One down, 9 to go - NFR opening night review

Listening live online I was able to catch pieces of the opening night of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. I admit I was multi tasking so I didn't listen to every ride in every event.

What I do know is that the barrel racing was a testament to the quality of barrel racing that goes on in Canada and and at the Canadian Finals Rodeo. Many of the girls there spent a good part of June and July going to rodeos in Canada. Three of the girls in the top 5 at the NFR last night were at the CFR! Brittany Pozzi ran her young Palomino horse Duke to win the first round. She ran him at the CFR and many Canadian rodeos over the summer. You'll see Canada's very own Cowgirl of The Year Rana Walter helping Brittany down the loading area in the video. Rana is down there looking after the horses for Brittany while she focuses on meeting sponsorship commitments.

Here is Brittany's winning run. (Thank you www.rodeoup.com) She was last to go. That may be a good sign in the ground department. Hopefully it will be good for all, top to bottom.



Lindsay ran Martha for a 5th place finish. She will be just getting her warmed up and we'll expect her to get faster and faster with every run. She'll be working really hard at staying in the average since could make or break the next world champion.

Brittany Pozzi 13.94
Shelley Morgan 14.1
Tiffany Fox 14.13
Lisa Lockhart 14.15
Lindsay Sears 14.18
Sheena Robbins 14.24
Sherry Cervi 14.26
Mary Burger 14.33
Jordon Peterson 14.36
Tammy Fischer 14.42
Brenda Mays 14.59
Cassie Moseley 14.7
PJ Burger 19.04
Danyelle Campbell19.31
Sue Smith 19.32

The Canadian contingent were tough in the Steer Wrestling. Curtis Cassidy won the round and Lee Graves placed 4th behind Luke Branquino and Jake Rinehart. All 4 of these cowboys are "just" 9 steers away from a world championship. There are others within reach, but these four are just one placing away (10K and less) from a gold buckle.
Here is Curtis's 3.6 run:


Canadian Saddle Bronc Rider Dustin Flundra rode last night to a 75 but will need a better mount and a better score tonight to get into the money.

I'll keep looking for the full round of barrel racing runs to post, but it doesn't look like our source from last year is posting to youtube like she did last year.

Check out www.prorodeo.com for full event results and world standings www.rodeoup.com for videos of each event winner. Listen live each night at www.prorodeolive.com