On Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, the Open All Star Sorting Bowl was championed by the winning team of Kris Doornink and Cinch RSNC Customer Service Liaison Tanner Sperle, who each rode horses sired by a 2002 sorrel registered as Halreycious.
Who is Halreycious
Halreycious made a name for himself as a cutting horse that, across a decade of competition, amassed $227,459 in lifetime earnings according to QData. He is sired by AQHA Hall of Famer Dual Rey and out of Stylish Play Lena, making him a maternal sibling to performance horse standouts like the late Hottish, Smooth Talkin Style and Stylish Rey.
Hal to win
Halreycious also boasts a successful breeding career, with progeny earnings in excess of $3.9 million, reports QData. The lion’s share of those earnings are reported by the cutting industry, but Halreycious’s get have also cut checks in the reined cow horse, in roping, in barrel racing, ranch riding and more, not to mention in disciplines that aren’t reported, such as ranch sorting.
In November, however, that number climbed—albeit unofficially—when Doornink entered the Open Sorting Bowl on his go-to gelding Brilliant Hal, aka “Flint,” with Sperle, who threw down on his good mare “Penny,” registered as PRF Dancer Margarita.
“I rode him a couple rides yesterday morning, but I saved him for that class,” explained Doornink, of Sundance, Wyoming, after winning the class on Flint. “He’ll do anything I want, and he’ll do it hard.”
Hal’s Holmestead
Both Doornink and Sperle, who lives in Wellington, Colorado, purchased their horses from Wolfe Cowhorses, owned by Cinch RSNC Director of Events, Logan Wolfe and his wife, Jessie, who are also in Wellington. Logan discovered his affection for the Halreycious line when he purchased “Billy”— his best horse—registered as Halunpreydictable, 10 years ago.
“The reason I like him the most is because of his heart, his try,” Logan offered. “The Halreycious horses really enjoy the sport of ranch sorting, and that’s why we enjoy the bloodline.”
Just a few miles down the road from Wellington is Holmes Performance Horses in Longmont, Colorado—home to Halreycious. There, Linda Holmes operates a breeding program featuring sires like the late, great Dual Rey, Areybe, and Roasting, all available for contract in 2025 at Valley Equine in Stephenville, Texas.
Today, Halreycious enjoys a quiet, retired life, breeding just a few times a year—enough to maintain his quality of life, Holmes says.
“He’s a pet at this point,” Holmes said of the 23-year-old stallion, who had a likeable disposition even in his heyday. “He was really good-minded and easy to be around, and super gentle. Not bronc-y; not silly. Just real level-headed. And really, he was very consistent. He was consistently easy to do anything with, and I think his babies are that way.”
Happy with Hal’s horses
Considering the recent win by rookie ranch sorter Hattie Portell of Hermann, Missouri, on her newly acquired Halreycious mare, Nurserey Cat, aka “Rori,” Holmes may be right. Halreycious appears to have produced a line of ranch sorters that showcase the best of his bloodlines: they are talented, hardy, and accommodating.
“Within 48 hours of being mine, she won me a buckle and some [money],” Portell wrote about her 2016 mare in a Facebook post after winning the #11/2 Rookie class at the Missouri State Finals in December.
Incredibly, while each of these ranch sorting talents came through Wolfe Cowhorses, sharing Halreycious as a sire is “just a coincidence,” according to the Wolfes, though each horse’s owner would probably consider it more a “happy coincidence.”
“I won the Open last year—my first time in the Open class with her,” Sperle said of 14-year-old “Penny” after his $6,844 win with Doornink in November. “And I got to come back and do it again.”
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