The Lucky Duck—a fast-paced, drag race–style shootout—is for ranch sorters who finish just one spot out of the money during the Cinch RSNC World Finals and, for Colleen Galloway and Chet Barrett, the class lived up to its name, delivering a world championship title and a $2,640 payday for sorting 17 head in 127.58 seconds across three rounds.
A game-time decision to enter turned into a storybook win for Galloway of Farmington, Missouri, and Barrett of Mt. Airy, Georgia, on the final night of the 2025 Cinch RSNC World Finals. After a long week of competing, Galloway had already packed up and was simply planning on enjoying the Lucky Duck as a spectator—until a rider no-showed and organizers needed a fill-in.
Galloway volunteered to put her name in the draw and soon found herself entering the pen on a borrowed horse. She was paired with Barrett, who had finished in the No. 11 spot in the highly competitive Mil+Spec Liners #6/4 Inc. earlier in the week.
Coincidentally, Galloway and Barrett had already ridden together earlier that day in the #12, which didn’t go as hoped when the blank cow snuck through at the last minute.
“So we needed to get lucky,” Galloway said, laughing.
This time, luck showed up. The duo laid down a series of redemption runs, outlasting Kris Doornink and Bill Womack to clinch the win—though they didn’t know it at the time.
“I didn’t know if we were done, if we won, or what we were doing,” Barrett said of the fast-and-furious final round. “I was just having fun.”
Galloway agreed.
“That was the most fun I had all week,” she said, setting up Barrett for a friendly roast. “I knew I couldn’t let Chet down because, well, we blew out earlier today, and that was kind of his fault. So, if this one was on me. I felt good about it.”
Galloway credits her borrowed horse, owned by Kecia Adams, for making the win possible.
“She hauled him out from Oregon,” Galloway said. “That’s a long haul. And for him to still be so cool to just jump on and go put a run together like that—that says a lot about the horse.”
Barrett rode Judgement Day (High Brow Cat x Bet On Houston), aka, “Gus,” a 2014 sorrel gelding and $150,000 earner in the cutting pen who subbed in when Barrett’s main mount, “Danger,” was sidelined with an injury.
“He did good today,” Barrett said. “He’s nice. Real nice.”
With their win-that-almost-wasn’t, Galloway and Barret proved that the best rides aren’t the always the most planned—sometimes they’re the ones sparked by second chances, fueled by fun and sealed with a little luck.
This article appears in the Summer 2025 issue of The Ranch Sorter, featuring World Champion stories, event recaps, regional results, and more.
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