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Events Horse Happenings Western

Tie-down Roping win has Trevor Brazile leading All-Around

Photograph by Tom Donoghue

LAS VEGAS – Before the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo began, 23-time world champion Trevor Brazile announced he would be cutting his rodeo count down, not planning on going full time on the road any more.  This, the 60th edition of the Wrangler NFR would likely be his last. At 42 years old, he’s looking forward to spending more time with family.  But Sunday night, Dec. 9, in front of 16,917 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Brazile looked as young as ever, stopping the clock in 6.8 seconds to win tie-down roping. Even more significant, Brazile took over the lead in the coveted All-Around Cowboy competition from his brother-in-law Tuf Cooper.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

CORT SCHEER SETS SADDLE BRONC RECORD WITH 92pt RIDE ON LARRY CULPEPPER

Photo by Tom Donoghue

LAS VEGAS – Two days ago, before the 60th edition of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo opened, saddle bronc rider Cort Scheer was sitting in ninth place and ready to make his first Finals appearance since 2015.  Over the next two days, Scheer has won back-to-back rounds, posted a round record, won $62,462 and climbed all the way to third in the 2018 PRCA | RAM World Standings.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

Vold makes it a hat trick in Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Bareback rider Jake Vold is doing his best Ryder Wright impression. Wright won four straight saddle bronc riding rounds outright to open this year’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER, and Vold has nearly equaled that in his event.  The Ponoka, Alberta, cowboy won his third straight round Tuesday night with an 85.5-point trip on Burch Rodeo’s Jim Dandy.  Vold became just the eighth bareback rider in NFR history to win three straight rounds.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

WNFR 2015 World Champions Crowned in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Steven Peebles nearly died just five months ago. Tonight, he left the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER with a haul that he only could’ve imagined in his wildest dreams.
The 26-year-old from Redmond, Ore., captured the bareback riding world title, the WNFR average championship and the RAM Top Gun award.
Peebles rode for 83.5 points on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Good Time Charlie to split the Round-10 win and move ahead of four-time World Champion Kaycee Feild by $10,523 after Feild failed to earn a check aboard Frontier Rodeo’s Times Up.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

WNFR 2015 Kimzey repeats as bull riding champ

LAS VEGAS – Bull rider Sage Kimzey earned his second straight gold buckle tonight, making him the first man in the event’s history to win the world title in his first two years as a PRCA card holder.
Kimzey’s 84-point ride on Smith, Harper and Morgan’s Maverick was good for second place in Round 9 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER.
With the $20,731 he earned tonight, Kimzey can finish with no less than a total of $304,755, while Cody Teel – the only man close enough to overtake him entering the night – can finish with no more than $300,749, even if he wins Round 10 and the average crown.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

WNFR 2015 Brazile captures 23rd world championship

Photo by Tom Donoghue
LAS VEGAS – Trevor Brazile won his 23rd world championship tonight, and he did it in style.

The Decatur, Texas, cowboy clinched the 13th gold all-around buckle of his career when he won the tie-down roping in Round 6 with a 6.6-second run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER.

The lightning bolt of a run broke the previous Round 6 record of 6.9 seconds, and was just one-tenth of a second off the arena record time of 6.5 seconds set by Cody Ohl in 2003.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

WNFR 2015 Feild and Peebles in bareback riding battle

Photo by Tom Donoghue
LAS VEGAS – Kaycee Feild had watched Steven Peebles close in on his lead in the world bareback riding standings the last two nights, and when Peebles put up another big ride tonight, Feild responded.

During Round 4 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER Peebles posted an 84-point ride on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Scarlet Belle on the second-to-last ride of the night, taking the go-round lead. Feild was the last rider out, and had to come up with a solid score – he did, also posting an 84 on J Bar J’s Pass the Hat.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

Two out of three for Tsinigine and Motes

Photo by Tom Donoghue

LAS VEGAS – Aaron Tsinigine and Ryan Motes didn’t get to rope together in Las Vegas last year. Now, they’re making up for lost time in a big way.
The pair won their second round in three nights during Round 3 action at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER with a 4.0-second time.
In 2014, Tsinigine and Motes didn’t start roping together until the spring, and as a result, Tsinigine roped with seven-time World Champion Team Roper and ProRodeo Hall of Famer Clay O’Brien Cooper at the WNFR.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

Brazile sets first-round record

Photo by Tom Donoghue

LAS VEGAS – The 2015 edition of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER got off to a historical start.
Trevor Brazile, the 22-time world champion, won the tie-down roping with a 6.8-second run – the fastest Round 1 time in WNFR history.
“That’s sweet, I had no idea,” Brazile said of setting the record.

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Events Horse Happenings Western

Lovell and Lucero make the most of final weekend

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With one week remaining in the PRCA regular season, veteran team ropers Colby Lovell and Martin Lucero were on the outside looking in at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.