Bobby, ridden by Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi and owned by Benalla’s Tamara Walker and Molly Harper, had a great outing at the Calgary Stampede. Photo: Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP
An Australian star with a Benalla connection is tearing up the competition in the United States, but there’s something unique about this competitor: he’s a horse.
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“Bobby”, mostly through circumstance, found his way into the stable of one of the best and most well-known barrel racers on the circuit, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, and has been a great asset for the three-time world champion.
Barrel racing is a traditionally female-only rodeo event that sees riders guide their horse around three barrels in a cloverleaf pattern, looking for the fastest time.
Bobby was trained by Montana O’Donoghue-Kent, who today works at Three Nines, a horse and cattle breeding, training and sales business at Echuca.
“I’ve been doing it my whole life,” O’Donoghue-Kent said.
“Mum’s side of the family is from Kamarooka (near Elmore) and so they were all really into horses.
“We grew up down the other side of Melbourne in Gippsland and always rode horses and I've just barrel raced, rodeoed, competed and trained horses my whole life.”
O’Donoghue-Kent purchased Bobby from Tamworth a decade ago, when he was a year old, and began the process of training him up for competition.
About three years ago, she made the move to Texas and, after evaluating the competition overseas, elected to bring Bobby over to join her on the competitive circuit.
At the end of 2024, O’Donoghue-Kent returned to Australia and sold Bobby to Tamara Walker and Molly Harper from Benalla.
Montana O’Donoghue-Kent brought Bobby to the US to compete in 2022. Photo: Supplied.
The new owners intended for Molly to ride Bobby on the college circuit, beginning in August, but needed to house him in the meantime.
“They needed somewhere for him to live, so they boarded him at Brittany’s place in Texas,” O’Donoghue-Kent said.
“Brittany needed a horse to ride at Houston at the rodeo in March, it’s the highest paying winter rodeo.
“She asked me if I thought she could ride him and so she rode him there and she did really well and won around $30,000 out of that rodeo.”
Pozzi Tonozzi has continued to call on Bobby since then, riding him at some of the biggest rodeo events on the calendar, including this past week at “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”, the Calgary Stampede in Canada.
Bobby helped Pozzi Tonozzi to two second-place runs in the group stages, qualifying for the final day, where the pair was fastest into the final three showdown.
The duo unfortunately picked up a penalty in the showdown and finished third, but still came away with more than $20,000 from the event overall.
“It’s really exciting,” O’Donoghue-Kent said.
“There have been a few other Australian barrel racing horses that have flown over there and competed, but none of them have won to this level.
“It’s a pretty big deal for him to have won as much as he has won over there in such a short amount of time.”
O’Donoghue-Kent said Bobby would probably fetch about $500,000 now after proving successful among the scene’s best.
Unlike in horse racing, barrel racing horses can often compete until about 18 to 20 years old, so Bobby has plenty of good years left.
Pozzi Tonozzi will continue to compete with Bobby over the next several weeks, before he returns, as planned, to the care of his owners.
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