The Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) in Red Deer, that runs from Oct. 29 to Nov. 3, will once again see a lot of Bashaw and area representation.
Chief among them will be the Cassidy brothers, Cody and Curtis, who sit second ($27,170) and third ($24,644) respectively coming into the steer wrestling event, just a few thousand back of Provost’s Scott Guenthner in first.
Curtis is making his 19th appearance, the most ever for a steer wrestler in the 46 year history of the CFR.
He also has quite the edge having won the high point title nine times to go along with two steer wrestling championships and one in tie-down roping. Although, Cody has won the steer wrestling title four times, tying him with their father Greg.
Curtis does have one more thing going for him this year. He will be off to the National Finals Rodeo this December as the top steer wrestler in the world rankings.
Meanwhile, Garrett Green slides into the bull riding at the CFR in fourth spot with $30,748, about $17,000 behind top spot. However, he also comes in on a winning streak, having won his first ever Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Canada event Oct. 19 in Abbotsford, B.C.
Green, 27, captured first with an 84.5 in the opening round and then won the championship with an 87.5 ride on OMB Legal Issues to earn nearly $6,500. That money, and the world and Canadian points that go with the win, has Green in the top 10 that qualify for the PBR Canadian championship Nov. 22 and 23 in Saskatoon.
As for bareback rider, Bashaw’s Jacob Stemo, he was on the outside looking in at the CFR with around $12,000. However, he will be making his second straight appearance in Red Deer after one of the top 12 qualifiers is now unable to compete due to an injury.
Now while the money gap between top spot and the lowest qualifying positions in the various events can seem overwhelmingly large — this year the biggest gap is over $40,000 — that can be made up quickly with some great rides and a bit of luck.
A total of $1.62 million in prize money will be dished out, with $10,530 going to first place in each of the six go-rounds and an additional $15,795 handed out to the competitor that wins the overall aggregate.
Evening performances run at the Centrium at 7 p.m. with the Nov. 3 final day performance going at 2 p.m. For tickets and information, go to www.cfrreddeer.ca.