BILLINGS – Bull rider Brett Fitzpatrick and barrel racer Christy Willert put their names at the top of their respective events Friday after Round 2 of the Yellowstone River Roundup rodeo at inside the Metrapark Grandstands.
Fitzpatrick recorded the first qualified bull ride of the rodeo – 83 points aboard Bronze Age. That held as the top score of the night, with just two other qualified rides behind him.
Willert’s 17.36-second run tied Jessica Routier for the barrel racing lead. Both hail from South Dakota.
A number of others jumped into second place overall in their events. Polson’s Trevor McCallister scored 82.5 points on Irish Eyes in the bareback competition, moving him into a tie for second overall with Ty Breuer. Belgrade steer wrestler Caden Camp impressed with a 4.0-second run to move into second, one tenth behind Riley Duvall. Australian cowboy Jake Finlay won the saddle bronc Friday with 80.5 points aboard Broken Bulb. Cole Elshere still leads the overall at 81 points.
All eyes were on 23-time world champion Trevor Brazile, competing in three different events Friday night. But Brazile came away empty in all three – a no-time in both steer roping and team roping, while missing the money with a 15.4-second run in tie-down roping.
The third and final round is set for Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
