It was my privilege to judge barbecue for the fifth year in a row at the
8th Annual Santa Anita Winners Circle BBQ Championship (aka SAWC8) at historic Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, CA on March 30-31, 2019. This contest is at the top of my list and probably every other California barbecue judge's list because:
- It's a beautiful venue set against the San Gabriel Mountains.
- A large number of the best teams travel from all over California and beyond to compete.
- It's a well organized contest presented by Ben Lobenstein and Ric Gilbert of Fire It Up! BBQ Events.
- You can socialize with lots of friendly judges that you haven't seen since last fall.
- You can watch and/or bet on horse racing at the conclusion of turn-ins.
- All of the above!
The answer is All of the above! This event is all of those things, and more!
Now, I would be remiss if I didn't put this contest into the context of the recent sad events at Santa Anita Park where almost two dozen horses have been injured and put down since the start of racing season last December. One of the unique aspects of this event is that the barbecue contest is held in the racetrack infield, right in the middle of the action. With the suspension of horse racing and the uncertainly of when it would resume, the barbecue contest was moved from the infield to an area in front of the main entrance to the grandstands. Instead of competing on lush green grass, the teams were cooking on asphalt. Sad. And although racing did resume on the Friday before the contest started, there was yet another accident on Sunday afternoon that resulted in a horse being put down. We all appreciate that Santa Anita Park is a gracious host for this event and we're happy to just be able to hold the contest anywhere on the property. We hope they get past this streak of sad events and that the barbecue contest can return to the infield where it belongs in 2020!
Having said all that, a move from one location to another was not going to stop anyone from having fun and competing for cash, trophies and bragging rights! This year, SAWC8 was a two-day, back-to-back double contest. Teams could compete on both Saturday and Sunday, cooking the four competition meats (chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder, brisket) for separate prize purses and trophies, earn Team of the Year and Rookie of the Year points for each event, and win the coveted trophy for overall points winner across both days. There was also a SFR Challenge offering additional cash for winners using Snake River Farm briskets in the competition.
As it turns out, 70 teams competed on Saturday and 47 teams competed on Sunday. It was the commanding performance of TVWBB member and WSM user
Jerry Aguilar of
Burnin and Lootin BBQ that blew everyone away over the weekend. On Saturday, Jerry won Grand Champion with an overall score of 709.1428: A perfect 180 first place in both chicken and brisket, third in ribs and ninth in pork. On Sunday, Jerry won Grand Champion again with an overall score of 699.406, beating out Reserve Champion
Big Poppa Smokers by 0.0116 points! He took 6th in chicken, 8th in ribs, 19th in pork, and 3rd in brisket. And of course he was the cumulative point total winner across both contests. And he took home a bunch of SRF Challenge cash and a big-old drum smoker.
One secret to Jerry's success may have been that he brought a WSM back into the mix at this contest. Jerry used to cook exclusively with WSMs but in recent years has been using drum smokers. Maybe bring one of his WSMs back into his arsenal of cookers at this contest was the key to success. Hey, it could happen!
Congratulations to all the other winners, including
Papa La Rue's BBQ for winning RC on Saturday and as I mentioned
Big Poppa Smokers for winning RC on Sunday.
Here are some photos from our long weekend adventure, hope you enjoy them!
We arrived in Arcadia on Friday in time for lunch at the famous
The Derby restaurant just down the street from Santa Anita Park. This old-school steakhouse has a long, storied history that connects it with the race track and everyone who's worked and played there over the years since 1922.
Lots of horse racing memorabilia and artwork adorns the walls throughout The Derby.
A photo of the famous racehorse Seabiscuit in the lobby display case.
The Derby is famous for its bacon-wrapped filet mignon. When in Rome...medium rare, please.
Followed by a half-order of cheesecake. Gotta save some room for barbecue judging tomorrow!
Continued...