Bercegeay Continues to Feel No Pressure at Stopanio Memorial Barrel Race

Blaise Bercegeay and SBWFeelinThePressure racked back to back major slot race wins to close out 2024.

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Blaise Bercegeay and 5-year-old gelding, SBWFeelinThePressure "Gauge," have had a phenomenal month to close out Gauge's first derby year. Just last weekend at the Jingle Bell Classic, they banked over $92,000 on one run and took home the title for one of the biggest slot races of the year, the Crown Round.

Gauge competed very successfully as a futurity horse with Bercegeay's fiancé, Brian Wheeler. Wheeler's mother, Stephanie, raised the gelding, who started his career with a Reserve Championship at the 2022 BFA Juvenile. Gauge is sired by No Pressure On Me, who is out of SX Frenchmans Vanila.

The Wheeler family has a lengthy history with SX horses (bred by the Shearer Ranch in S.D.). Brian and Stephanie dominated in the 2000s and 2010s aboard SX Frenchmans Mocha (Frenchmans Guy x SX Docs Digit x Doc Bruce) and SX Dr Peacharita (Dr Nick Bar x SX Frenchmans Peach x Frenchmans Guy).

Gauge's dam, FeelinTheFirewater, is a JL Dash Ta Heaven daughter, out of Fire Water Fanny. "Sis" also had a phenomenal futurity year with Molli Montgomery before going on to win even more with the Matthews family of Mission Ranch. Sis is a full sister to NHSRA Reserve Champion, American Reserve Champion, and NFR qualifier, Heavenly Firewater ("Bud the Stud").

All this to say, bloodlines might be important in this event! Bercegeay and Wheeler have also worked incredibly hard (and well) together to build their own program into what it is today. Clearly, their training styles and methods are meshing very well, with the results they continually and consistently achieve.

Back to Bercegeay and Gauge - the duo was back on top in Ocala, Fla. at the 14th Annual Rob & Teresa Stopanio Memorial Barrel Race, December 26 - 29, 2024. Winning the Legends Of The South Slot Race with a 12.855 second run, the team pocketed another $60,000.

Taking the win by more than three-tenths of a second, Bercegeay and Gauge also earned a little over $7,000 throughout the rest of the weekend. For winning the Triple Crown 100 and Legends Of The South slot races, they took home an additional $10,000 bonus.

Gauge was already the leading earner for sire, No Pressure On Me, at $217,545. It appears (per QStallions, January 1, 2025) that this amount does not include the over $160,000 from the past two weekends. With just two years of competition, Gauge is quickly closing in on $400,000 in lifetime earnings as he heads into his six-year-old year.

Bercegeay also took home $15,000 for third in the slot race aboard BR The Tonka Taxi (Dash Ta Fame x Nick Bar Girl x Dr Nick Bar) with a 13.210.

Another duo that had a great weekend at the Jingle Bell Classic, Jenna Dominick and Monsterr earned $30,000 for the 2D win in the slot race. They also won the 2D Derby on Saturday for $1,752 and the 2D Open Saturday for $1,971.

Event producer, Angie Hammock, and Ima Jolly Guy (Ima Talented Guy x Jolly Inez x Burrs First Down) won the Futurity Average for $1,292, sweeping both rounds for $969 each.