Seven days, 33 rodeos,
millions of dollars in prize money
RENO, Nev. – The completion
of the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo on Sunday signals the traditional beginning of
Cowboy Christmas, one of the busiest and most lucrative weeks of the year
for PRCA cowboys.
A year ago the 32 PRCA-sanctioned rodeos held from July 2-8 paid out more
than $2.5 million and the 33 on this year's schedule which will be
completed during the week of June 30-July 6 is expected to offer something
closer to $3 million.
The specter of $5-a-gallon diesel will be momentarily overlooked as
cowboys range wide over multiple time zones to compete in as many
big-money rodeos as they can manage in a week.
Five Wrangler ProRodeo Tour events will be part of the Cowboy Christmas
rush. The World's Oldest Rodeo in Prescott, Ariz.; the Cody (Wyo.)
Stampede; the Rodeo of the Ozarks in Springdale, Ark., the St. Paul (Ore.)
Rodeo and the Fourth of July Youth Celebration in Window Rock, Ariz.,
combined for nearly $1.2 million in prize money last year.
With the last of these, the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour will have completed 20
of its 26 rounds.
Bull rider Kanin Asay
threatened Ty Murray's 1999 record for Cowboy Christmas earnings last year
with five trips to the pay window worth $36,031, doing the most damage in
his hometown rodeo in Cody. He won the Cody Xtreme Bulls Tour event and
then the Cody Stampede.
He also cashed checks at the Greeley (Colo.) Xtreme Bulls and at rodeos in
Livingston, Mont., and Hamel, Minn.
The biggest prize money
winners, by event, during last year's Cowboy Christmas run were Asay; Chad
Ferley, saddle bronc ($29,253); Brittany Pozzi-Pharr, barrel racing
($26,933), Lee Graves, steer wrestling ($20,375), Bobby Mote, bareback
riding ($19,957), Cody Ohl, tie-down roping ($16,828) and Chad
Masters/Allen Bach, team ropers ($16,774). |
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