Biography
Russell Dilday and Topsails Rien Maker reclaimed the World's Greatest Horseman title in 2011, completing what remains the most remarkable achievement in the event's history. Three championships with the same horse — something no other partnership has accomplished before or since. The 2011 title made Topsails Rien Maker the only three-time WGH champion horse and made Dilday the first three-time WGH champion rider.
The 2011 championship was perhaps the most meaningful of the three. Having been interrupted by Randy Paul's 2010 victory, Dilday and Topsails Rien Maker returned to prove that their dynasty was not finished. The horse was older, had logged years of championship competition, and still performed at the level required to beat the best reined cow horse competitors in the world. That combination of sustained athletic ability and the consistent preparation to deploy it speaks to both the exceptional quality of the stallion and the depth of Dilday's horsemanship program.
Dilday's three titles held the record until Corey Cushing matched it in 2022. In the decade between those milestones, Dilday's record stood as the defining standard of WGH excellence — the benchmark that every subsequent multi-title contender was measured against. The 2011 championship was the capstone of one of western performance's greatest partnerships.