SALT LAKE CITY – Another round of qualifiers have punched their tickets to the Komatsu Equipment Days of '47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo, presented by Zions Bank in Salt Lake City, July 19-24. The most recent groups qualified via Rodeo Corpus Christi, as well as from the Denver Rodeo All-Star event.
World Champions, Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifiers and additional Utah cowboys are now on the eligibility list for the over $1 million event. 2014 PRCA champion Spencer Wright of Milford, Utah, joins his brother, Jesse Wright, who also has a world title to his name in rodeo’s signature event of saddle bronc riding. Spencer earned the nod after finishing second at Rodeo Corpus Christi to Zeke Thurston. Thurston was already qualified from his Calgary Stampede win in 2018, thus rolling the opportunity down to Wright.
Other qualifiers to earn a spot from the trial event in Corpus Christi included Tanner Aus (bareback riding), Laine Herl (steer wrestling), Tanner Tomlinson/Ty Arnold (team roping), Seth Cooke (tie-down roping), Dona Kay Rule (barrel racing) and Garrett Tribble (bull riding).
World Champion Will Lowe secured his spot in the bareback riding after winning the Rodeo All-Star event in Denver in early April. Lowe of Canyon, Texas, won his first of three world titles in 2003 and followed that up with back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006. All totaled he has ridden at 15 Wrangler NFR events including the most recent in 2018 in Las Vegas. In addition to Lowe, the following punched their ticket to Salt Lake in Denver: Mason Carter (steer wrestling), Justin Thigpen/Kyle Crick (team roping), Travis Gardner (saddle bronc riding), John Douch (tie-down roping), Shali Lord (barrel racing) and Preston Louis (bull riding).
2012 PRCA champion bull rider Cody Teel will take his shot at a share of the over $1 million in prize money after winning PBR’s Unleash the Beast Tour stop in Billings, Mont.
With the recent addition of women’s breakaway roping, a total of 288 competitors will now compete during the five-day event in July. The rodeo will feature 32 competitors in each event (bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, barrel racing, women’s breakaway roping and bull riding) with eight competitors per performance starting on Friday, July 19. The top two from each performance, along with two via the Wild Card category, will advance to the Gold Medal Round on July 24 where 10 competitors in each event will compete in a sudden-death format with the winner collecting a Gold Medal and $50,000 cash.
There are still several qualification spots still available with contestants having a few avenues to earn their spot– either via the Days of ’47 Qualification trial events or the WCRA path. Bull riders will also have opportunity via the PBR as noted below.
The remaining four bull riders will earn qualification based on the following:
– 2019 Albuquerque, NM Unleash the Beast Tour Event
– 2019 PBR World Standings (Top 3 as of June 24th)
Bull riders will need to have a PBR card and be registered on the WRCA App to compete while all others must be registered with the WCRA to compete.
The Days of ’47 qualification routes still available, including bull riders will consist of the following:
- 2019 Santa Maria (Calif.) Elks Rodeo *not including breakaway roping
- 2019 College National Finals Rodeo Champions
- 2019 Priefert Patriot Days of ’47 Challenge *timed event only
The WCRA remaining qualifications will consist of the following:
- 2019 Title Town Stampede, Green Bay, Wis. Champion *includes bull rider
- Top 20 (12 in bull riding and 28 in the breakaway roping) in WCRA Virtual Qualifier points as of July 8, 2019
The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo, presented by Zions Bank, July 19-20 and 22-24, will take place at the $17.5 million state-of-the-art Days of ’47 Arena at the Utah State Fairpark, custom designed and built for rodeo. The venue—an outdoor arena located in the heart of Salt Lake City—features over 10,000 stadium-style seats.
For only the fifth time in the history of rodeo, riders will have an opportunity to compete for Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals. The first two times were in conjunction with the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (1988) and Salt Lake City (2002), when rodeo was part of the Cultural Olympiad and the other two times being the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo in 2017 and 2018. The medals that will be awarded at the Days of '47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo will be produced by OC Tanner, the same company that made the Olympic medals for the champions of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Tickets are currently on sale at smithstix.com. For more information on the event visit www.daysof47cowboygames.com.
The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo will broadcast exclusively on PBR’s RidePass via RidePass.com or the RidePass mobile app.
Current list of athletes who have earned qualification for 2019 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo
Bull Riding
Marcos Gloria – 2018 Calgary Stampede
Derek Kolbaba – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Alisson De Souza – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Garrett Smith – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Chandler Bounds – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Coleman Entze – 2019 DO47 Lewis Feild Bulls & Broncs Event
Trevor Kastner – 2019 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series
Marco Antonio Eguchi - 2019 PBR Fresno, CA Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event
Keyshawn Whitehorse - 2019 PBR Casper, WY Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event
Koal Livingston - 2019 PBR Bakersfield, CA Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event
Preston Louis – 2019 Denver Rodeo All-star
Cody Teel – 2019 PBR Billings, MT Unleash the Beast Tour Event
Garrett Tribble – 2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi
Bareback Riding
Richmond Champion – 2018 Calgary Stampede
Wyatt Denny – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
*JR Vezain – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo (will be unable to compete due to injury)
Ty Breuer – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Tristan Hansen– 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo (replacing JR Vezain)
Kaycee Feild – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Shane O’Connell – 2019 DO47 Lewis Feild Bulls & Broncs Event
Tilden Hooper – 2019 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series
Will Lowe – Denver Rodeo All-Star
Tanner Aus – Rodeo Corpus Christi
Steer Wrestling
Matt Reeves - 2018 Calgary Stampede
Justin Shaffer – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Rowdy Parrott – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Bridger Anderson – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Tyler Pearson – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Josh Garner –2019 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series
Mason Carter – 2019 Denver Rodeo All-Star
Laine Herl – 2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi
Team Roping – Headers
Kellan Johnson – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Matt Sherwood – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Riley Minor – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Garrett Tonozzi – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Ty Blasingame – 2019 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series
Justin Thigpen – 2019 Denver Rodeo All-Star
Tanner Tomlinson – 2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi
Team Roping – Heelers
Carson Johnson – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Will Woodfin – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Brady Minor – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Joe Mattern – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Kyle Lockett – 2019 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series
Kyle Crick – 2019 Denver Rodeo All-Star
Ty Arnold – 2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi
Saddle Bronc Riding
Zeke Thurston – 2018 Calgary Stampede
Cody DeMoss – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Wyatt Casper – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Isaac Diaz – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Colt Gordon – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Ross Griffin – 2019 DO47 Lewis Feild Bulls & Broncs Event
Jesse Wright – 2019 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series
Travis Gardner – 2019 Denver Rodeo All-Star
Spencer Wright – 2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi
Tie-Down Roping
Tuf Cooper – 2018 Calgary Stampede
Cory Solomon – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
JC Malone – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Caleb Smidt – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Shane Hanchey – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Michael Otero – 2019 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series
John Douch – 2019 Denver Rodeo All-Star
Seth Cooke – 2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi
Barrel Racing
Hailey Kinsel – 2018 Calgary Stampede
Lisa Lockhart – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Chani Graves – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Cheyenne Wimberley – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Nellie Williams-Miller – 2019 RODEOHOUSTON Super Series
Shali Lord – 2019 Denver Rodeo All-Star
Dona Kay Rule – 2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi
Women’s Breakaway Roping
Jackie Crawford – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Remaining schedule
– 2019 Albuquerque, NM Unleash the Beast Tour Event – May 17-19
– 2019 Santa Maria Elks Rodeo – May 30 - June 2
– 2019 WCRA Title Town Stampede, Green Bay – June 1
– 2019 College National Finals Rodeo Champion – June 9-15
– 2019 PBR World Standings (Top 3) - June 24th
– 2019 WCRA VRQ Standings (20 athletes all events except bull riding and breakaway roping; 12 athletes for bull riding; 28 for breakaway roping) July 8
– 2019 Priefert Patriot Days of ’47 Challenge *timed event only – July 20-21
