to run in the City of Lights. Sears switched the mare last spring to run to the left barrel first, and not only did the reverse not faze Martha, it seemed to make her that much faster.

She blew through the pattern 10 times at the Thomas and Mack Center quicker than anyone had in 20 years, and had that first barrel in that first run not tipped over, Sears would have won the average by a full second. Despite the penalty costing her roughly $50,000, Sears, who won five of 10 rounds, banked more dollars in one event than any cowboy at the NFR-$119,255.

Hard to believe she could top that fairytale season, but it's happening. Martha and Sears won every paying round at RodeoHouston in March to rackup $61,500 and take a lead in the 2008 world standings that they haven't relinquished yet. Later, they also won the Calgary Stampede, worth $113,500, and through August were enjoying a $30,000 cushion on defending world champion Brittany Pozzi-Pharr.

Martha, now 8, is by Dr. Nick Bar, a Leo-bred stallion (and half-brother to barrel horse sire Firewater Flit) that has sired handfuls of winners and competed himself at the NFR in the 1990s with Fallon Taylor. On the bottom, Martha is out of Baby's Blue Jeans, who is Easy Jet-bred on top and out of Lady Bugs Martha, a granddaughter of both Top Moon and Three Bars. So, aside from genetics, what's the "It" factor here?

Well, Martha receives a lot of TLC-Sears' Shiloh saddle tree was specially made for