BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
In the second-to-last weekend of May, the PRCA rodeo season is slowly reaching full force as there were more than 30 events across the country over the weekend.
The most notable of those was the weekend’s lone PRCA Playoff Rodeo, the Redding Rodeo, which paid about $200,000 as well as a pair of Xtreme Bronc Ridings that shuffled the standings as well. The Daily Record Xtreme Bares and Broncs featured both disciplines with $30,000 on the line while the Miles City Matched Xtreme Bronc Ride paid close to $60,000 and saw three saddle bronc riders take home paydays north of $12,000.
Next weekend, there are zero Playoff Rodeos, the weekend after that, there are three. And after that, Reno kicks off and 100 Rodeos in 100 Days is officially under way. If you’ve missed anything to start the season, lock in now, because things are going to start moving very quickly on the road to the NFR.
- Ky Hamilton is the first bull rider to win three PRCA Playoff Series Rodeos this season. Hamilton won Redding over the weekend with 85.5-point ride to along with wins at RodeoHouston and La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros (Arizona) earlier in the year. There have only been 17 total Playoff Series Rodeos this season. With the win in Redding, Hamilton, the World No. 1, has opened a lead of more than $20,000 on Stetson Wright. The Aussie has already racked up almost $121,000 this season.
- Saddle bronc rider Sage Newman is back atop the PRCA World Standings. After winning RodeoHouston for the second straight year on March 19, Newman spent the next four weeks at No. 1 before Stetson Wright overtook him with a win at the San Angelo Cinch Chute Out on April 15. After more than $14,000 banked in Miles City over the weekend, the top ranking once again belongs to Newman. This spot is awfully familiar for the Montana native - last season he took the No. 1 ranking after Houston and kept it all the way until the middle of the NFR.
- Tie-down roper Riley Webb has more than twice as much money as the next closest cowboy in the PRCA World Standings following his win in Redding. Speaking of World No. 1s, no cowboy has made more money in a single discipline this year than Riley Webb’s $122,459. The 20-year-old has opened up a lead of about $62,000 on the rest of the field after adding another $6,000 in California over the weekend.
- Steer wrestler Curtis Cassidy won a PRCA Playoff Rodeo in California for the first time in his career with win in Redding. The Canadian has racked up $2.1 million and eight NFR appearances in his career, but until Saturday, none of that had ever come from a first place finish in Red Bluff, Clovis or Redding. Cassidy was 9.7 seconds on two to get it done.
- Saddle bronc rider Kade Bruno has pulled a check on 10 consecutive rides. Since April 21, every out for Kade Bruno has gotten him paid. Half of those paydays have been worth more than $2,500, including two of $7,500+ in Miles City and Clovis. Since the impressive streak began, Bruno has gone from No. 8 to No. 4 in the PRCA World Standings.
- The Daily Record Xtreme Bares and Broncs in Ellensburg paid more than $4,400 to both winners. The bareback riding was won by Tanner Aus with 87.5 on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Game Trail and Allen Boore took the saddle bronc riding with an 89 on King Rodeo and Wentz Bucking Bulls’ Popeye.
- Steer wrestler Dakota Eldridge moved up 12 spots in the PRCA World Standings. Eldridge has been to 9 of the last 10 NFRs and still has plenty of work to do if he wants to make No. 10. With a third place finish in Redding and win at the Rowell Ranch Rodeo (California) over the weekend, he went from No. 44 to No. 32 in the World Standings.
- Tie-down roper Shad Mayfield won the only two rodeos over the weekend. The No. 4 ranked cowboy was victorious at the Santa Rosa Roundup (Texas) and the Liberty Hill Fair and Rodeo (Texas). The two wins combined to pay about $7,500.
- Steer wrestler Justin Shaffer took first on two of his three runs last weekend. In 12.7 seconds of work, Shaffer moved up five spots from No. 25 to No. 20 in the World Standings. He won the one-header in Liberty Hill with a 3.5-second run and claimed Round 2 at the Santa Rosa Roundup with a 4 flat run.
- Saddle bronc rider Zeke Thurston has taken more than $5,000 from three of the last four rodeos he has entered. The reigning World Champion is clearly making the most of everywhere he goes. He’s been on five horses total since April 15 and won $5,095 in Red Bluff, $5,577 in Clovis and $12,853 in Miles City. He is No. 3 in the world.
