Joshua Briggs & Kahuna Kat Win 2026 SRCHA Wild Rag Cattle Classic Open Derby 

The 2026 Southwest Reined Cow Horse Association Wild Rag Cattle Classic held May 5-10, 2026, at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas, gave reined cow horse competitors one more opportunity to fine-tune their derby horses before heading to the NRCHA Derby in Scottsdale, Arizona, later this month.

First Major Open Derby Win for Joshua Briggs and Kahuna Kat

With added money on the line and a condensed schedule that tested both horse and rider, the Fort Worth event attracted many of the sport’s top professionals. In the Open Derby, Joshua Briggs and Kahuna Kat (High Brow Cat x Lahaina Lena) emerged on top with a cumulative score of 665 to take home $20,770.82 for owner Patti Chiarelli. The duo also earned an additional $8,409.24 from winning the Intermediate Open Derby

The victory marked the first major open derby win for both Briggs and Kahuna Kat and pushed the stallion’s lifetime earnings beyond $60,000.

“We had to make a decision on if we were even going to show at the Wild Rag Cattle Classic with the NRCHA Derby in Scottsdale coming up,” Briggs said. “You want to have those horses as prepared as possible for the major events … but with this show being local, and they put a lot of added money into it, it just felt like one we couldn’t miss.”

The decision proved worthwhile.

The pair started the show with a score of 220 in the herd work. They kept up the momentum with another solid 220 in the rein work before earning a 225 down the fence, securing the championship with a half point lead against Justin Wright and RSR Closing Time (Stevie Rey Von x Lillys Bugatti) who ended the show as reserve champions.

Briggs has ridden Kahuna Kat throughout most of the horse’s career and said the stallion has steadily improved each time he enters the show pen. Because of their history together, the championship held extra significance.

“It’s special for me to get a win like that for this horse because he’s been so fun to show and train,” Briggs said. “He’s awesome. He’s won a check every horse show he’s gone to at this point. Some horses just like to go horse show. Even when he’s not perfect, he seems like he knows how to get it done just enough to win a check.”

Other Winners at the SRCHA Wild Rag Cattle Classic

Other top riders also collected major wins during the week in Fort Worth.

Clayton Edsall earned $7,259.95 in the Open Bridle Spectacular aboard Hicaliber Cat, owned by Crosshair Ranch, after posting a composite score of 446.5. The pair also finished third in the Open Bridle class to add another $1,021.25 to their earnings.

Sarah Dawson and Venom Boonsmal, owned by Aaron Ranch, won the Open Two Rein Spectacular and earned $7,583.75 after finishing with a cumulative score of 444.

SRCHA Wild Rag Cattle Classic Open Derby Placings