When Relentless Empire sold for $900,000 last night in Heber City, she didn't just top the sale, she headlined a $1,250,000 day for Select Genes' mares.
The Old West Rope Horse Sale didn't just move horses, it once again moved the needle on what serious buyers believe the rope horse futurity industry is worth.
Relentless Empire, 2026 Old West Rope Horse Sale High-Seller. Photo by Team Roping Journal
, by Show Me The Buckles out of Select Genes' mare , was the high-seller of the day at $900,000. Relentless Glory, bred and raised by Trevor Brazile, is by Metallic Cat and has won over $40,000 per Equi-Stat, with real arena earnings that go well beyond that. Her dam, Z Oh Six, is a full sister to Deputy, the calf horse Brazile rode at the NFR for nearly a decade.
Relentless Glory, Dam of 2026 Old West Rope Horse Sale High-Seller. Photo by Solo Select Horses
Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker’s Relentless Remuda owned and consigned Relentless Empire in partnership with Jerad Wittwer. Empire sells to team roper Bryan Beaver, who will keep her in the Relentless Remuda program to keep developing and run at the huge money she is eligible for, including the Old West Futurities’ $1,000,000 sale grad incentive.
“(Bryan Beaver) told us, ‘I’ve got all the horses I need to rope on. I want a good mare, I want to raise some babies,'” Miles Baker said. “He knew that mare was special to us and a huge part of mine and Trevor’s program. That’s the one he wanted, and he picked a dang good one.”
Relentless Empire, 2026 Old West Rope Horse Sale High-Seller. Photo by Team Roping Journal
The other three Select Genes horses, Whizkey For The Queen at $60,000, Solo Tuff at $150,000, and Texas Reynn at $140,000, brought the day's total to $1.25 million.
Whizkey For The Queen, Solo Tuff, and Texas Reyn in the 2026 Old West Rope Horse Sale. Photos by Team Roping Journal
Each sale further attested to the same philosophy: maternal genetics that have been tested, proven, and deliberately bred are what the industry is after.
In partnership with Relentless Remuda, Solo Select Horses also brought two mares that each hammered at $400,000. Show Me Relentless, by Show Me The Buckles and out of Bucks For Bullet, came with a backstory years in the making. Brazile first spotted Jake Cooper’s mare competing at the BFI, filed her away, and eventually got the cross he'd been waiting for. Sunset Blvd matched her dollar for dollar, which said as much about buyer confidence in the program as any single bid.
Sunset Blvd and Show Me Relentless in the 2026 Old West Rope Horse Sale High-Seller. Photos by Team Roping Journal
The rope horse futurity world has grown fast, and the buyers at the top of the market have grown right along with them. The programs winning at this level are stacking maternal genetics and proven sires to raise horses that are bred from the very beginning to compete and last. Pedigree still matters, but pedigree plus depth of planning is what's commanding the biggest bids.
