Brazile travels more than 6,500 miles to become King of Cowboy Christmas
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The only truly surprising thing about 11-time World Champion Trevor Brazile winning the most money during this year’s Fourth of July week – if you ignore that he’s been nursing an injured right (roping) elbow – is that he hasn’t done it more often.
Over the last decade, Brazile has been among the top 10 earners during Cowboy Christmas six times and only finished first once before, in 2006.
Brazile earned checks in six of the nine rodeos he entered last week to finish with $24,253, edging three-time and reigning World Champion Bareback Rider Bobby Mote by $2,162.
Talk about consistency: Brazile has averaged $24,085 over the last three Independence Day runs. His winning total was just $63 more than he had last year and just $641 off his career best in 2006.
It was a road trip of more than 6,500 miles for Brazile that took him from his Texas home to Ponoka and Airdrie, Alberta, then on to Prescott, Ariz.; St. Paul, Ore.; Molalla, Ore.; Cody, Wyo.; Livingston, Mont.; Red Lodge, Mont.; and Oakley City, Utah.
He earned his biggest check of $10,626 as the all-around champion of the Cody Stampede, a Wrangler Million Dollar Tour Gold rodeo presented by Justin Boots. He won a round of the team roping there with Patrick Smith and finished one-tenth of a second behind Nate Baldwin in the tie-down roping two-head average.
At Red Lodge, Brazile and Smith shared the team roping title with Caleb Mitchell and Casey Chamberlain with a time of 4.4 seconds. Brazile tied Cimarron Boardman for the tie-down roping title, each completing runs of 7.4 seconds.
Brazile finished with $10,064 in tie-down roping earnings, and Brazile/Smith had $14,189 each in team roping. That team roping total was good enough to put Smith 22nd in Cowboy Christmas earnings. Forty-eight contestants earned more than $10,000 for the week.
Mote, the overall Cowboy Christmas money leader a year ago, had his best results north of the border. He won the first round and the average at the Ponoka Stampede, then finished second to Dusty LaValley in the Showdown Round to earn $11,236 there and won another $2,518 in Airdrie, Alberta, on his way to earning $22,091 for the week.
Barrel racer Lindsay Sears was the only other competitor to surpass $20,000 for the week, finishing with $21,459. Tuf Cooper ($19,381) and Curtis Cassidy ($19,172) rounded out the top five.
Cooper got the week off to a great start with a win in the Ponoka Stampede which he would later describe as “the biggest regular-season rodeo I ever won.”
For Cassidy, this would stand as the biggest Cowboy Christmas he’s ever had. By a bunch.
“I also finished in the crying hole at St. Paul (Ore.) and Airdrie,” he said. “It’s been a really good week for me. I think the most I ever won is like $4,000 or $5,000 over the July holiday week.
“This was more the kind of Cowboy Christmas everybody talks about.”
* – It was a week to savor for the veterans at the St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo, the week’s other Wrangler Million Dollar Tour Gold event presented by Justin Boots.
Todd Suhn, coming up on his 37th birthday later this month, captured the steer wrestling title, winning the first round with a rodeo-best time of 3.6 seconds and the average with a two-head total of 8.4 seconds.
D.V. Fennell, who reaches his 37th birthday next month, shared the bareback riding title with Ryan Gray, each man earning 85 points.
“Those Tour rodeos are important, because the top guys make the Playoffs, and you have more of a chance to make big money,” Fennell said. “But, shoot, any time you can win nearly $9,000 ($8,883), I’ll take it.”
The other roughstock events went to a couple of mere 30 year olds – Jesse Bail in the saddle bronc riding and Ardie Maier in the bull riding. Maier’s 90-point ride on Flying Diamond Rodeo’s Nobody’s Business edged Chance Smart by a point.
COWBOY CHRISTMAS TOP 25
1. Trevor Brazile, $24,253; 2. Bobby Mote, $22,091; 3. Lindsay Sears, $21,459; 4. Tuf Cooper, $19,381; 5. Curtis Cassidy, $19,172.
6. Lisa Lockhart, $17,957; 7. Will Lowe, $17,508; 8. Dustin Flundra, $16,614; 9. Jeff Willert, $16,405; 10. Brenda Mays, $16,370.
11. Jesse Bail, $16,286; 12. Dusty LaValley, $16,209; 13. Brady Minor and Riley Minor, $15,916 each; 15. Kelly Timberman, $15,803.
16. Ty Elliott, $15,244; 17. Heith DeMoss, $15,135; 18. Sheena Robbins, $15,121; 19. Jill Moody, $15,071; 20. Britany Fleck, $14,234.
21. Jason Havens, $14,197; 22. Patrick Smith, $14,189; 23. Beau Schroeder, $13,965; 24. Brittany Pozzi, $13,390; 25. Jerrad Hofstetter, $13,295
Harris overcomes injuries to capture Cody Xtreme Bulls title
CODY, Wyo. – Every year, the Cody edition of the Seminole Hard Rock Xtreme Bulls presented by B&W Trailer Hitches is one of the most entertaining shows of the season. Two-time and reigning World Champion J.W. Harris upheld the tradition by riding his two bulls for 175 points to win $11,656 on July 5 at Stampede Park.
This year, it was one of two final competitions on a long Fourth of July run, and the cowboys were travel weary and sore but eager for their share of the $47,000 purse.
Five world champions entered the event, but by the time the bull riding began, only two remained – all the others doctor released. Cody Hancock (2000) and B.J. Schumacher (2006) had lingering injuries and soreness, and Wesley Silcox (2007) was hit in the chin or head at three different Cowboy Christmas rodeos, so he decided to withdraw rather than risk a concussion.
That left Dustin Elliott, the 2004 world champion, and Harris as the remaining gold buckle competitors. Harris himself was coming off a collapsed lung. Doctors told him to sit out at least a month; instead, he gave it two weeks.
“It’s been a slow year,” Harris said. “I haven’t really rodeoed that hard. I think I’ve been to maybe 25 rodeos. I’ve been piddling around and nursing my knee through it just trying to get to the (Wrangler) National Finals. I tore it at the Finals, and I’ve got to have my ACL redone and fix my MCL.”
He was showing no effects of a bum knee or a collapsed lung on his semifinal-round ride aboard Frontier Rodeo’s Runaway.
“I didn’t really know the bull; he was kind of in and out,” Harris said. “He’d catch a gear and then move away from me. It felt like he was having a little trouble in the ground, like he was slipping in the front end. He dang sure made me work for it.”
All that work paid off with 85.5 points and left him literally gasping for air in the not-completely-healed lung. The Justin Sportsmedicine Team took his vital signs, and after 10 minutes, Harris looked and acted like himself again.
“I’ve ridden with worse injuries,” Harris said. “I just have to block out what’s bothering me, go ride and worry about what’s wrong with me after the bull riding.”
His score held up for a tie for second-best in the round to Beau Schroeder, who marked an 86.5 on J Bar J’s Bucksnort.
The real drama, however, would come in the final round.
Bobby Welsh kicked things off with an 88, followed by a 90 from Ryan Shanklin, who had won the Cody Stampede the previous day. Then local hero and 2007 Cody Xtreme Bulls Champion Kanin Asay reeled off a rodeo-best 92 points aboard Motown from the Frontier Rodeo string.
After Elliott and Tyler Smith bucked off, Clayton Williams went for 85 points. Harris had drawn Frontier Rodeo’s Cloud Nine and called on fellow bull rider Howdy Cloud for a scouting report.
“Howdy got on him at Beaumont this year and said he had a long jump out there and then went around to the right,” Harris said. “But with me, he just kind of fell out there and at about six seconds, he jumped forward and back around the other way. I’d like to have him every short round I go to.”
The judges awarded him an 89.5-point score, enough to distance himself from Asay by seven points.
“This is the first (Xtreme Bulls Tour) bull riding I’ve won since Reno in 2006, so I’ve been overdue for one,” Harris said.
What’s more, he was overdue for a good day during the Fourth of July run. During the entire week, he rode just one other bull for 73 points.
“This was awesome because everybody else won money over the Fourth and moved up in the standings, and this kept me on pace with them and not falling too far behind that I can’t catch up,” he said. “I just got to try to keep up with them and do what I can do and get to the Finals, where there’s a lot of money to be won there. You’ve got to keep going through the bad times, because you can learn something from it and keep a positive attitude. It’s not like you can ride all of them. Just keep going and getting on. That’s the only way you can get through a slump.”
The Cody stop was the seventh of nine on the Tour. The next event is Aug. 29 in Bremerton, Wash. The Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale is set for Sept. 4 in Ellensburg, Wash.
The Cody Xtreme Bulls event will be televised on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. (ET) July 25. Check the Xtreme Bulls TV schedule and your local listings for rebroadcast dates and times.
Other rodeo headlines from the week of Cowboy Christmas:
• The Home of Champions rodeo in Red Lodge, Mont., had never had a 90-point ride in any roughstock event in the first 80 years of its existence. The July 2-4 rodeo had two. Saddle bronc rider Shaun Stroh broke the arena record with a 91-point ride on Brookman Rodeo Company’s No. D24, and then bull rider D.J. Domangue posted a 91-pointer on Brookman’s Pocket Aces.
• The tie-down roping Cooper brothers won the Cowboy Christmas edition of Family Feud, out-earning the team roping Tryans and the saddle bronc riding Wrights. Tuf, Clif and Clint Cooper combined for $43,918, with all three sons of ProRodeo Hall of Fame roper Roy Cooper banking more than $12,000. Brady, Clay and Travis Tryan earned $21,056, while Alex, Cody, Jake, Jesse and Spencer Wright totaled $15,209.
• Joseph Parsons became the third member of his family to win the all-around title at the World’s Oldest Rodeo June 29-July 4 in Prescott, Ariz., joining his father Joe and his uncle, Cutter. Parsons earned $2,988 in the tie-down roping and the team roping, paired with his dad. Joe Parsons won the all-around there in 1986, 1988 and 1992, while Cutter Parsons won his title in 2007.
• This time, the bragging rights belonged to the wives: Hollie Etbauer, wife of five-time World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Billy Etbauer, won the barrel racing title at the June 30-July 3 Rodeo of the Ozarks to earn $3,696, while Billy failed to place at the Springdale, Ark., rodeo. Third place in the barrel racing went to Kirby Harter, wife of saddle bronc rider Bradley Harter, who finished tied for sixth at Springvale, giving her a $2,402-$616 earnings edge for the week.
• In theback-and-forth battle for the lead in the steer roping world standings, reigning World Champion Rocky Patterson re-took the lead from Bryce Davis by finishing third in both the Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fourche, S.D., and the Capitol Legends PRCA Rodeo in Fort Pierre, S.D. Patterson has $27,092 to lead Vin Fisher Jr. by $1,577. Davis slipped to third.
• Injury report: Bull rider Shawn Hogg lost the top half of the ring finger on his left hand while competing at the Livingston (Mont.) Roundup. Hogg told doctors that he wasn’t sure how it happened, but he thought he might have been stepped on. Hogg, who leads the PRCA World Standings, doctor-released out of the Cody Seminole Hard Rock Xtreme Bulls Tour event and will be out of action for at least 10 days … After more than three months on the sidelines, two-time and reigning World Champion Steer Wrestler Lee Graves plans to return to competition today (July 6) at the Calgary (Alberta) Stampede. Graves tore the biceps tendon off the bone in his left arm while competing at RodeoHouston in March. Dr. Tandy Freeman, medical director of the Justin Sportsmedicine Team, surgically repaired the damage and estimated it would take Graves 4-6 months to fully heal. Graves told the Calgary Herald he has been exercising regularly for a while and felt he was ready to come back once he was able to start doing chin-ups. He has been hazing for other steer wrestlers for about a week, in Ponoka, Alberta, and Calgary. Graves was 12th in the PRCA World Standings at the time of his injury and had slipped to 34th through July 1 … Fellow Canadian steer wrestler Tanner Milan, who entered Cowboy Christmas 26th in the world standings, suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee June 30 at the Ponoka (Alberta) Stampede and will be out of action indefinitely … It was a tough week for bareback riders. Karlon Knudson of Arvada, Wyo., suffered a fractured scapula at the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede, and Buck Lunak had a horse fall on him at the St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo and ended up with a liver laceration and broken ribs. Royce Ford (elbow) and rookie Danny Webb (neck) are scheduled for X-rays this week … Les Shepperson won the steer wrestling at the Greeley (Colo.) Stampede despite competing with a strained MCL in his right knee.
Next Up
July 6 Rooftop Roundup, Estes Park, Colo., begins
July 8 Heart of the North Rodeo, Spooner, Wis., begins
July 8 Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo, Vernal, Utah, begins
July 8 Wolf Point (Mont.) Wild Horse Stampede begins
July 8 Hamel (Minn.) Rodeo & Bull Ridin’ Bonanza begins
July 9 Painted Pony Championship Rodeo, Lake Luzerne, N.Y., begins
July 9 Cushing (Iowa) Community Rodeo begins
July 9 Winnishiek County Fair ProRodeo, Decorah, Iowa, begins
July 9 Silver State Stampede, Elko, Nev., begins
July 9 Isanti (Minn.) Firefighters Rodeo begins
July 9 The Showdown, Lancaster, Calif., begins
July 9 Mesquite (Texas) Championship Rodeo begins
July 9 Buckin on the River, Savannah, Tenn., begins
July 9 Steamboat Springs (Colo.) ProRodeo Series begins
July 9 Benalto (Alberta) Stampede begins
July 9 Cheney (Wash.) Rodeo begins
July 9 Laramie (Wyo.) Jubilee Days begins
July 10 Cowtown Rodeo, Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J.
July 10 Elgin (Ore.) Stampede begins
July 10 Drummond (Mont.) PRCA Rodeo begins
Rodeo News and Notes
Purple Cowboy designated as official wine of PRCA
Canopy Management, a Napa Valley, Calif.-based wine creation, sales and marketing company, announced July 1 that Purple Cowboy wines, its Paso Robles appellation red wine portfolio, has been designated the official wine of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), the first of its kind for a wine brand. The PRCA is the oldest and largest rodeo-sanctioning body in the world.
“We are thrilled to embark upon this new partnership with the PRCA. Real cowboys do drink wine!” says Terry Wheatley, founder and chief marketing officer of Canopy Management.
Wheatley and her family, including a professional cowboy husband and son, has long been involved with rodeo competition and the Western community. In 2004, while her son Wade was competing as a championship roper, Wheatley introduced the rodeo world to the Tough Enough To Wear Pink campaign to fight breast cancer. Since then, TETWP has raised more than $7 million.
“Since we launched Purple Cowboy in 2008, the wine has been the official wine of the Tough Enough To Wear Pink breast cancer awareness campaign at rodeos across the country,” Terry Wheatley said. “Our enhanced relationship with the PRCA will allow us to take Purple Cowboy’s charitable commitment to a new level.”
Wheatley founded the Tough Enough To Wear Pink campaign, along with Karl Stressman (former Wrangler Special Events Director and now PRCA Commissioner), to help families coping with breast cancer in the Western community. The iconic campaign, which has been adopted by other professional and collegiate sports entities, has competitors donning the color pink during competition to bring attention to the disease.
With the partnership, Purple Cowboy will receive significant exposure through an extensive advertising and exclusive content campaign on www.prorodeo.com as well as spotlight presence at PRCA-sanctioned events.
Corey elected Chairman of the Unwanted Horse Coalition
ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee Douglas G. Corey, DVM, was elected Chairman of the Unwanted Horse Coalition June 21 during the UHC’s annual meeting.
Dr. Corey has been an active member of the Coalition since its inception, serving on the UHC Steering Committee. He is also a member of the American Horse Council’s Animal Welfare Committee.
Dr. Corey is a partner at the Associated Veterinary Medical Center, a six-person mixed animal practice located in Walla Walla, Wash. In 2007, he served as the 53rd president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP). He has taken on many responsibilities within the AAEP, including serving as chairman for the Research, Public Relations, Membership, Equine Welfare and 50th Anniversary committees.
He is also a past president and board member of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association and was honored as the 1997 Oregon Veterinarian of the Year.
Within the equine industry, Dr. Corey has devoted much of his attention to the unwanted horse issue and other horse welfare issues. Through the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), he helped develop minimum-care guidelines for rodeo livestock, as well as other welfare rules and guidelines for the PRCA.
He has served on the PRCA’s Advisory Council on Animal Welfare for more than 25 years and has chaired the organization's Veterinary Advisory Committee. Dr. Corey has also served as the chairman of the American Veterinary Medical Association's Animal Welfare Committee. He serves as the Wrangler National Final Rodeo’s on-call veterinarian for media relations each year.
“Since the formation of the UHC and under the guidance of Dr. Tom Lenz, the coalition has made great strides and accomplishments in the education and awareness of the issue of unwanted horses,” Dr. Corey said. “With a new strategic plan in place, we can continue our efforts and progress to make even more of a difference for these horses in the equine community.”
California State Fair pays tribute to Frank Santos, Kendra Santos and Tony Costa
Veteran PRCA timed-event hand and veterinarian Dr. Frank Santos, his daughter, PRCA Director of Communications Kendra Santos, and the late Tony Costa will be inducted into the California State Fair Rodeo Hall of Fame on July 25 during ceremonies in Sacramento.
The event is part of the 16th annual Cattleman’s Day at Cal Expo, when ranchers from all over the state gather to pay tribute to the men and women who “keep California’s Agricultural Heritage alive.”
Dr. Santos, who never rodeoed full time because he had a family and thriving veterinary practice at home, won event and all-around titles, many multiple times, at all the major California rodeos, including Salinas, Oakdale, Livermore, Hayward, Redding, Santa Maria and San Francisco, in the days when the Cow Palace was the last big rodeo of the PRCA season and billed as “The Playoffs to the NFR.” Santos’ sons, Blaine and Wade, followed him in several of those feats, including winning the team roping title together at the Cow Palace.
Blaine Santos, who serves as the ProRodeo Sports News’ rodeo editor and advertising manager, was also a Cow Palace all-around champion and Oakdale team roping titlist.
Being the rare combination of veterinarian and successful timed-event competitor, Dr. Santos also championed rodeo’s livestock welfare issues for decades.
Past inductees into the California State Fair Rodeo Hall of Fame include Cotton Rosser, Jack Roddy, John W. Jones Sr., John W. Jones Jr., and Cecil Jones, all of whom are also inductees in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The induction ceremony will take place during the 6:30 p.m. Cattlemen’s Day Social and BBQ. Tickets are available for $30 prior to July 12 and will include dinner, admission to the Fair and a Cattleman’s Day T-shirt.
News and notes from the rodeo trail …
After many years at Norco, Calif., the Dodge California Circuit Finals Rodeo is changing dates and venue this year. It is scheduled for Jan. 14-15, 2011, at the South Point Hotel and Casino Equestrian Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. … PRCA member Wayne Cornish had a suitcase filled with rodeo memorabilia stolen from a storm shelter in Enid, Okla., where it was being stored – much of it belonging to his late father, ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee Cecil Cornish. “We are talking about years of rodeo history,” Wayne Cornish told the Enid News and Eagle. “All our pictures, 60 years of rodeo history is gone. All his medallions, his belt buckles are gone. I want to cry every time I think about it.” Cornish believes that whoever took the case didn’t know what they were taking, and he is appealing for them to return it to him, no questions asked … Announcer Randy Corley received a proclamation from the mayor of Prescott, Ariz., July 2 honoring his 25 years as the arena announcer for the World’s Oldest Rodeo … Serving as grand marshals of the Steamboat Springs (Colo.) Fourth of July parade were Orval (Junior) Bedell and his sons, Chad and Travis. Chad Bedell was the 1996 world champion steer wrestler … The Deadwood (S.D.) Days of ’76 Rodeo is featured in the free Rushmore Scenic Byway video game, which was released online July 2 at www.windycityracing.com …. ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee Quail Dobbs has been designated as the official Favorite Son of Coahoma, Texas, by Mayor Warren Wallace. Dobbs and his wife, Judy, were also named Coahoma’s Citizens of the Year.
