We have entered the home stretch of the 2023 NFR and the contenders for Gold Buckles are becoming clear. Round 7 featured the fastest Tie-Down run the Thomas & Mack has ever seen and that’s where we begin with the Round 8 Notebook.
Haven Meged set a new arena record and it was nearly broken 30 seconds later. Haven Meged brought the crowd to their feet after an arena-record 6.4-second run. He would go on to win the round, but it wasn’t without drama. Before the crowd could sit back down Shad Mayfield looked like he had not only broken the new record but broken the World Record with a 6.1-second run. Fortunately for Meged, the calf didn’t remain tied for the full six seconds once Mayfield got back to his horse. Expect more fireworks from Shad, who after the run posted on social media that he plans on going to the record again tonight.
Ky Hamilton is closing in on his first Gold Buckle after a Round 7 win. Hamilton has a shot at Stetson Wright’s earnings record of $592,144, which was set just a year ago. He is currently at $516,666. Hamilton is well on his way to his first career Gold Buckle and has the chance to clinch it tonight with a ride and a buck off from Sage and Trey Kimzey.
Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi gets her first round win of the 2023 NFR and is one step closer to a Gold Buckle. Tonozzi has continued to dominate the 2023 NFR and finally visited the South Point Buckle Ceremony after a 13.47-second run. Tonozzi continues to put her stamp on the 2023 season and is three rounds from a Gold Buckle, which will be her first since 2009.
Team Roping is up for grabs and a split Gold Buckle is in the cards. The average is going to be what to watch in the remaining three rounds. Colter Todd and Derrick Begay are currently the only Team Ropers who have gone 7-7 and lead the average. If they miss they will be out of the World Title race as they would fall out of the average race.
Keenan Hayes’s lead in Bareback riding continues to shrink after Clayton Biglow takes Round 7. With Clayton Biglow winning last night and Hayes failing to place, his lead has shrunk to $50,000 Hayes is tied with Jess Pope for the lead in the average and Biglow sits 4.5 points behind the pair. If Hayes were to post a score in the low 80s and Biglow or Pope were to take the outright lead in the average things would get very tight in the last two rounds. If Hayes takes care of business and wins the average, the Gold Buckle is his.
Stan Branco’s great NFR continued in Round 7 after splitting the win with World Champion Tyler Waguespack. Branco and Wags split the round with matching 3.8-second runs. For Branco, it was his second win of the rodeo and the fifth round he placed in. After entering the NFR No. 12, he is now projected to finish No. 3 behind Dalton Massey and Waguespack.
Zeke Thurston is back to being the projected World Champion thanks to his lead in the average. Zeke is leading the average by 1.5 points over Mason Clements and if the NFR ended today he would be your World Champ thanks to the average payout. Kade Bruno and Sage Newman remain the two likeliest challengers but will need to overtake Zeke in the average. Currently Bruno is seven points behind Thurston and Newman is 15 points back.
Round 8 Records:
Bareback Riding: 90 Points, Clayton Biglow-2019
Saddle Bronc Riding: 92 Points, Ryder Wright-2017
Bull Riding: 95 Points, Colby Yates-2002
Steer Wrestling: 3.1 Seconds, Shawn Greenfield
Team Roping: 3.5 Seconds, Travis Tryan & Cory Petska-2008, Coleman Proctor & Logan Medlin-2022
Tie-Down Roping: 6.5 Seconds, Trevor Brazile-2015
Barrel Racing: 13.37 Seconds, Amberleigh Moore-2016
