ProRodeo Sports News - July 7, 2023

TIMED-EVENT TOP MONEY WINNER

BY TANNER BARTH T he Cowboy Christmas rodeo run can be grueling. In most cases, it requires contestants traveling up and down the road for seven days straight with the hope of striking paydirt during one of the most important stretches of rodeo that sport has to offer. Trevor Brazile, The King of Cowboys, made a killing in his career during the Fourth of July. In 2011, Brazile set the record for the most money ever won during Cowboy Christmas with $39,993 between tie-down and team roping. That record seemed like it would stand the test of time, well until 2023. San Angelo, Texas, tie-down roper Ty Harris had never won more than $7,500 in a single year during Cowboy Christmas in his seven-year ProRodeo career. He flipped that script on its head in 2023. Harris cashed checks at six of the eight rodeos he competed in, to not only break the timed-event and single-event records, but also the Cowboy Christmas overall earnings record with $40,561 earned from June 29-July 5. “I broke the all-time record for any event?” Harris cautiously asked when told he had broken Brazile’s record. “I knew I had it for tie-down roping and the timed events, but not the all-time record. The crazy part is I’ve never had a good Fourth of July before.” Harris’ Cowboy Christmas run started off with a bang at the Greeley (Colo.) Stampede on June 29. His three runs in the Centennial State turned into a $8,448 payday. That was only the beginning of what would turn into a lucrative rodeo run, highlighted by Harris winning the Ponoka Stampede and pocketing $18,155 at the event alone. “Every year you have high hopes and dreams of having a good Cowboy Christmas,” said Harris, 25. “You make all these intricate travel plans to make every rodeo and you book flights here and there. So, to see it all finally come to fruition with a week like this is really special.” His Cowboy Christmas success marks a turnaround this season because the high-speed talent found himself a little chilly in early June. “I was struggling a little bit and didn’t really Harris breaks Cowboy Christmas money mark Record Breaker

TOP TIMED-EVENT 1. Ty Harris....................................$40,561 2. Dalton Massey.......................... 26,630 3. Levi Lord.................................... 25,263 4. Dustin Egusquiza...................... 25,263 5. Tanner Tomlinson..................... 24,422 6. Patrick Smith............................ 24,422 7. Shane Hanchey.......................... 23,931 8. Dirk Tavenner............................ 22,059 9. Dawson Graham....................... 20,387 10. Dillon Graham......................... 20,387 11. Erich Rogers............................. 20,327 12. Paul Eaves................................ 20,327 13. Shad Mayfield .......................... 20,162 14. Kaleb Driggers .......................... 19,660 15. Junion Nogueira....................... 19,660

have any success,” he said. “That’s definitely a personal weakness of mine – trying to push too hard when it’s not going right, instead of just doing my job and roping. I want to win every time I back in there, but when I haven’t been winning is when it will actually get worse for me because then I start pushing and pressing and making mistakes that I shouldn’t make.” The financial boost moved the Texan near the top 5 of the PRCA | RAM World Standings, but there’s no slow in the Harris ‘go’ at this point in the season. “I’m just going to go and just try to do the best that I can,” Harris said. “I’m not going to stop until September 30. When you’re blessed with a week like this, I’m going to take it as a motivator and hopefully, an accelerator. I’m definitely not going to slow down.”

Ty Harris clocked a 9.0-second run in the Showdown round of the Ponoka Stampede to win the rodeo. His $18,155 payday was key in his record-setting Cowboy Christmas run. COWBOY CHRISTMAS

Billie-Jean Duff photo

ProRodeo Sports News 7/7/2023

ProRodeo Sports News 7/7/2023

ProRodeo.com

ProRodeo.com

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