Standing in her saddle room, soaking up the scent of freshly polishedleather, Jan’s thoughts travel back to that moment in the Winner’s Circle with her mama, Mollie Jo. A cork pops; bubbles fizz; and someone in the Winner’s Circle hands young Jan a glass of Kir Royal - champagne with a splash ofblack currantliquor. Still officially too young to drink, Jan looks across the room and catches her mother’s eye. Mollie Jo stifles a laugh, makes her way to Jan, and envelops her in a hug: “It seems like only yesterday I was hoisting you up from theoak moss-covered pasture and into the family’s child saddle. Strapping your tiny boots to the stirrups, I promised: ‘Someday you’ll be a champion barrel racer, too – just you wait and see…’”