Wet But Electric Start to the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo

SALT LAKE CITY (July 19, 2023) – The 2023 Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo presented by Zions Bank kicked off in soggy fashion but ended in electric fashion with a one-of-a-kind Drone show. The rain began just as the rodeo kicked off but that didn’t slow down Taylor Broussard’s feet in the bareback riding.

            Broussard from Estherwood, Louisiana, rode Andrews Rodeo’s Rylee’s Rasin Cane to 85.5 points and to the top of the leaderboard advancing to Monday’s Gold Medal Round. He will be joined with Shane O’Connell of Rapid City, S.D., with an 80.5 on Sankey Rodeo’s Silver Screen.

            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).

            There is no hotter barrel racer right now in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association than Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi. Pozzi Tonozzi of Lampasas, Texas, is coming off a win at Reno (Nevada) Rodeo and her most recent win at the Calgary Stampede. She is currently ranked No. 1 in the world. She has two gold buckles to her name but never a Gold Medal. She is trying to check that off her bucket list just like she did with Reno and Calgary recently. On Wednesday she and her mount Benny, owned by Busby Quarter Horses stopped the clock in a time of 17.17 seconds. Pozzi Tonozzi won a bronze medal here in Salt Lake City in 2018 and will hope to stand atop the podium on Monday as the fastest barrel racer at the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo. Makala Pierce of Stephenville, Texas, is also moving on to Monday with a time of 17.27 seconds on opening night.

            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.

            Dalton Massey of Hermiston, Oregon, is Gold Medal Round bound after stopping the clock in 4.2 seconds in the steer wrestling on opening night. Don Payne of Stephenville, TX will join him on Monday after finishing second on the night in a time of 4.5 seconds.

            The team of Kreece Thompson of Munday, Texas and Landon Glenn of McAlester, Oklahoma topped the leaderboard in the team roping with a 4.3 second run. They will be back on Monday as will J7 Bland of Turkey, Texas and Tyson Thompson of Munday, Texas, with a 4.8 second run.

            Riggin Smith of Winterset, Iowa, put on a clinic in the saddle bronc riding posting an 88-point ride on Andrews Rodeo’s Gypsy Rose. He will now make plans to be back in Salt Lake on Monday to go for Gold and a chance at $10,000. Joining him will be Zeke Thuston of Big Valley, Alberta who posted an 85.5 on C5 Rodeo’s Mr. Twister. Thurston will be looking for his third Olympic style medal having won bronze in 2017 and capturing Gold in 2019.

            Michael Otero made his trip from Alabama count in the tie-down roping turning in an 8.2 second run and picked up a check for $2,000. More importantly he will return on Monday for a chance at $10,000 and a Gold Medal. Joining him finishing second on the night was Zack Jongbloed of Iowa, LA with a 9.1.

            Overall, it might not have been a pretty breakaway roping with only three qualified times, but Justine Doka put on a show stopping the clock in a quick 1.8 seconds. Doka from Fountain Hills, AZ, will be looking for her first ever Gold Medal opportunity on Monday and she will be joined by Jordan Jo Hollabaugh of Springtown, TX, who took second on the night in a time of 2.2 seconds.

            Trey Benton III brought the rodeo action to a close with an 88.5-point ride on D&H Cattle’s Pearl Snap Fever to secure his spot in the Gold Medal Round. Pearl Snap Fever had never been ridden until Wednesday night in Salt Lake City. Benton is truly putting his gold standard stamp on the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo and hopes Monday to have a gold medal placed around his neck. He was the only one to turn in a qualified eight second ride picking up a cool $5,000.

            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 20 at 7:30 p.m. MT.

Results: - Performance 1 – July 19, 2023

Bareback riding: 1. Taylor Broussard, Estherwood, LA, 85.5 points on Andrews Rodeo’s Rylee’s Rasin Cane, $2,000; 2. Shane O’Connell, Rapid City, S.D., 80.5 on Sankey Rodeo’s Silver Screen, $1,500; 3. Keenan Hayes, Hayden, CO, 80 on C5 Rodeo’s Virgil, $1,000; 4. Trenton Montero, Winnemucca, NV, 76 on Macza Pro Rodeo Call Me Kindra, $500.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Taylor Broussard and Shane O’Connell

Steer wrestling: 1. Dalton Massey, Hermiston, OR, 4.2 seconds, $2,000; 2. Don Payne, Stephenville, TX, 4.5, $1,500; 3. Denver Berry, Checotah, OK, 5.4, $1,000; 4. Denard Butler, Checotach, TX, 5.7, $500

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Dalton Massey and Don Payne

Team roping: 1. Kreece Thompson, Munday, TX/Landon Glenn, McAlester, OK, 4.3 seconds, $2,000 each; 2. J7 Bland, Turkey, TX/Tyson Thompson, Munday, TX, 4.8, $1,500; 3. Jake Smith, Broken Bow, OK/Douglas Rich, Herrick, IL, 10.1, $1,000; 4. Brye Crites, Welch, OK/Rance Doyal, Hartshorne, OK, 13.9, $500.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Kreece Thompson/Landon Glenn and J7 Bland/Tyson Thompson

Saddle bronc riding: 1. Riggin Smith, Winterset, IA, 88 points on Andrews Rodeo’s Gypsy Rose, $2,000; 2. Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, AB, 85.5 on C5 Rodeo’s Mr. Twister, $1,500; 3. Layton Green, Millarville, Alberta, 81 on Andrews Rodeo’s Slappin Leather, $1,000; 4. (tie) Kole Ashbacher, Arrowwood, Alberta, on C5 Rodeo’s D777 and Ross Griffin, Tularosa, NM, on C5 Rodeo’s Star Gazer, 80, $250 each.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Riggin Smith and Zeke Thurston

Tie-down roping: 1. Michael Otero, Lowndesboro, AL, 8.2 seconds, $2,000; 2. Zack Jongbloed, Iowa, LA, 9.1, $1,500; 3. Everett Reeves, Lipan, TX, 9.4, $1,000; 4. Jaden Tree, Ephraim, UT, 9.7, $500.

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Michael Otero and Zack Jongbloed

Breakaway roping: 1. Justin Doka, Fountain Hills, AZ, 1.8 seconds, $2,000; 2. Jordan Jo Hollabaugh, Springtown, TX, 2.2, $1,500; 3. Hope Thompson, Abilene, TX, 2.5, $1,000; no other qualified runs

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Justine Doka and Jordan Jo Hollabaugh

Barrel racing: 1. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, Lampasas, Texas, 17.17 seconds, $2,000; 2. Makala Pierce, Stephenville, Texas, 17.27 seconds, $1,500; 3. Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas, 17.59, $1,000; 4. Kathy Grimes, Medical Lake, WA, 17.83, $500

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi and Stevi Hillman

Bull riding: 1. Trey Benton III, Richards, Texas, 88.5 points on D&H Cattle on Pearl Snap Fever, $5,000; no other qualified rides

Gold Medal Round current qualifiers: Trey Benton III