BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
With a total payoff of more than $1 million at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo as well as another NFR Playoff Rodeo in Rapid City finishing on Feb. 4, we have our first look at what the PRCA World Standings may look like moving forward.
- Stetson Wright No. 1 in three events. The winner of the last four All-Around Gold Buckles looks poised to do it again in 2023. He has $74,626 to his name across bull riding and saddle bronc riding and has already opened up a lead of more than $52,000 in this year’s PRCA All-Around Standings. He is also No. 1 in the world in both of his events. This year, Wright won the FWSSR in saddle bronc riding for the second consecutive year and finished second in the bull riding. After Fort Worth last year, he had $39,776, mind you, he finished 2022 with more than $750,000, breaking his own record.
- All eight bareback riders were 86.5 points or better in the Fort Worth Finals. A field that featured seven cowboys who had qualified for the NFR before, including five 2022 qualifiers, made Dickies Arena look like the Thomas & Mack on Saturday night as the bareback riders had to be at least 89 to even get paid. Rocker Steiner took home the first place check, while Kade Sonnier, Kaycee Feild and Chad Rutherford split second.
- Will Lummus has just one qualified time slower than 5 seconds flat this season. Will Lummus dominated the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo in the steer wrestling by winning three of the four rounds he competed in with four straight times of 4.1 seconds or faster. Lummus is 8-for-11 with an average time of 4.2 seconds this season. For some perspective, Tyler Waguespack, the four-time and reigning World Champion’s best career average time is 5.24.
- Breakaway Roper Cheyanne Guillory had four straight runs of 2.6 seconds or faster at FWSSR. Guillory also had two times faster than 2-flat, including an arena-record tying 1.7 en route to being crowned the champion.
- There were 11 rides of 90+ at the FWSSR. More than half of them (six) came in the bareback riding while three came in the saddle bronc riding and two were in the bull riding.
- Rocker Steiner’s last six qualified rides have been 86.5 points or better. The streak dates back to his second horse in Denver, in that timeframe, he is averaging 88 points, has two 90-point rides and has won more than $33,000. He is now No. 1 in the PRCA Bareback Riding World Standings for the first time in his career.
- Trevor Hale made $14,544 over the weekend, the most of anyone who did not win the FWSSR. Hale is now No. 1 in the PRCA Tie-Down Roping thanks to third place finishes in both Rapid City and Fort Worth.
- Shorty Garrett won Rodeo Rapid City for fourth time in his career. Garrett, who is No. 2 in the PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding World Standings, got it done with an 89.5-point ride this year. It is his third title in Rapid City in the last four years. Garrett’s hometown, Eagle Butte, is about 160 miles from Rapid City.
- Kaycee Feild is No. 8 in the PRCA Bareback Riding World Standings after just one rodeo. The six-time World Champion has developed a knack for picking his spots and in 2023, he made $15,500 on his first four outs of the year, all of which came in Fort Worth. Feild was marked 88 or better on every ride and had the highest marked roughstock ride of the rodeo with 93 points on Pickett’s Night Crawler. In 2022, Feild went to just three rodeos - Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston - before taking almost three months off between March 19 and June 15.
- The Cowgirl Channel already has 6,000+ followers on Instagram. After just one weekend, The Cowgirl Channel has, candidly, exceeded expectations. You can follow here.