(SASSR media release)
SAN ANTONIO – An Oklahoma cowgirl and her horse took center stage at the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo on Monday night. Dona Kay Rule was the final barrel racer to compete in Bracket 5 and riding her 10-year-old sorrel gelding, High Valor, had the fastest time of the night.
This is her first qualification to the prestigious rodeo. Last October she won all three rounds at the RAM Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo. That gave her a boost in the 2019 world standings and got her a trip to San Antonio. When the clock stopped Monday night, it read 14.07 putting her in first place over by five-one-hundredths of a second. Rule had placed fourth in the first round winning $750 at the Sunday matinee. Sunday’s evening performance saw her one spot out of the money so in order to advance to the semifinals she had to get a check on Monday.
Now she and Valor are making plans to stay in the Alamo City and compete in the semifinals. They finished in a tie for third and fourth place in the bracket with $3,250. A person who has trained and sold barrel horses to help support her family, Rule now has the luxury of riding her own horses and competing.
She and her husband, John, owned National Saddlery in Oklahoma City for 30 years. They have two children who are now grown and after selling the business they can focus on different goals. She is a second-generation rodeo competitor whose love for barrel racing and roping runs deep. She is currently ranked 11th in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association world standings. Money won here could certainly help her improve her position. She finished the 2018 season in 51st place and has already improved on that greatly. If she stays among the top 15 for the remainder of the season, she will be headed to Las Vegas to compete at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
No one dominated Bracket 5 more than saddle bronc rider Bradley Harter. The Loranger, La., resident currently leads the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world standings. He placed second in the first and third rounds, won round two and has already earned $6,500 in the AT&T Center. Harter joined the PRCA in 2002 and has yet to win a San Antonio championship.
The first of two semifinals will start on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Ten contestants in each of the events will have two more opportunities to win money in Semifinals 1 and Semifinals 2. The top five money earners from each of those will advance to Saturday night’s championship finals.
Bracket 5, round 2 followed by total money —
Bareback Riding: 1, Richmond Champion, The Woodlads, Texas, 85 points on C5 Rodeo’s Oney, $2,500. 2, Caleb Bennett, Corvallis, Mont., 82, $2,000. 3 (tie) Jesse Pope, Marshall, Mo., and Orin Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 77 and $1,000 each. (semifinals qualifiers) 1, Larsen, $5,500. 2, Champion, $3,875. 3, Pope, $3,000. 4, Seth Lee Hardwick, Ranchester, Wyo., $2,500.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Cody Devers, Balko, Okla., 3.1 seconds, $2,500. 2, Josh Clark, Belgrade, Mont., 3.7, $2,000. 3, Scott Guenthner, Provost, Alberta, 4.0, $12,50. 4, (tie) Billy Bugenig, Ferndale, Calif., and Shayde Tree Etherton, Borden, Ind., 4.4 and $375 each. (semifinals qualifiers) 1, Clark, $5,500. 2, Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La., $4,500. 3, (tie) Devers and Guenthner, $2,500.
Team Roping: 1, Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, and Clay O’Brien Cooper, Gardnerville, Nev., 4.4 seconds, $2,500. 2, Tate Kirchenschlager, Yuma, Colo., and Ross Ashford, Lott, Texas, 10.8, $2,000. 3, Kelsey Parchman, Cumberland City, Tenn., and Matt Kasner, Cody, Neb., 11.7, $1,250. 4, Hayes Smith, Central Point, Ore., and Evan Arnold, Stephenville, Texas, 13.6, $750. (semifinals qualifiers) 1, Kirchenschlager and Ashford, $5,740. 2, Charly Crawford, Prineville, Ore., and Patrick Smith, Lipan, Texas, $3,250. 3, Smith and Arnold, $2,750. 4, Brazile and Cooper, $2,500.
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, 85.5 points on Powder River Rodeo’s After Party, $2,500. 2, Bradley Harter, Loranger, La., 85, $2,000. 3, Ryder Wright, Milford, Utah, 84.5, $1,250. 4, Chase Brooks, Deer Lodge, Mont., 78, $750. (semifinals qualifiers) 1, Harter, $6,500. 2, Wright, $5,083. 3, Crawley, $3,750. 4, Brooks, $2,833.
Tie-Down Roping: 1, (tie) Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, and Cooper Martin, Alma, Kan., 7.8 seconds and $2,250 each. 3, (tie) Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas, and Justin Thigpen, Waycross, Ga., 8.0, $1,000. (semifinals qualifiers) 1, Tuf Cooper, $4,750. 2, Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., $4,000. 3, Thigpen, $2,750. 4, Jesse Clark, Portales, N.M., $2,500.
Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Dona Kay Rule, Minco, Okla., 14.07 seconds, $2,500. 2, Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 14.12, $2,000. 3, Ivy Conrado, Nowata, Okla., 14.14, $1,250. 4, Michelle Darling, Medford, Okla., 14.34, $750. (semifinals qualifiers) 1, (tie) Amberleigh Moore, Salem, Ore., and Jimmie Smith, McDade, Texas, $3,750 each. 3, (tie) Rule and Conrado, $3,250.
Bull Riding: 1, (tie) Ruger Piva, Challis, Idaho on Frontier Rodeo’s Lookin’ Up and Josh Frost, Randlett, Utah, on Frontier Rodeo’s Kooter Crazy, 87 and $2,250 each. 3, Jordan Wacey Spears, Redding, Calif., 85.5, $1,250. 4, Dalan Duncan, Ballard, Utah, 82, $750. (semifinals qualifiers) 1, Duncan, $4,500. 2, Frost, $3,500. 3, Reid Barker, Comfort, Texas, $2,500. 4, Piva, $2,250.
