COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2008 Women's Professional Rodeo Association will have a new home for their 2008 World Finals this year at the Expo Square in Tulsa, OK. The event, scheduled for November 18-22, will feature the best women in the rodeo business competing for world titles in team roping, breakaway roping, tie-down roping, bareback and bull riding. Barrel racing will also be featured and an event champion will be crowned but the world champion will be crowned at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, December 4-13.
“We are extremely excited to bring this one-of-a-kind championship event to the Tulsa community and with the added events we hope this will be the best event yet,” said Jymmy Kay Davis, President of the WPRA. “This year we are celebrating the association’s 60th Anniversary, so, in honor of this great milestone our Finals will feature a 60th Anniversary Gold Card barrel race. We hope everyone will come out and support those who have played an important part of the Association’s history.”
To qualify for the 2008 WPRA World Finals one must be a 2008 WPRA member and for all events excluding the barrel racing, one must be in the top 15 in the WPRA world standings or be in the top five of their circuit standings, in their respective events, to qualify. To compete in the World Finals barrel racing a member must be in the top 20 of their circuit standings or be in the top 50 of the WPRA Barrel Racing World Standings to qualify.
The Gold Card barrel race is open to any WPRA Gold Card member or any WPRA member who is 60-years old or over. In addition, to the World Finals activities and the Gold Card Barrel Racing, the WPRA is pleased to announce the return of the $100,000 barrel race, which is open to any WPRA member but limited to the first 50 to enter. This event is a one run winner-take-all event that will be filled with great anticipation and excitement and will very much resemble a high-stakes horse race. In 2007, the WPRA first introduced this event and Kay Blandford was the big winner with a run of 16.755 seconds. Entry information for both events will be available at www.wpra.com.
Finals week will also feature the championship for the WPRA Junior Division Barrel Racing as well as the WPRA Pro Futurity and Pro Derby Finals. The Junior Division will feature cowgirls ages 17 and under from across the United States that hold a WPRA junior membership and are either in the top 15 of the WPRA Junior World Standings or are in the top four in their respective circuit standings. The Pro Futurity and Pro Derby features top trainers on young horses in a competition format designed to produce outstanding rodeo horses.
In addition to all the championship events at the World Finals there will be four events for ladies only that will be open to WPRA members and non-members alike. These events include a 5D Flat Out for Flat Screens Barrel Race, as well as breakaway, team roping, and calf roping jackpots. An estimated $50,000 will be up for grabs in cash and prizes for these events and as an added incentive, all money won in these jackpots will count toward the 2009 WPRA standings for those who have purchased their 2009 membership. This is a perfect opportunity to get a head start on earning world championship points for the 2009 rodeo season.
“The WPRA has always worked hard to feature its barrel racers but with a new year brings a new focus on all women in rodeo,” Davis said. “We will continue to provide new opportunities for barrel racers, but at the same time, we are looking to provide new and exciting opportunities for the number of women in the world that rope. The jackpots at the 2008 World Finals are another step in providing more women a chance to become a WPRA member and compete toward a berth in the WPRA World Finals Rodeo and a world title.”
If that isn’t enough the Finals will also feature a WPRA Cowgirl Expo featuring the Pro Elite Sire Incentive Stallion Showcase, a variety of clinics that any cowgirl or cowboy will learn from and enjoy and a Cowgirls Christmas Trade Show with up to 60 vendors selling tack, jewelry, horse supplements, clothing, gifts and everything else a cowgirl needs.
Additional events and information related to the Finals, including ticket information, will be available at www.wpra.com in the coming week
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