ProRodeo Sports News - March 3, 2023

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

SAN ANTONIO STOCK SHOW & RODEO Berry ties arena record on Gun Fire Record Ride

BY TANNER BARTH T he path less traveled is often the one people shy away from, but not Weatherford, Texas, bareback rider Leighton Berry. At the end of the second semifinal round at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, Berry found himself on the outside looking in. To keep his hopes alive of cashing in the $15,000 first-place check, he knew he’d have to advance out of the wildcard. He made the most of the opportunity, putting together a round winning 88.5-point ride on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Topped Off. Berry carried that momentum over into the 11-man finals, where a matchup with the PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year Frontier Rodeo’s Gun Fire awaited him. “In the finals here, you don’t draw your horse, I picked him,” said Berry, a two-time Wrangler NFR qualifier. “I was super excited to have that horse. They have won so many legendary rodeos on that horse. I knew I had the horsepower underneath me to do something special, but I was going to have to do my job.” He did his job and then some. The two went head-to-head and at the end of the eight seconds a 93-point score was announced before a sellout crowd at the AT&T Center. It was good enough to not only win the rodeo but tie the arena record that was set by Clayton Biglow in 2021. “That horse tests you every single jump and is super droppy,” he said. “It stays right in front of the bucking chutes, kicks, and gives you all the timing to show off. You just have to bear down, ride good, and get through it. It couldn’t have worked out much better for me.” Berry said even though he would have rather advanced to the finals out of the semifinal round, it ended up being an advantage to him with riding two horses just a few hours apart. “I almost feel like I ride better when I’m not fresh. My dad said you have to drag me through the water and beat me up a little bit before I’m warmed up,” Berry said. “Sure, it takes a little bit out of you, you have to do a little more to get your motor running. But thanks to the Justin Sportsmedicine team I feel great.” And he’ll need to stay healthy if he wants to accomplish his ultimate goal in 2023. “The hardest working guy is going to get that gold buckle,” he said. “I truly believe that it has shown that in the recent past. I made a promise to myself, and it’s written on my goal bar that I’m not going to do anything but go after every horse and every rodeo. I have it written in big letters, ‘JUSTWIN’. So, from here on out, I’m just going to try to win.”

TOP SCORES

TOP MONEY EARNER Jeff Askey ($26,833, bull riding) BAREBACK RIDING

Askey

1. Leighton Berry ....................... 93 pts. 2. Keenan Hayes ............................ 90.5 3. Jacob Lees . .................................. 89 STEER WRESTLING 1. Jesse Brown ........................ 3.1 sec. 2. Kyle Irwin . ................................... 3.6 3. Jacob Talley ................................. 3.8 TEAM ROPING 1. D. Egusquiza/L. Lord . .......... 4.1 sec. 2. A. Tsinigine/R. Motes ................... 4.3 (Tie) N. Wyatt/J. Davis ................. 4.3 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Stetson Wright .................... 92.5 pts. 2. Chase Brooks ............................. 90.5 (Tie) Zeke Thurston . .................. 90.5 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Riley Pruitt ........................... 7.2 sec. 2. Shad Mayfield .............................. 7.3 3. Quade Hiatt .................................. 7.7 BARREL RACING 1. Kassie Mowry .................. 13.95 sec. 2. Bayleigh Choate ....................... 14.08 3. Two tied at ............................... 14.14 BULL RIDING 1. Jeff Askey .............................. 90 pts. 2. Dawson Gleaves . ....................... 87.5 3. Two tied at .................................... 87

Complete results/Page 46

Hailey Rae photo

Bareback rider Leighton Berry won the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo with an arena-record tying ride of 93 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Gun Fire, the 2022 “Pendleton Whisky’s Let ‘er Buck” Bareback Horse of the Year.

ProRodeo Sports News 3/3/2023

ProRodeo Sports News 3/3/2023

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