BOERNE, TX (July 24, 2016) The grand finale of Elite Rodeo Athletes Premier Tour (Stop #10) – Days of ‘47 Komatsu Equipment Rodeo in Salt Lake City took place last night with a unique format that gave top seeded series qualifiers an opportunity to compete against the best rodeo athletes in the world. Each of the eight qualifiers advanced out of the qualifying series rounds that took place earlier this week in Vivint Smart Home Arena.
Out of eight, one qualifier, Guthrie Murray, a bull rider from Miami, OK upset the competition by going 86 points on War Party (Diamond G Rodeos) to claim the win in front of an elated crowd. Cody Campbell managed to hold onto his ERA World Championship Standings lead, but Neil Holmes zoomed up the standings last night following just 25 points behind Campbell.
Tyler Pearson (Independence, LA) won the steer wrestling with a 3.66 on his steer and was able to inch closer to standings leader Stockton Graves in the points race, now just 63.5 points behind Graves.
Three-Time World Champion Team Ropers, Clay Tryan and Jade Corkill claimed a second win in Salt Lake City last night with another three second run. Stopping the clock at 3.72, they were just ahead of Chad Masters and Travis Graves’ 3.88 that earned them a second place finish. Derrick Begay and Seven-Time World Champion, Clay O’Brien Cooper still have a commanding lead in the Championship Race to Dallas, bolstered by their third place finish with a time of 4.08 seconds.
Fresh off his Calgary Stampede win, Saddle Bronc Rider, Zeke Thurston, (Big Valley, Alberta) claimed another big victory by executing a winning ride on Kool Toddy (Big Bend Rodeo) that scored 87.5 points. The Canadian cowboy moved up in the standings last night, but Isaac Diaz (tour stop 9 winner) still has the lead placing third last night with an 82-point ride.
Ten-year-old barrel racing phenom, Chayni Chamberlain, (Stephenville, TX) had the crowd roaring on Saturday night with her win. Riding her horse “Flo Jo” (Dat Flowing Bunny), they stopped the clock with a 13.50 second run. Chamberlain, the youngest athlete on the tour, has proven she is a force to be reckoned with and is currently sitting second in the standings behind Lisa Lockhart.
Three-time World Champion, Tuf Cooper, (Decatur, TX) turned in a quick 6.84 second run to claim first in the tie-down roping. Close behind him were family members Trevor Brazile (7.10) and Clif Cooper (7.74) taking second and third respectively. Cooper has now earned four tour stop wins and sits behind Shane Hanchey (tour stop #9 winner), who leads the Championship Race to Dallas in the Tie-Down Roping.
ERA Bareback Rider Steven Peebles is King of the Comeback. Just two months after winning a world title in December (an amazing feat after his near death experience last July), Peebles found himself in a hospital bed once again with a potential career-ending injury. Peebles broke his back during a vehicle accident on February 13th and has been working diligently to return to the sport he loves. Last week he claimed the bareback championship at Calgary Stampede and last night he won tour stop #10 with an 87-point ride on Something Cool (Big Bend Rodeo).
Peebles described what the recent big wins mean to him by saying, “It’s been a very long six months waiting eagerly to be able to get back on. That is the longest I’ve ever had to sit out at one time in my whole career, and I was so excited to be able to get back on for the first time, especially for the $100,000 (won at Calgary). I wanted to win it very bad. I was extremely happy and what a relief it was after no rodeo income in 6 months.
Then to come to my first ERA rodeo, I knew I had a lot of climbing to do in the standings and to be able to win that as well – I was so excited and I am feeling really blessed. It was exactly what I needed and a great start for my climb to the top!”
ERA back numbers this weekend featured a blue stripe in a show of appreciation for America’s police officers who risk their lives to protect and preserve our freedoms every day. ERA athletes wanted to show that they “Back the Blue.”
Earlier this year, The Days of ’47 Rodeo, which is Utah’s oldest rodeo and one of the premier rodeos in the nation, made a bold move to provide their fans a new high-stakes, high-entertainment competition through a new partnership with Elite Rodeo Athletes (ERA).
The Days of ‘47 event will air on FS2, Wednesday, August 3rd at 9:00 EST. The athletes have six weeks off before they head to tour stop #11 in Sheridan, WY for the Cowboy State Elite Rodeo, September 3rd. Tickets to the Wyoming event can be purchased now at www.sheridanwyorodeo.com/era and start at $24.
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ABOUT THE DAYS OF ‘47 RODEO It’s a must-see event, and is the state’s oldest rodeo. Spectators will be impressed by the competitors who join us in 2016 as they will see the biggest names in rodeo ride, rope and rough it for our Rodeo’s $400,000 in prize money. Featuring bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, barrel racing, team roping, steer wrestling and tie-down roping.
In 2016, the rodeo will kick off July 19th and run through the 23rd.
ABOUT ELITE RODEO ATHLETES (ERA) The Elite Rodeo Athletes (ERA) is a “League of Champions” where only the world’s best rodeo athletes and livestock compete at every tour stop for a share of the $4.6 million total season purse. The ERA was created by the sport’s premier rodeo stars with rodeo fans in mind. The ERA consists of two tours – the Premier Tour, featuring 87 of the sport’s top athletes, representing 135 world championships; and the Qualifying Tour, offering up and coming rodeo talent an opportunity to qualify for the ERA Premier Tour and ultimately the ERA World Championships. ERA events are televised nationally on FOX Sports 2 (FS2).
