ProRodeo Sports News - October 30, 2020

Roy Cooper had passed the $2 million mark (in career earnings), and they were doing a photo shoot for the cover of the PSN ,” Brazile said. “I was rodeoing with Roy at the time, and I was thinking how cool that was that someone did that, doing what we love to do in rodeo. Man, rodeo has been really, really good to me.” Before the 2018Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Brazile announced he was cutting back on his rodeo schedule to spend more time with his family. Brazile is still competing at the highest level in steer roping. The reigning world champion is fourth in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings with $48,387. He trails leader Cole Patterson by $6,211. Brazile’s seven steer roping gold buckles are second on the all-time list behind only ProRodeo Hall of Famer Guy Allen’s 18. Brazile also has 35 NFSR go-round wins, second to Allen’s 48, and has won the most career money at the NFSR with $628,208. “Just like everybody else I want to have a good (NFSR),” Brazile said. “Everybody there is capable. It is just who executes those two nights. That’s probably the biggest difference in the steer roping finals than the NFR is there are five rounds each night versus one round each night. If that’s your night you have the potential not only to win one round but win multiple rounds. That’s the good thing. The bad thing is the opposite is also true. You really need to be hitting on all cylinders when you get there.” Brazile plans on riding War Wagon, 5, in Mulvane, and possibly J.R. Magdeburg III’s horse, Raider, 17. “War Wagon is one of the young horses in our program that we have going now,” Brazile said. “Raider suffered a ligament injury in Torrington (Wyo., July 19-20), and I didn’t have anything else, so we startedWar Wagon. He’s done really well this year. War Wagon is a unique horse. We are going to (a non-sanctioned PRCA event) on him in Fort Worth (Texas) at the end of October. He’s a head horse primarily. I think what makes him is his mind. I don’t know many horses that you could go back and forth like that on at any age, much less a 5-year-old. He’s a pretty special horse. “In a perfect world, I will bring Raider back to Mulvane, but I just don’t

know yet if he will be healthy. I like the setup (at the Kansas Star). The arena has a way of evening the cattle out itself because the boxes are set on the right wall and everybody gets a pretty good roll at all the steers and I feel like it evens the field out as much as any venue I have been to.” Brazile is thrilled the NFSR is taking place in this COVID-19 pandemic- marred season. “To all the committees it takes to make it work and the (PRCA) administration going above and beyond and having to put in more time to make this happen, I think they didn’t get enough credit,” he said. “Whether it is the NFR in Arlington (Texas) or getting the NFSR back in Mulvane, I just think that deserves a ton of credit in times like these.” A year ago, Brazile placed in six rounds at the NFSR and won the average with 131 seconds on 10 head to collect the steer roping gold buckle. He has won the NFSR average four times – 2012, 2014-15 and 2019. “It’s pretty neat watching all the things he does that go into the run,” said Vin Fisher Jr., a 17-time NFSR qualifier. “That’s what a lot of people don’t see, the horsemanship behind every run that Trevor has is the very best of anybody. It obviously shows how well he handles the rope and how fast he is on the ground, but the preparation he has and making those horses work that way and the way he can go to a rodeo and ride his horse at a rodeo the way he would be practicing, that is so hard to do, and not many guys can do it. “Watching him do it when he ties steers in eight (seconds) and still is riding his horse like he’s training is what is pretty amazing to me.” Fisher has twice finished second in the world standings (2015 and 2019), both times to Brazile. Brazile has delivered in the clutch numerous times, including at the 2019 ClemMcSpadden NFSR. Needing a catch and tie in Round 10 to capture a gold buckle, Brazile stopped the clock in 14.1 seconds to secure the average win and his 25th gold buckle. “It has a lot to do with preparation,” Brazile said. “I’ve also had great horses and I have been blessed like that my whole career. I feel like God has had his hand on me because I’m not any different from anybody else.”

PRCA ProRodeo photo by Clay Guardipee Trevor Brazile, pictured here roping at the 2020 National Circuit Finals Steer Roping, July 19, has won a PRCA-record 25 gold buckles.

ProRodeo Sports News 10/30/2020

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