Lanham Brown and Hesa Twisted Bet claimed their second National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) World’s Greatest Non Pro Championship Saturday night, June 6, at the Westworld of Scottsdale during the NRCHA Kimes Ranch Derby.
With a composite of 1,091 points, the team earned $12,625 for the win, putting Hesa Twisted Bet over the $100,000 mark with more than $86,000 in NRCHA earnings—the rest coming from the Ranch Horse Association of America (RHAA).
| Herd | Rein | Cow | Steer Stopping | Cow – Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 216 | 218.5 | 218.5 | 225 | 213 |
Hesa Twisted Bet’s second WGNP title
Brown entered the World’s Greatest Non Pro competition with some momentum—having won the Non Pro Derby rein work prelim, finals herd work, and finishing reserve champion on mare Believe in Dynacat.
When it was time for the four World’s Greatest events and the cow-only finals, “Casino” was ready. Brown piloted the gelding to a 216 in the herd and 218.5 in the reining, scores that landed him at No. 2 heading into the steer stopping.
“His stronger events are the steer stopping and the fence work,” Brown said. “I just tried to go be clean and let him do his deal.”
From Brown’s analysis, the Corriente steers were “medium plus,” and weren’t going to outrun them. With that in the back of his mind, he and Casino laid down a 225-point run, matching his score from his 2024 World’s Greatest Non Pro victory. A score of 218.5 in his first of two fence runs secured his spot in the finale as No. 1.
With a 6.5-point lead heading into the cow-only finals, Brown was planning on making a businessman run.
“That horse has been so good down the fence for me, and I just have a lot of confidence in him when I step in there,” Brown said. “It didn’t go quite as good as I was picturing it in the finals, but he was just taking care of business all week.”
The final 213 down the fence secured the win, putting Casino over the six-figure mark in earnings and padding an already-full resume.
In addition to his two World’s Greatest Non Pro titles, Casino has earned Top Horse honors at the Fort Worth Stock Show Ranch Rodeo in 2023 and 2024, and claimed Top Horse at the WRCA Ranch Rodeo Finals in Amarillo in 2025.
Making of Casino
The gelding was bred by Landy Warren, sired by Bet Hesa Cat and out of the R.A. Brown Ranches’ RAB Twistin Dodger. The Brown family had originally sold Casino’s dam, but bought her back when they saw how Casino was contributing to her produce record.
But Casino’s winning ways were not immediate. Brown says Casino had only earned around $1,500 his first few years of showing, due to limited entering and a rider injury.
His breakthrough came when Brown transitioned the gelding into the bridle.
“Everything just kind of clicked,” Brown said, attributing the change to a combination of the horse’s later mental maturity and his own growth as a trainer.
Brown says he has no plans to change much for the horse going forward, and still has a goal of making the finals at the World’s Greatest Horseman, having finished in the top 20 the last 2 years in a competition that takes only 15 into the final round.
Longer term, Brown noted his 7-month-old twin boys, Ross and Cade, will be fighting over him.