Congress Amateur Grand Champion Mare is Bee Jewelled, Led by Frank Berris
By: Brittany Bevis
After a very long day of competitive Amateur Mare classes, Mr. Frank Berris reigned supreme with his 3-year-old mare, Bee Jewelled, first winning the age division in unanimous fashion and then going Grand Champion.
Frank and Bee Jewelled have history here at the Congress. It was two years ago when Frank first spotted the pretty, bay mare in a yearling class and simply had to have her.
“I bought her here as a yearling,” Frank says. “I fell in love with her. Jason Smith was showing her in the Open Yearling class. Ross Roark, my trainer, was in the class too. He kept coming over to the rail, and I said, ‘I’ve got to have that filly. I love that filly.’ I talked to the owner, Joy Stehney, and between winning the Open class and the Amateur I bought her! Then, I showed her in the amateur class and won.”
Last year, Bee Jewelled was named the Open Grand Champion Mare with Ross Roark at the lead, and she was only two years old at the time. Then, Frank led her to be named the Reserve Grand Champion in the amateur division. “Then, we went to the World Show and Ross won unanimously in Open, and I won unanimously in Amateur. Then, we just won unanimously here!”
Earlier in the show, Ross led Bee Jewelled to a Reserve Grand Champion finish in the Open division. We wondered what it is about this particular mare that allows her to have such staying power in multiple age divisions, year after year. Frank believes he has the answer.
“I’ve had a lot of good mares. I’ve had a lot of good horses. This is my absolute favorite. This is the best mare I’ve ever had. She’s a sweetheart. Her conformation is stunning: tiny head, big eyes, wide forehead, tiny ears, beautiful hip, bay color, and good legs. There’s no hole in her.”
As Frank exited the arena with his awards, he pointed up to the heavens, an act that’s become his trademark over the years. Who’s he pointing to? “Jesus.”
The Reserve Grand Champion Amateur Mare was Entrigue with Thomas Coon at the lead. Earlier in the show, we had the opportunity to interview Thomas as well, when his trainer, Ted Turner, led Entrigue to be named the Open Grand Champion Mare.
Thomas Coon
This is Entrigue’s first trip to the Quarter Horse Congress, so Thomas was throughly pleased with her debut performance. “This is her first time here, so it’s really awesome,” he says. “She showed really well. She was on the muscle and looked great.”
