Kimzey Looks North
It’s the question Canadian rodeo Fans have been asking: Is Sage Kimzey eyeing a Canadian Finals Rodeo qualification? The five time World Champion bull rider answered that question right after another successful weekend at Canadian rodeos.
“Definitely,” Kimzey responded. “That is absolutely one of my goals for this year.”
The Strong City, Oklahoma superstar added another $4245 to his Canadian bank account with wins at Rocky Mountain House (85.5 points on Vold Rodeo’s Simple Man, $1460) and Lea Park (87 on Calgary Stampede’s Wounded Warrior for $2030) and a second place finish at Brooks (79.5 for $755).
“The CFR had been in the back of my mind since I was in college with (Canadian cowboys) Layton Green and Jacob Stemo. They were both in the novice events back then and talked a lot about the CFR. This year my schedule worked out so that I could get my fifteen rodeo count so I’m excited about trying to get to Red Deer.”
The productive weekend will put Kimzey in the top three in the Canadian standings and give the Oklahoman eight of the fifteen rodeos he needs to punch his ticket to CFR 46.
“It was all good up here until the cold this weekend,” Kimzey chuckled. “It was 91 degrees (Fahrenheit) when I left home and I was awful cold in Brooks and Rocky. But the people are super nice and super accommodating. It’s been great being up here.”
Kimzey and traveling partner, Tyler Bingham, will next be on this side of the 49th parallel for the Wainwright-Sundre-High River run later this month followed by stops at Ponoka and Williams Lake as part of his July 1st run in Canada and the 4th in the US.
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Blair Smith is another name that keeps popping up on top of the leaderboard. The young tie-down roper from Wimborne, Alberta won two of three CPRA rodeos over the weekend – Brooks Kinsmen Pro Rodeo and Rocky Pro Rodeo.
“I drew some good calves,” the second generation cowboy noted. “My calf in Rocky was an add-on and I didn’t know him. He was faster than I thought he’d be. And in Brooks I knew I had a pretty good calf. I had a good start, was solid on the ground and everything worked out.”
Smith topped the field of 65 ropers with an 8.3 second run at Brooks – good for $1686. And his run in slack at Rocky (9.2 secs) added $1772 for a total of $3458.
As for his horse, “With my regular calf horse out for some maintenance, I rode an older gelding I hadn’t been on yet this year. He’s a pretty trustworthy horse. I actually had him for sale,” he grinned, “but I might have to keep him now.”
With his main goal in 2019 to qualify for his first CFR, and a tradition of roping in his family (Dad, Garnet and cousin, Guy were both CPRA ropers and both brothers compete) Smith is off to a great start.
Additional Weekend Highlights:
– Jake Watson kept his amazing streak going on the weekend, adding two more wins to give him six over the last four rodeo weeks and ten Canadian rodeos in that span. This time up, the number one bronc rider in the Canadian standings won Lea Park with an 87.5 point effort on Calgary Stampede’s Redon Acres for $2156 and added a ½ split (with Layton Green) at Rocky Pro Rodeo, putting up 83 points on Prime Time Rodeo’s Good Vibrations for another $1260.
Justine Elliott, the Lacombe high school student, followed up her Grande Prairie win of a week ago with another strong performance this weekend as she topped the field at Lea Park with a 16.573 second run for $2838.80 and added a fifth place $968 cheque at Rocky to move to within $1000 of season leader (and fellow teenager) Taylor Manning.
Check out www.RodeoCanada.com for complete results.
Next up on the CPRA schedule are two Maple Leaf Circuit events: Bonnyville Pro Rodeo June 14-15 and Innisfail Pro Rodeo June 14-16.
