The Mississippi Horse Park hosted over 2,000 contestants this weekend for a barrel race competition, adding to Starkville’s 2 percent food and beverage tax.
This weekend marked the 8th annual Lucky Dog Productions barrel race competition, with contestants hailing from 14 states.
The payout for the weekend event totaled $80,000.
Director of the Mississippi Horse Park Bricklee Miller said when the competitors come into Starkville for their runs, they have time to venture off into the city.
Miller said she loves seeing the contestants post on social media about the restaurants and shopping in the area, because she knows it’s a streamline of funds for the city and county.
“It’s a really big economic impact for our community as well,” Miller said. “Any time you have somebody that comes from 90 miles away, or further are considered new dollars.”
Miller said the Horse Park sold out 440 of its stalls, after adding an additional 100 temporary stalls to its grounds.
She said having the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson see the grounds with full activity on Friday, further showed the need for the facility.
“Not only could he see the place in full action, but he could also see the needs,” Miller said. “There’s so much growth opportunity in our facility.”
Miller said people come from across the country because of the cleanliness of the facility and the footing for competition is a prestigious and an overall positive experience. The contestants came to Starkville Thursday night and competed for the remainder of the weekend.
“When they have that, then they want to come back and word of mouth is your greatest selling point,” Miller said.
After contacting Lucky Dog Productions nine years ago, Miller said she was looking for a group to host barrel races. She said due to the organization’s promotion quality, they would be great for bringing people to the area.
Last year, Miller said the Horse Park hosted about 100 events, and Lucky Dog Productions will be back for a second time in November.
“Their concept is low fees, big numbers, so you can run as many horses as you want to,” Miller said.“It quickly grew and went from an event that they wanted to continue to come back.”