ProRodeo Sports News - October 30, 2020

PRCA AWARDS

Remuda Award winners named Photo courtesy Candy Hamaker Summit Pro Rodeo horses walk around the ranch in Centennial, Wyo., 25 miles west of Laramie. Summit Pro Rodeo, which is run by J.D. Hamaker and his sons Ty, Blaze and Colt, won the 2020 Remuda Award.

BY TRACY RENCK T he winning stock contractor for the 2020 Polaris Ranger Remuda Award is Summit Pro Rodeo, while the winning rodeo committee for the 2020 Polaris Ranger Remuda Award is the Ute Stampede in Nephi, Utah. The PRCA’s annual Remuda Awards go to the stock contracting firm and rodeo committee that provide the best, most consistent pen of bucking horses, creating the best opportunities for contestants to score well. “This is very shocking (to receive this award),” said J.D. Hamaker, the managing partner and controlling owner of Summit Pro Rodeo. “It’s a very big deal to me. I always thought someday I might get to the point where I might be in the running for this award, and it came quicker than what I envisioned it would be. I’m doing my best to develop a good set of horses, and I was very, very excited to hear that I won (the Remuda Award).” Summit Pro Rodeo, based in Centennial, Wyo., 25 miles west of Laramie, is run by Hamaker and his sons Ty, Blaze and Colt. “We pretty much came up from the ground up,” J.D. said. “We started with high school rodeos and amateur rodeos and then bought out Hal Burns’ Pro Rodeo deal and then expanded it from there.” Summit Pro Rodeo was established in 2011 when Hamaker bought out Burns. “I bought the horse half off him first, and since then Byron Juma (of Torrington, Wyo.) and the Juma family have come in and bought the bull half,” Hamaker said. “Then, Daniel Beard, of Ellensburg, Wash., has a few horses and a few bulls, and he’s a minority partner with us (at Summit Pro Rodeo).

“The good thing about this award is it gives you a pat on the back and at least some people think you’re moving in the right direction.” Summit Pro Rodeo primarily provides stock for rodeos inWyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Idaho andWashington. The award was also the first for the Ute Stampede, which celebrated its 86th year July 16-18. Nephi is 80 miles south of Salt Lake City. “There were so many things that happened this year that were so out of the norm for us,” said Chris Memmott, president and chairman of the Ute Stampede. “When you talk about this award, you’re talking about having the best pen of horses. Before COVID, we were talking about doing that very thing, trying to do better and putting an even pen under cowboys across the board. We brought in two extra contractors, and there was a lot of discussion about that, and then you add in COVID and then you add in all these rodeos that got canceled, and we kept going. We are just a rodeo in the summer and a summer event for our community, and we try and make it the best event we possibly can. This year everything came together for us.” The stock contractor for the 2020 Ute Stampede was Rosser Rodeo. The sub-contractors were Bar T Rodeo, Diamond G Rodeo and Flying U Rodeo. “My first call is going to Cotton and Reno (Rosser) and to congratulate them on the longstanding 60-year partnership we have had with them,” Memmott said. “This is a huge deal for us to win this award.” The Remuda Award winners will be honored at the PRCA Awards Banquet in Fort Worth, Texas, at 6 p.m. (CT), Dec. 2, the eve of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo opening at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

ProRodeo Sports News 10/30/2020

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