Double Trouble: Meet the Pair of ‘Pipers’ Dominating Barrel Racing in 2026

As we head into the final three months of 2026, payouts have been huge and many championships have been awarded. Still more are on the line this season, and we wanted to take a deeper look at the barrel horses who currently lead the way in earnings.

At the top of the leaderboard are two mares with totally different bloodlines, one competing as a futurity horse, the other at professional rodeos, but both go by the barn name "Piper."

No. 1 - Flinging Goodbyes - $271,546

A 2021 mare by The Goodbye Lane and out of Blue Moon Fling by A Streak Of Fling, "Piper" was bred and is owned by Shawn and Rikki Moyer. Trained and jockeyed in the futurities by Ceri Ward, Piper has been unstoppable since her debut in the BFA Freshman Slot Race — which she won.

Counting Piper's futurity earnings from 2025, she has racked up $333,090 in lifetime earnings as of September 21, 2026 (not all earnings through this date are included in QData statistics). Piper and Ward have earned multiple futurity championships and slot race titles throughout the past 10 months, and with the Pink Buckle coming up in the next few weeks, this team is sure to add more wins to that resume.

No. 2 - Buncha Dinero - $258,246

The duo turns a barrel — Hayle Gibson-Stillwell and Buncha Dinero | Fernando Sam-Sin

Hayle Gibson-Stillwell's home-bred PC Frenchmans Hayday daughter, a horse of a different color than our first "Piper," is the golden girl who has set the professional rodeo world on fire for the past two seasons.

Out of the full-blood Thoroughbred mare Rambunchkie by Bellamy Road, Piper has amassed $672,258 in lifetime earnings at just seven years old. She and Gibson-Stillwell qualified for their first National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2025, where they put on an incredible performance. Gibson-Stillwell is currently No. 2 in the World Standings and headed to Las Vegas for her second NFR.

Their performance at the Calgary Stampede this year was nothing short of legendary, when they shattered the arena record with a run of 16.56 seconds.

No. 3 - Heavens Gone Wild - $228,384

The 2022 gelding made his futurity debut this year with Molli Montgomery in impressive fashion. Bred by Leslie Newman and owned by Hinton Performance Horses LLC, the JL Dash Ta Heaven son out of LegsGoneWild by Tres Seis is closing in on the quarter-million-dollar mark with less than one year of competition under his belt.

No. 4 - Force The Goodbye - $226,018

The second The Goodbye Lane offspring on this list, "Jarvis" has played a key role in Kassie Mowry's back-to-back World Championships. With $2.3 million in lifetime earnings, he is The Goodbye Lane's highest-earning offspring. From aged events to professional rodeo wins, Jarvis and Mowry have continued to stack wins this season.

Top 10

5. Dashing Olie / $197,123
6. Lipstick N Stilletos / $190,166
7. Wonder If Im Lucky / $189,320
8. Chicado Moon / $180,602
9. Smooth As Rico Suave / $179,118
10. Tornado Lane / $172,537

** Note: Tornado Lane is the third The Goodbye Lane offspring on this list. The Goodbye Lane is the only sire with more than one progeny in the top 10 money earners for 2026.

All information was obtained through the QData database, powered by AQHA.

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