Feild Secures Spot in Gold Medal Round on Monday in Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY (July 21, 2023) – The fans at the 2023 Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo presented by Zions Bank was treated to a bareback riding field packed with so much talent during the third performance, it was a must-see event to kick things off on Friday night in Salt Lake City.

            Six-time world champion Kaycee Feild showed off why he has been the top bareback rider in the world finishing atop the leaderboard at the Days of ’47 Arena. Feild was matched with Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics Great Nation, and they turned in an 86-point ride in front of the Utah crowd. The hometown cowboy loves riding in front of his home state crowd.

            “I could definitely feel the support of the fans tonight,” stated Feild after his winning ride. “Normally I don’t hear the fans but here in Salt Lake City it got pretty loud about three seconds in.”

            Feild will be looking for that same support come Monday for the Gold Medal Round. He will be joined by R.C. Landingham of Hat Creek, California, who will be looking to defend his gold medal from 2022. Landingham finished with an 85.5-point ride aboard C5 Rodeo’s Oney. Both Feild and Landingham have both stood on the medal stand and that will be their focus on Medal Monday.

            The Gold Standard in Rodeo features a total of 336 competitors, who will take their shot at a share of close over three-quarters of a million in prize money and a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal that will be awarded on Monday, July 24. There will be 32 competitors in all the roughstock events (Bareback riding, Saddle Bronc riding and Bull riding) and 40 competitors in all timed events (Steer Wrestling, Team Roping, Tie-down Roping, Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing).

            Tie-down roper Shane Hanchey will also be looking to defend his title on Monday. Hanchey of Sulphur, LA, stopped the clock on Friday night in a quick 7.7 seconds to easily advance to the final round on Monday. Richard Newton of Portales, NM, will join Hanchey having finished second on the night in a time of 8.7 seconds. Hanchey won his first and only gold buckle thus far in rodeo in 2013 and captured his first gold medal in 2022 in Salt Lake City. No other rodeo in the world gives medals which makes this a rodeo you want to win.

            “Winning a gold medal is special,” stated Hanchey after getting the performance win. “We win buckles at other rodeos, but this is the only rodeo to win a gold medal and that is pretty cool.”

            The full field is divided into four groups of 8 each per performance in the roughstock and 10 in the timed events. The top two scores or times per performance will advance to the Gold Medal Round. Scores/times from the Semi-Final performances will NOT carry forward to the Gold Medal Round (only to break ties). The 8 competitors in each event in the Gold Medal Round will compete in a sudden-death format with the winner collecting a Gold Medal and $10,000 cash.

            It was a crowded leaderboard in the team roping with two teams tying for first with times of 4.8 seconds each. Both teams have now punched their tickets to Medal Monday. Derrick Begay of Seba Dalkai, Arizona and Colter Todd of Willcox, Arizona will be joined by the Mississippi team of Marcus Theriot and Cole Curry with a gold medal on their mind.

            Kade Bruno knocked it out of the park in the saddle bronc riding aboard C5 Rodeo’s Macho Man. Bruno of Challis, Idaho, scored 90 points to take top honors on Friday night and pocketed $2,000. He will be looking to add to that total on Monday with a shot at $10,000 and a Gold Medal. Stetson Wright finished second with an 88 on Macza’s Squash Blossom Steely Dan and will be back on Monday night to try to add a gold medal to his growing collection of trophies and accolades.

            The Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo presented by Zions Bank, is taking 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 eighth 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 five times being 2017-2023. This will be the fourth time for breakaway ropers as their event was added to the roster in 2019. The medals that will be awarded at the Utah Days of '47 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 still available. For more information on the event visit www.utahdaysof47rodeo.com.

            Action at the Utah Day of ’47 Rodeo continues July 22 at 7:30 p.m. MT.

# # #

Results: - Performance 3 – July 21, 2023

Bareback riding: 1. Kaycee Feild, Genola, UT, 86 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo’s & Phenom Genetics Great Nation, $2,000; 2. R.C. Landingham, Hat Creek, CA, 85.5 on C5 Rodeo’s Oney, $1,500; 3. (tie) Mason Clements, Spanish Fork, UT, on Andrews Rodeo’s You Never Know, Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, IA, C5 Rodeo’s Sunday Sinner and Richmond Champion, Stevensville, MT, Championship Pro Rodeo’s Happy Trails, 85, $500 each.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Taylor Broussard, Shane O’Connell Jayco Roper, Sam Peterson, Kaycee Feild, and R.C. Landingham

Steer wrestling: 1. Mike McGinn, Haines, OR, 4.2 seconds, $2,000; 2. Kalane Anders, Bayard, NE, 4.3, $1,500; 3. Stockton Graves, Alva, OK, 4.5, $1,000; 4. Nick Guy, Sparta, WI, 4.7, $500.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Dalton Massey, Don Payne, Cody Devers, Stetson Jorgensen, Mike McGinn and Kalane Anders

Team roping: 1. (tie) Derrick Begay, Seba Dalkai, AZ/Colter Todd, Willcox, AZ, and Marcus Theriot, Lumberton, MS/Cole Curry, Liberty, MS, 4.8 seconds, $1,750 each; 3. Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, GA/Junior Nogueira, Presidente Purde, Brazil, 5.1, $1,000; 4. Jake Cooper Clay, Sapulpa, OK/Kollin VonAhn, Blanchard, OK, 14.6, $500.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Brentan Hall/Paden Bray, Aaron Tsinigine/Ryan Motes, Kreece Thompson/Landon Glenn, J7 Bland/Tyson Thompson, Derrick Begay/Colter Todd and Marcus Theriot/Cole Curry

Saddle bronc riding: 1. Kade Bruno, Challis, ID, 90-point ride, C5 Rodeo’s Macho Man, $2,000; 2. Stetson Wright, Milford, UT, 88 on Macza ProRodeo’s Squash Blossom Steely Dan, $1,500; 3. Logan Hay, Wildwood, Alberta, 87 on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Secret Agent, $1,000; 4. Q Taylor, Casper, WY, 85.5 on Sankey Rodeo’s PT Barnum, $500..

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Riggin Smith, Zeke Thurston, Tanner Butner, Ryder Sanford, Kade Bruno and Stetson Wright

Tie-down roping: 1. Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, LA, 7.7 seconds, $2,000; 2. Richard Newton, Portales, N.M., 8.7, $1,500; 3. Taylor Christensen, Plain City, UT, 9.3, $1,000; 4. Joel Harris, San Angelo, TX, 10.9, $500.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Michael Otero, Zack Jongbloed Luke Potter, Nilton Braga, Shane Hanchey, and Richard Newton

Breakaway roping: 1. Zoie Bedke, Oakley, ID, 2.1, $2,000; 2. (tie) Carly Christian, Amarillo, TX and Braylee Shepherd, 2.4, $1,250 each; 4. Ryland Lufkin, Menan, ID, 2.6, $500.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Justine Doka, Jordan Jo Hollabaugh, Brighton Bauman, Quincy Sullivan, Zoie Bedke, and Braylee Shepherd

Barrel racing: 1. Ilyssa Riley, Hico, TX, 16.83 seconds, $2,000; 2. McKenna Coronado, Kanarraville, UT, 16.94, $1,500; 3. Halyn Lide, China Springs, TX, 16.96, $1,000; 4. Dee Ratliff, Cross Plains, Texas, 17.28, $500.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, Makala Pierce, Rachelle Riggers, Emily Beisel, Ilyssa Riley and McKenna Coronado

Bull riding: No qualified rides

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Trey Benton III, Tristen Hutchings

*Note to fill the eight for Medal Monday it will go back a random draw of the full field

# # #