Fan Favorites Highlight the Barrel Racing at Hondo Rodeo Fest

Not one, not two, but eight of the favorite cowgirls in the world gathered at Chase Field in Arizona and gave the crowd an incredible show.

Lisa Lockhart and Sasha competing at the Hondo Rodeo Fest / Hillary Maybery for Rodeo on SI

Three full nights of action at the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks happened because of the Hondo Rodeo Fest. Every single event was packed with World Champions and multiple time National Finals Rodeo qualifiers.

The barrel race was filled with exciting and new stories throughout the course of the competition.

With nine world titles and 70 -- that is correct -- 70 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifications represented, the girls brought the heat to the arena floor at the Chase Field in Phoenix.

Round one had a few shocking moments for the crowd and even the contestants.

One of the head-turning stories was Hailey Kinsel running down the alleyway on a palomino mare. A beautiful palomino mare. That doesn't seem like a story does it? Ah, but it was. It wasn't the palomino mare everyone expected the four time World Champion to come riding.

It was a mare known to the world as 'J-Lo'. The American Quarter Horse Association knows the gifted mare as KN Fabs Gift of Fame. The 15-year-old mare is owned by Kenny Nichols and James Barron. She was ridden by several over the course of her career but it was Ivy Saebens that took the incredible athlete to the NFR. While she might not be able to hit the road full time, the mare is certainly capable of competing on call and did so all weekend at the Hondo.

The next shocker was when fan favorite, Lisa Lockhart, the Oelrichs, South Dakota lady cracked the gate riding a sorrel mare. 'Sasha' was visibly running harder than the others, and when the clock stopped, her grit and try showed through. Lockhart was on top of the leaderboard riding the 6-year-old, Blazin ta Betty. The beautiful mare is by Dash ta Fame and out of Blazin Black Beauty.

The final shocker of the first round came when the incredible World Champion equine athlete, Rollo, missed the third barrel. He and his talented rider, Jordon Briggs turned the first two barrels with precision and near perfection. Then, as Briggs put it later, "Rollo just saw something at the third barrel. Maybe he wanted to go to the concert?"

Think this hindered Briggs? No way. It didn't even phase her, nor did it stop Rollo from showing off exactly the greatness that he possesses. The duo came back in the second round to take the win. With a 13.882, Briggs and her mount gathered up the $12,000 check and proved that even the very best, the elite, make mistakes but what separates them from the pack is that they just dust off, and come right back with the confidence of a champion.

As the weekend went on, another statistic stood out - there were no hit barrels in the entire first two rounds. The horses and competitors brought their very best performances for the crowd.

Only on round three did the side of the barrels find the dirt and that only happened twice.

In the end when the last horse went across the finish line, it would be Lisa Lockhart and Sasha that would gather up the $20,000 bonus for the average win.