Todd Crawford and Dual Smart Rey gelding CRC 1942 slid their way to a 218.5-point run during the rein work portion of the Run For A Million Cow Horse Challenge, setting themselves up for the fence portion of the competition taking place Friday night, August 14, 2026.
Find a recap of the Run For A Million Cow Horse Challenge rein work here.
But for the young lady cheering from the back gate, Landri Lisac, and mom Timmi-Jo watching in the stands, watching $3 million NRCHA rider Crawford pilot the gelding around the South Point arena meant much more than a number on a results sheet could ever explain.
“I’m just happy to have a horse at this caliber, to give [Todd] the opportunity to compete at this level because he deserves it,” Timmi-Jo said. “He is a bonus parent to my girls. Him and Pam love my girls and all his clients as their own. They’re family to us now, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”
A Decade of Dedication
The beginning of Crawford and the Lisac families’ story began 10 years ago, when Lannie-Jo was 12-years-old and Landri was 8.
Living in Pueblo, Colorado, Timmi-Jo had reached out to friend Sarah Clymer for a recommendation on cow horse trainers. Her answer?
“You just need to call Todd,” Timmi-Jo recounted.
A pile championships including NRCHA World Championships, AQHA golden globes and NHSFR Championships later, and one could say it’s been a successful match between Crawford and the Lisac sisters.
“The relationship with the Lisac family, it’s been rough on me,” Crawford said dryly. “No, but they’ve been very competitive. They’ve always had very nice horses and had a somewhat innate ability to do the cow horse, which is for a kid, is a difficult task. We’ve had a blast with them. They are truly like family to us.”
Timmi-Jo noted that Crawford has gone out of his way—detouring through Colorado on his way to the Derby in Scottsdale this year—to watch Landri graduate high school in Colorado. He also traveled to attend Lannie-Jo’s TCU graduation party.
And that bond has shown up in tough love, too. Landri remembered all the times she told Crawford she couldn’t make it to ride for one reason or another, and his response always found her heading to the barn anyways.
“He’d say, ‘Well, do you want to do good? Then you better get out here,'” Landri said. “He really pushed me, and the biggest thing I’ve learned from him is the commitment it takes and how far that gets you. He’s made my love for the sport grow and I could not have done it without him.”
Under Crawford’s watchful eye, the Lannie-Jo and Landri have developed and maintained show horses including Cat Walks Into A Bar and Lookslikelucktome, who Landri is showing at the Run For A Million in the Youth Cow Horse Challenge.
Todd Crawford and CRC 1942
CRC 1942, known as “DJ,” was originally purchased for Landri to finish out her senior year of showing. Crawford had been showing him to find any potential kinks for her and keep the gelding sharp. In 2025, they won the AQHA Senior Working Cow Horse World Championship, a title that wasn’t expected.
Crawford knew DJ had been roped off of with previous trainer Tyler Merrill, so when it came time for the World’s Greatest Horseman in early 2026 and Crawford didn’t have another open bridle horse, the choice was standing in the stall.
“We thought, well, try him for the World’s Greatest,” Crawford said. “And then once we did that and were competitive, then it’s like, “‘Well, let’s see if we can show him in the open bridle and qualifying for the Run For A Million.'”
Crawford described DJ as good minded and cowy, pointing back to the horses’ sire Dual Smart Rey. At 7 years old, DJ is on the younger end of open bridle horses, who can stay competitive into their teens. Despite some of his “green” behavior, according to Landri, he keeps showing up for his rider.
“I was more nervous to watch Todd show [CRC 1942] than I was for myself today,” Landri said. “We’ve had that gelding for a year and to see how far he’s come with Todd has been amazing.”
Crawford admitted he was hungry for a score higher than 218.5, but they had a bobble on the first stop due to the “fast ground” at the South Point.
With the fence work ahead of them, the door is still cracked for Crawford and CRC 1942 to claim a big win in Vegas.
But regardless of the result, the Lisacs are grateful for the years of dedication, wisdom, and tough love Crawford has imparted on Lannie-Jo and Landri, and equally thrilled to watch him pilot their horse under the bright lights of Las Vegas.