Super Saturday, San Antonio style: Season’s first $1 million rodeo enters final week

Posted Monday, February 11, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, the reigning and three-time PRCA Indoor Rodeo of the Year, enters the home stretch this week with the final six performances that Saturday will crown event champions for the year’s first rodeo to award $1 million in prize money. In addition, San Antonio’s second installment on the Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour, presented by B&W Hitches, highlights Saturday’s championship-day festivities as well.

This week, nightly performances take place at the AT&T Center, starting at 7 p.m. Feb. 11-14 and 7:30 p.m. for the Feb. 15 show and the final round on Feb. 16. The top 40 bull riders step into the spotlight for a matinee performance at 1 p.m. Feb. 16 for the season’s third stop on the Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour.

On Jan. 31, bull rider Chance Smart claimed the title and more than $19,000 after winning the first San Antonio Xtreme Bulls Tour-stop title, riding two bulls for 178 points. Smart, the early-season standings leader in Dodge Xtreme Bulls events, is among the contestants for Saturday’s event, as is reigning World Champion Bull Rider Wesley Silcox of Payson, Utah, and two other world champions – B.J. Schumacher of Hillsboro, Wis. (2006) and Cody Hancock of Taylor, Ariz. (2000).

In San Antonio, each rider is seeking a part of the $75,000 purse and placement in the Xtreme Bulls standings. Every contestant competes in the semifinal round, with the top 12 performers advancing to the final round. The winner of the two-head average wins that stop’s title. Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour earnings count toward the Crusher Rentals PRCA World Standings, which determines qualifiers for the 50th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Dec. 4-13 in Las Vegas.

Through 13 performances, the table is set for quite a furious finish. Each event consists of three rounds, with the top 12 contestants (12 teams in team roping) returning for the final round on Saturday night. All three rounds are still in progress. ProRodeo.com is posting results at San Antonio daily through the Feb. 16 conclusion of both the rodeo and Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour event.

The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo follows the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour’s first three stops in Odessa, Texas; Denver; and Rapid City, S.D. The Tour resumes Feb. 21 at the San Angelo (Texas) Stock Show and Rodeo and continues March 3 with the beginning of Rodeo Austin (Texas).

The following are the leaders of each round, as well as the average race, at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo through 13 performances (Feb. 1-10):

Bareback riding: First round – Justin McDaniel, Porum, Okla., 88 points; second round – Royce Ford, Briggdale, Colo., 86 points; third round – Stetson Herrera, Albuquerque, N.M., 85 points; average – Herrera, 236 points on three.

Steer wrestling: First round: T-Roy Orr, Lebanon, Tenn., 3.3 seconds; second round – Damian Padilla, Rio Rico, Ariz., 3.7 seconds; third round – Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., 3.5 seconds; average – Orr, 11.4 seconds on three head.

Team roping: First round – Riley Minor, Ellensburg, Wash./Brady Minor, Ellensburg, Wash., 4.8 seconds; second round – Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas/Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas, 4.3 seconds; third round – B.J. Campbell, Benton City, Wash./Russell Cardoza, Knights Ferry, Calif., 4.2 seconds; average – Shane Schwenke, Harlem, Mont./Kory Mytty, Lolo, Mont., 15.6 seconds on three.

Saddle bronc riding: First round – Brad Harter, Weatherford, Texas, 81 points; second round – Dustin Flundra, Pincher Creek, Alberta, 85 points; third round – Cody Taton, Newell, S.D., 87 points; average – Cody Wright, Milford, Utah, 239 points on three head.

Tie-down roping: First round – Garrett Nokes, McCook, Neb., 7.9 seconds; second round – Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 7.6 seconds; third round – (tie) Clay Cerny, Brazoria, Texas, and Nate Baldwin, Blackfoot, Idaho, 7.5 seconds; average – Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 24.4 seconds on three head.

Barrel racing: First round – Terra Bynum, Colorado City, Texas, 14.29 seconds; second round – Jill Moody, Letcher, S.D., 14.40 seconds; third round – Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore., 14.42 seconds; average – Bynum, 43.29 seconds on three runs.

Bull riding: First round – Chance Smart, Philadelphia, Miss., 91 points; second round – J.W. Harris, May, Texas, 91 points; third round – Smart, 89 points; average – Smart, 270 points on three head.