QData catalog expert Robin Glenn provides information about the Barrel Black Type System.

© AQHA Racing

EL RENO, OK–JANUARY 9, 2025–Horsemen perusing sale catalogs may have seen catalogue pages that read "Barrel Black Type System."

Catalog expert Robin Glenn heads QData (formerly Robin Glenn Pedigrees and an AQHA department today), which produces custom sale catalogs for the All American Ruidoso Sale Company, Heritage Place, the Los Alamitos Equine Sale, the Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association and the Texas Quarter Horse Association.

All the race catalogs produced by QData are built from records purchased from Equineline, a company owned by the Jockey Club that serves as AQHA’s official catalog-style race record outlet.

Equineline is a partner with AQHA in that they share data and revenue from reports. However, the Equineline records contain no arena performance data, so the pages in every race catalog are initially built with only racing information.

She provided this information about the Barrel Black Type System:

"Several years ago, because so many arena-bred horses were being consigned to the Heritage Place Fall and Winter Sales, Heritage Place decided to place an option on its mixed sale consignment forms allowing the consignor to request performance research on the sale horse for an additional charge. If a consignor requests performance research, QData produces a catalog page using the official AQHA 'Barrel Black Type System' (basically combining the race black type system and the performance black type system); and the page displays a header denoting that the Barrel Black Type System has been used. If the page is already full of great race horses and the addition of performance horses will cause the removal of successful racing black type, a QR code can be applied to the catalog page, leading the reader to a second Barrel Black Type System catalog page.

"However, numerous horses that are clearly arena-bred, or those known by QData staff to have successful barrel horses in the family, are still consigned with no performance research requested. In those cases, one of the two pedigree experts in the QData office will make the call to include performance research on the page. In many instances if this decision was not made, a sale horse with only race research would end up with a nearly empty catalog page and a paragraph that makes a successful barrel sire look like a failure. QData’s rule of thumb is: if the addition of performance research is believed to potentially enhance buyer interest and/or the sale price, the switch to performance research will be made and the additional barrel research charge is applied.

"Unfortunately, it’s not always obvious when a sale horse has barrel horses in its family, since so many barrel horses are competing today that it’s impossible for the QData team to know about all of them. As of January 1, 2024, more than 25,000 horses have earned more than $65 million in 2024 barrel races, according to QData Database statistics. For this reason, consignors should be diligent about requesting barrel research on the consignment form. If the consignor did not request performance research, neither QData nor the sale company is obligated to furnish it, although all involved strive to do what’s best for the sale horse.

"This practice of adding performance research to a race sale’s catalog pages only applies to the Heritage Place Fall Mixed Sale and Heritage Place Winter Mixed Sale. All of QData’s yearling sale producers have chosen not to include barrel research in the yearling sale catalogs.

"Here is a link to the official AQHA black type systems: https://www.robinglenn.com/ads/blacktypesystem2024.pdf. This link is also furnished on the QData page of the sale catalog.

"The Barrel Racing Industry Alliance (BRIA) is a group of producers dedicated to uniting the barrel horse business in a quest for complete and accurate records, which in turn foster continued growth of the industry. In 2024 BRIA implemented an upgraded black type system applying to foals of 2020 and later that compete in speed events.

"The barrel horse business has evolved into a thriving breeding industry over the past two decades, uniting the race and barrel horse breeders with a shared goal of breeding for the overall excellence and long-term soundness that can provide former racehorses with a second career. The famous race producer Jess Sass Me has produced four barrel money-earners, including a son that earned more than $50,000 in both barrel and roping events. Many of today’s top race stallions are enrolled in barrel and roping sire incentive programs, driving home that the American Quarter Horse remains the most versatile animal in the world."

AQHA News and information is a service of the American Quarter Horse Association. For more news and information, follow @AQHA Racing on X and on Instagram, "like" Q-Racing on Facebook, and visit www.aqha.com/racing.