BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN
This may be hard to believe, but the last time Utah’s Kaycee Feild took a victory lap at the Wrangler NFR was 2015. That changed Saturday night when he dazzled for 91.5 points on Calgary’s Xplosive Skies.
FEILD’S WINNING RIDE
The horse power in the Eliminator Pen gave some cowboys fits, but not Feild.
“That horse is big powerful and strong,” he said. “This caliber of horses tonight, you gotta be perfect in your timing, you gotta get it going right there......My main goal was to keep on gassing it.....That was a fun one.”
Feild won four straight Gold Buckles from 2011-2014 and has put the bareback riding world on notice once again with the way he was riding this season. Even scarier for the rest of the competitors, Kaycee Feild says his body hasn’t felt this good since 2013 and his mental game is sharper than ever.
“I have a confidence I’ve never had before, I’ve been confident before, felt like I could walk on water before,” he said. “But this year, I have, I don’t know if it’s old man confidence or what it is, but it’s a little bit different.”
The 91.5 tied a Round Three record and also brought Feild within $2,000 of World No. 1 Tim O’Connell.
NFR rookie Leighton Berry was second with 88 points on Hi Lo’s High Heels.
LEIGHTON BERRY’S RIDE
NFR BAREBACK RIDING RESULTS
First Round: 1. Richmond Champion, 87.5 points on J Bar J’s Blessed Assurance, $26,231; 2. (tie) Mason Clements and Jess Pope, 87, $18,192 each; 4. (tie) Cole Reiner and Clayton Biglow, 85, $8,885 each; 6. Chad Rutherford, 84.5, $4,231.
Second Round: 1. Tanner Aus, 87 points on Hi Lo Pro Rodeo’s Wilson Sanchez, $26,231; 2. (tie) Leighton Berry, Tim O’Connell and Kaycee Feild, 86.5, $15,795 each; 5. Cole Reiner, 86, $6,769; 6. Winn Ratliff, 84.5, $4,231.
Third Round: 1. Kaycee Feild, 91.5 points on Calgary Stampede’s Xplosive Skies, $26,231; 2. Leighton Berry, 88, $20,731; 3. Richmond Champion, 87.5, $15,654; 4. Jess Pope, 86, $11,000; 5. Cole Reiner, 84.5, $6,769; 6. Mason Clements, 83, $4,231.
