Unbelievable!!! I Am Jose and Casey Wright have done it again, winning the 2015 World Grand Championship!! This is the first time a horse has won the World Grand Championship 3 times in a row, since The Talk Of The Town did it in 1953. Congratulations to these great champions!
Vida Blue took the Reserve World Grand Championship. Gen's Black Maverick was third and Border Run was fourth.

The 2014 Celebration is over.  I Am Jose' and Casey Wright are the new World Grand Champions, making I Am Jose' the first horse to win back-to-back  in over a half a century...not since Go Boy's Shadow in 1955-56. Gen's Black Maverick took Reserve, and for the second time in two years, Mr. Heisman came third.

TENNESSEAN:
 I Am Jose wins 2nd straight Walking Horse Celebration championship

SHELBYVILLE –Debbie Woods calls I Am Jose her “history maker.”

I Am Jose became the first repeat champion in 58 years at the 76th Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration on Saturday night.

In 2013, I Am Jose became the first 4-year-old horse to win the big stake since 1966, when Shaker’s Shocker won the world grand championship.

“Well, everything about that horse is special from the first time that I looked at him,” said Woods, I Am Jose’s co-owner from Lexington. “Last year, of course, he made history being the first 4-year-old and this year he made history repeating back-to-back. I was just a baby (the last time a horse repeated.)”

Go Boy’s Shadow won consecutive titles in 1955-56, with Shelbyville’s Winston Wiser in the saddle.

Reagan’s Casey Wright rode I Am Jose, a 5-year-old black stallion, to a unanimous decision. “It’s unbelievable,” Wright said. “There aren’t many horses that can do that. He’s one of a kind.”

There were only three entries in the big stake. Ten years ago, it was typical to have more than 10 entries. Inspections to check for soring by the U.S Department of Agriculture have been strict. There were 16 entries in last weekend’s two preliminary classes, but only six horses made it to the show ring.  “I think they all got turned down last weekend,” Wright said. “Inspections are as strict as it can be. We thought I Am Jose was fine — that’s why we took him up there. We ain’t got nothing to hide.”

Gen’s Black Maverick took second and Mr. Heisman was third.

Five hours of steady rain softened the oval dirt track, but I Am Jose didn’t have any problems with his footing.  “It was a little bit (slick), but not too bad,” Wright said. “It was pretty firm footing up under it.”  Woods calls the stallion “a mudder.” Rain kept many spectators away as dozens of bleacher rows were empty. Many of the die-hards who came wore rain ponchos.  Mud splattered the riders’ pants legs as 1.58 inches of rain fell in Shelbyville, according to the National Weather Service. One longtime Celebration employee said it was the rainiest day at the show since the remnants of Hurricane Katrina passed through in 2005.

Wright said it was harder to win this year than last year.  “There was a little more pressure this year,” Wright said. “It felt like every eye in that place was on me. I was a little tense, probably.”  The trainer from West Tennessee marvels at I Am Jose’s consistency. “He’s just natural,” Wright said. “You can put him up for a month and get him out, and he’s still good. He’s just a great horse.”

Most big stake winners don’t defend their title so they can put their horses into breeding, which can make a lot of money for the owners.

“We bred him last fall after I won and then we took him back,” Wright said. “He stayed at the breeding barn from March until the end of June, and we started working him the first of July. (Saturday) was the only time he’s been shown this year.”

It seems unlikely that I Am Jose will go for a three-peat – a feat accomplished by only one horse: The Talk of the Town from 1951-53.  “I think we aren’t going to test our lucky anymore,” said Wright, who turns 33 on Monday.  But Billy Woods, the horses’ co-owner and Debbie’s husband, isn’t ruling it out.  “We never say no,” Billy said.

On October 08, 2008, in Franklin, NC, a gorgeous black stud colt was born. Bred by Robert W. Rollins, I Am Jose' was sired by the ever-popular WC Jose' Jose', out of the mare, Prides Angelique, giving the beautiful stallion a double dose of Prides Generator blood, and the best of the world champion bloodlines to boot. On February 14, 2011 he was purchased by Billy Max and Debbie Woods of Lexington, TN.

It's been a long road, but it's Saturday night in Shelbyville, Tennessee and the headlines read....
The TENNESSEAN
Casey Wright rode I Am Jose to victory in the big stake at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration on Saturday night.  Chad Williams was aboard He’s Vida Blue for a second-place ride.  Brandye Mills rode Mr. Heisman to a third-place finish.

THE SHELBYVILLE TIMES-GAZETTE
I Am José, Casey Wright up won the World Grand Championship early this morning, closing out the 75th Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. The entry is owned by Billy and Debbie Woods of Lexington. The entry qualified for World Grand Championship competition by winning the 4-Year-Old Stallion class. Most World Grand Champions in recent memory have come from the class for stallions 5 years and over. Because the win didn't take place until after midnight, it took place on Wright's birthday, Sept. 1. Earlier in the evening, Wright had been named co-winner of Walking Horse Trainers Association's Trainer Of The Year award.

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