rode the 17-year-old stallion Spooks Gotta Whiz (Spooks Gotta Gun x Prettywhizprettydoes x Topsail Whiz) to a 221 score after pulling him out of retirement for another ride. An EquiStat Elite $8 Million Sire and NRHA Triple Crown winner, Spooks Gotta Whiz stood for ten years at Cinder Lakes Stallion Station under the management of the late Rick Ford. Flarida said his ride on Spooks Gotta Whiz at the Million Dollar Competition was made in Ford’s honor. The crowd was touched, to say the least, and Spooks Gotta Whiz was selected as the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Fan Favorite.