Team Racing Green: Who Will They Ride for The American Performance Horseman 2024?

This year Team Racing Green,  will consist of EquiStat Elite $6 Million Rider Wesley Galyean, EquiStat Elite $8 Million Rider Andrea Fappani and EquiStat Elite $1 Million Rider Matt Koch. With combined earnings of over $15 Million, Team Racing Green has the highest combined trainer earnings of 2024 The American Performance Horseman competitors according to EquiStat.

Teton Ridge announced the teams that riders would compete on for The American Performance Horseman 2024. Each rider qualified by being a top earner in their respective discipline in 2023. Five riders from the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA), the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA), and the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) were split onto teams of three with one rider from each discipline.

Per show rules, the qualified riders can take any horse they would like with the exception of NRCHA riders who can take any bridle horse. On March 1, riders on Team Racing Green will officially choose their horses but Quarter Horse News sat down with the riders ahead of time to see which horses they were considering taking.

Horse earnings below are provided by EquiStat statistical service.

Claremore, Oklahoma

Pedigree: 20S (Metallic Rebel x A Little Reylena x Dual Rey)
Earnings: $375,183
Career Highlights: Won the 2023 NCHA Futurity Open Championship and the 2024 Arbuckle Mountain Futurity 4-Year-Old Open.
Galyean: “He’s very athletic, very light footed, very dynamic and just very talented.”
Fast Fact: His mother, A Little Reylena, is one of only a handful of broodmares to foal two winners of the NCHA Futurity Open Championship. In addition to Lone Woolf, she is the mother of Lone Woolf’s half-brother, 2017 NCHA Futurity Open Champion Dual Reyish. Both stallions are owned by Billy Wolf.

Sccottsdale, Arizona

Pedigree: 17S (Colonels Smoking Gun “Gunner” X Wimpys Little Chic x Wimpys Little Step)
Earnings: $422,757
Career Highlights: 2020 NRHA Level 4 Open Futurity Champion, 2023 The Run For A Million Reining Open Shootout Champion, 2022 Reining By The Bay Level 4 Open Derby Champion
Fappani: “Last year, I came in short by half a point behind Casey [Deary], and I took Trash Talkin Spook, that, at the time, I felt was the most solid horse,” Fappani recalls from the 2023 TAPH. “This year, I’m taking a little bit more of a chance. It’s either going to be really, really good or it could go the other way, because it’s a different environment. I love the challenge, and I have a gut feeling that when it comes down to it, [All Bettss Are Off] will step up.”
Fun Fact: “[All Bettss Are Off] is very aware of everything that goes on around him. He hardly ever sleeps during the day. He’s always up with his head out of the stall to check everybody out.”

Elizabeth, Colorado

Pedigree: 15M (WR This Cats Smart x Shiners Diamond Lady x Shining Spark)
Earnings: $107,066
Career Highlights: The Run For A Million Cow Horse Challenge competitor, 2023 Colorado Reined Cow Horse Association (CRCHA) Sagebrush Open Bridle Spectacular Champion
Koch: “You can just kind of go call on her in about any situation, whether you’re showing or if you need to go doctor something (cattle) by yourself. You know, you can just grab her. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
Fun Fact: Smart Ladies Sparkle shines in the arena and on the ranch, she does real cowboy work when she’s not at shows with Koch and was purchased by the XIT Ranch in 2022.