Bareback rider Keenan Hayes claims the wild card at RodeoHouston
RodeoHouston announcers were surprised to see Keenan Hayes in Friday’s first wild card competition. The Colorado native is the current #1 bareback rider. 2 in the world and won his super series with two lap wins.
Even Hayes was surprised, but most of all he was grateful for a second chance.
“I didn’t draw as well as I would have liked (Thursday) in the semi-final, and that’s the way it goes sometimes,” he said. “This is rodeo – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. So I’m glad the wild is here, and I might still try to get to that short round – and it worked out in the end.
The 20-year-old cowboy won the wild card by 86 points on Girl Crush, sending him to Sunday’s championship round, where he’ll vie for a shot in the four-man Shootout round — and a $50,000 payday.
“It caved hard and had a great degree of difficulty, and I just weathered the storm,” she said. “It wasn’t one of my best rides, but we got through it, rode it pretty well and it turned out to be good enough to win.”
Not bad for a substitute teacher who only found out about racing here last week.
“I’m just taking this opportunity and making it as far as I can,” said Hayes ($10,000), who is making his RodeoHouston debut.
Ryder Wright ($8,000) also took advantage of his opportunity.
The saddle rider from a famous – and ultra-talented – rodeo family won the round by 86.5 points over Buck Owens.
“I knew I had to spur that horse and do my job,” Wright said. “I was on that horse a couple of years ago, and it’s so much better the more you spur it.”
Wright has made the shootout before, but never reclaimed the Houston title.
He hopes to change that this year and add his name to the list of Wrights who have won here, including father Cody Wright (2012 saddle bronc), uncle Jesse Wright (2019 saddle bronc) and brother Stetson Wright (2022 bull riding).
“That would be great,” he said. “$50,000 is a lot in your past due account and a lot towards a gold buckle. So we’re all aiming for it and we’ll see who comes out on top.
Cody Snow and Wesley Thorp ($14,000) finished first in team roping, grabbing his calf in 4.5 seconds.
“We were fifth, so I was just going to see what everyone else was doing,” Snow said. “Then first team went 4.9, so it started out tough, and you only advance if you win the round. So once they went to 4.9, I went off instinct.
“We had great steering, and it went our way, so we’re happy.”
The pressure of the joker carried out the rope field, where four of the six athletes did not set times. Zach Jongbloed took the calf in 14.3 seconds, and Adam Gray ($7,500) took it in 10 seconds flat, sending him to the final.
The bull run was equally plagued with no times.
In fact, none lasted eight seconds and many limped out, so Ernie Courson Jr. ($4,500) advanced on the money he won. Stetson Wright, Houston and defending world champion, did not survive the round.
Jesse Brown’s 5-second toss won the wrestling steer, giving him $9,250.
Wenda Johnson ($5,500) placed first in barrel racing with a time of 14.71 seconds, and Martha Angelone ($7,000) won in breakaway roping with a 2.7.
Jason McDaniel is a freelance writer.
