ProRodeo Sports News - April 16, 2021

WEATHERFORD, TEXAS

Tim O’Connell ties world record with 94-point ride Record Rally BY NEAL REID, Special to ProRodeo Sports News T imO’Connell knows the Riggin Rally series this year is presenting a great opportunity for bareback riders to earn big money toward the PRCA | RAM World Standings. So O’Connell is making sure he capitalizes when a Riggin Rally event comes around. The three-time world champion did that in spades inWeatherford, Texas, April 3. For the second time in as many years, O’Connell tied the PRCA world record with a 94-point ride, this time aboard Frontier Rodeo’s Gun Fire. Immediately after the ride, O’Connell searched for a scoreboard at the Riggin Rally Xtreme Broncs. He knew the number had the potential to be massive. The Zwingle, Iowa, cowboy was right. The board lit up with a 94— the highest mark his event has ever seen. “To have two 94s in my career is just special,” said O’Connell, who originally posted a 94 on Feb. 15, 2020, aboard Northcott Macza’s Stevie Knicks to win in San Angelo. “I didn’t know what it was going to be tonight, but I knew it was going to be big. To do it in front of your peers and for them to agree with what just went down, that means more than anything.” O’Connell now shares the world record twice over withWes Stevenson (Kesler Rodeo’s Cover Girl, Dallas, 2002); Will Lowe (Kesler Rodeo’s Sky Reach, Omaha, Neb., 2003); Ryan Gray (Carr Pro Rodeo’s Grass Dancer, Eagle, Colo., 2009); and Tilden Hooper (Classic Pro Rodeo’s Big Tex, Silver City, N.M., 2010). O’Connell pointed the credit at Gun Fire. “That horse is on a different level right now than any other horse out there,” said O’Connell, who qualified for Weatherford’s six-man short-go with an 85 on Frontier Rodeo’s Bottom Line in the opening round. “It’s the front-runner for Horse of the Year right now.” New this year, the Riggin Rally series has been a shot in the arm for O’Connell and his fellow bareback riders. Pitting the best of the best stock against the sport’s top cowboys, the stand-alone events give fans a glimpse at what might be in store for them come December. O’Connell said, in an odd way, the COVID-19 pandemic set the stage for the Riggin Rally events to take shape. “The pandemic sucked, but without it, we wouldn’t have created the Riggin Rally,” he said. “Without the shutdown and without the Steiners, we wouldn’t have this right now. I don’t know if bareback riding would have ever gotten to the point where it is now without COVID.” The 29-year-old is locked in and ready to travel hard the rest of the season, and he’s in a good place mentally and physically as he chases Hooper for the world-standings lead. “My head’s in a good space, my body’s in a good spot, I feel very controlled on the back of the horses and I’m having fun with it,” O’Connell said. “That’s the main thing — I’m having fun rodeoing. That hasn’t always been the case every year, but when I’m having fun rodeoing, it’s a lot better. “When I’m having fun, I’ll wake up, and my wife will say, ‘How are you feeling?’ and I’ll say, ‘I’m feeling dangerous.’” Being able to celebrate the Weatherford win with his wife, Sami, and son, Hazen, was worth much more than the winner’s check. “I got to grab my 3-year-old boy and bring him over the fence to celebrate with me,” O’Connell said. “That’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

1. Tim O’Connell ....................... 94 pts.* 2. Richmond Champion ..................... 90 3. Four tied with ................................. 89 *Ties PRCA world record TOP SCORES Complete results/Page 46

ProRodeo Sports News 4/16/2021

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