Super Saturday at the CFR
Veteran Canadian bareback rider Ty Taypotat made the most of his match-up with the 2021 World Champion Bareback Horse, Calgary Stampede’s Xplosive Skies (88.5 points) to win the Saturday night 5th round of the CFR.
“He’s a straight out bucker and he’s a handful,” Taypotat noted. “I got on five horses in 2020 and this year, I stayed in Canada. I’ve only been on seven horses, so to be riding like I was two years ago feels pretty good.”
The evening’s success meant that Taypotat posted back to back round wins on double-header Saturday. The dual wins moved him to first in the aggregate standings and second overall - just 529 points behind Cadogan’s Clint Laye who split the afternoon round with Taypotat. Both men recorded 85 point rides.
Sophomore CFR qualifier, Shane Smith of Wimborne, AB, made a big move in the tie-down roping with a pair of second place runs - 8.3 in the afternoon and 8.4 in the evening round. Smith has taken over top spot in the overall season earnings and sits third in the aggregate going into Sunday’s round. Smith’s stellar Saturday was actually bested by two time High Point Champion Morgan Grant who won both rounds with outstanding runs of 8.0 and 7.9 seconds. And while Grant trails Smith by less than 2000 points, he is well out of the all important aggregate.
History was made on Saturday as ladies breakaway roping made its inaugural appearance at the CFR. Wardlow, Alberta’s Kendal Pierson, who has already won the World High School title, took over the lead in the breakaway with consecutive Saturday wins: 2.05 and 2.03 second runs. She leads the season leader, Lakota Bird, by just 52 points and also leads the aggregate, by a one second margin.
Maple Creek, Saskatchewan bull rider Jared Parsonage assumed both the aggregate lead and top position in the overall standings with a pair of gritty Saturday rides. Parsonage, who had already claimed the all around title for 2021, was one of only two riders to make the whistle in the afternoon round (70 points on Outlaw Buckers’ Crank It Up). He followed that up with an 86 point effort on Duffy Rodeo’s Pinochio. Parsonage is the only man to have ridden four of the five bulls he’s drawn to date. Defending Champion Edgar Durazo trails Parsonage by 3200 points with Lonnie West of Cadogan another 3000 back. West, however, sits second in the aggregate while Durazo has ridden only one bull at this Finals and is fifth in the aggregate.
In the ladies barrel racing, defending Canadian Champion Brooke Wills ran her personal best so far at CFR47. The Kamloops, BC cowgirl posted a 14.084 sec time to earn top spot on the night while three time CFR qualifier Justine Elliott maintained the consistency she has displayed so far at this Finals with a 14.113 second run, good for second place. The barrel race remains exactly that - a race - as we head into the final performance with Brodoway and Elliott one-two as far as overall money won (about 1000 points apart) and Elliott leading the aggregate with Brodoway in third.
In the steer wrestling event, Stephen Culling (Fort St John, BC) regained his place at the top of the overall season standings courtesy of a 3.7 second go-round winning run on Saturday night. Culling has 34,618 points for 2021 and is followed by Cody Cassidy, Curtis Cassidy, Ty Miller and Justin Miller who leads the aggregate.
Valleyview, AB cowboy Clay Ullery, and his Waldeck, SK team roping partner Tyce McLeod, lead the hotly contested team roping season standings with Tee McLeod and Brady Chappel in second place - less than 4000 points behind the leaders. The roles are reversed in the aggregate however, with McLeod and Chappel leading the way as the only team with five steers caught.
Two time World Champion and reigning Canadian Champion Zeke Thurston of Big Valley, Alberta continued his domination of the saddle bronc riding when he rode Vold’s Stack Em Up to and 87.25 for the Saturday night win. Thurston’s 55,783 points is almost exactly twice that of his closest pursuer, K’s Thomson of Lundbreck.
And one competitor, Sundre, AB’s Riley Warren, has a shot at three titles. In addition to leading the high point standings, Warren sits fifth in the tie-down roping but is leading the aggregate. And in the team roping, Warren also sits fifth, but again is solid in the aggregate (sitting third).
For complete results, go torodeocanada.com
The sixth and final performance of the 2021 Canadian Finals Rodeo starts at 12:00 noon Sunday, Nov 7 at Westerner Park in Red Deer.
