General News
4 August, 2025
Barrel racing duo produce their best at Merry Muster
There was a boilover in the ladies barrel race at the Curry Merry Muster.
Rockhampton barrel racer Anna Hamilton hopes the best is yet to come with her speedster Denny after they combined to win at the Curry Merry Muster on Saturday.
Hamilton said she was stunned after stopping the clock in 17.493 to claim the ladies barrel race.
“I usually don’t have the quickest horse and we’ve just slowly been working on getting quicker and quicker,” she said.
“There’s so many good cowgirls here today, and it was just awesome to win it.”
While Denny is no spring chicken at 12 years of age, Hamilton said he had been a work in progress.
“I bought him off my best friend nine years ago and he’s just a real cool pony that I get to pilot and he just does all of the work,” she said of her gelding.
This year has been a turning point for the dynamic duo, with wins at six rodeos and a couple of futurities.
They won in Omeo and Buchan in the Victorian high country before heading back to Queensland for good cheques at places like Emerald and Charters Towers.
The Merry Muster victory takes the cake, however.
“This is definitely our biggest win,” Hamilton said.
“I’ve been rodeoing for a long time but I just haven’t quite had the horsepower. So this is probably my first great horse that I’ve owned.”
A bargain basement buy at $6000, Denny will now head to Mount Isa where he can pick up another huge cheque at Buchanan Park.
“He likes a big pen, he’s a big horse and he will excel in a big pen,” Hamilton said of the large expanses of Kalkadoon Arena.
“We’re all here because it’s going to be big this year – there’s $15,000 up for grabs per event – we all want to go, we all want to win it.
“It’s not just for the money, it’s the prestigious thing to win.”