The First Round of the 2023 National Finals Rodeo brought with it a rough round of barrel racing. With seven ladies hitting a barrel, it leaves the Average wide open.
As for the No. 1 cowgirl in the World, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, she walked away with a second-place finish after clocking a 13.75-second run.
“I thought the ground looked pretty deep and shifty there but she actually pulled a second-place check which is pretty crucial for her,” Janie Johnson said.
The deep ground was no problem for Sissy Winn’s powerhouse of an equine partner, Scoop. Johnson said the big, strong horses can handle the ground like that and it resulted in Winn’s first ever NFR Go-Round win.
“All these horses can handle it, it’s just a matter of adjusting for it and having to kind of work with it” she said.
NFR Rookie Paige Jones pulled all the right moves to get a check in the Go-Round. She came close to a down barrel but a perfectly executed leg lift kept her in the money with a clean run.
With half of the field hitting barrels in Round 1, we will see adjustments going into Round 2 and the headliner still is Pozzi Tonozzi as all eyes stay on her and Benny.
