Rodeo’s classic event of saddle bronc riding has a stacked Top 20 in the PRCA World Standings going into the summer run.
The No. 1man in the World, Sage Newman, is familiar with that position as it was at this time last year that he $132,400 to his name.
Currently, the Top 15 consists of 14 National Finals qualifiers and a 22-year-old in his second pro season, while the 16-20 ranked cowboys are hot on their heels.
Take a look at your Top 20 Saddle Bronc Riders as the Summer Run gets underway.
1. Sage Newman, $129,012
Newman started his season just right. A fourth-place finish in Billing, Montana and the win in Gillette, Wyoming all on or before Jan. 1 and it was worth $9,205. He then went to all but Rodeo Austin of the Texas Swing and his earnings from those four big indoor rodeos totaled $72,989, a large portion of that came from his second consecutive win at RodeoHouston. Since then, his next largest pay day came in Miles City, Montana at the World Famous Bucking Horse Sale Matched Xtreme Broncs when he earned almost $15,000. After making 50 rides of 85+ points in 2022, Newman has already totaled 32 such rides in 2023, which is second in the PRCA.
2. Stetson Wright - $120,210
The months of October and November proved to be good to the seven-time World Champion as he racked up almost $15,000 between the Brad Gjermundson Extreme Broncs (North Dakota), the Wilderness Circuit Finals (Utah) and Las Vegas Days. January rolled around and Wright picked right back up with a win in Denver after a 90-point ride. He then split the win in Fort Worth before winning it all in San Antonio and Austin. He also picked up a win at the San Angelo Cinch Chute-Out to round out the Texas Tour. His latest checks came from Eagle Rodeo (Idaho), Ute Mountain Round-Up (Colorado) and Sisters Rodeo (Oregon).
3. Zeke Thurston - $106,643
The reigning World Champion already has some wins notched in his belt this season. He won the La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros (Arizona), the World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale Matched Xtreme Broncs, the Gateway to the North Pro Rodeo (Alberta) and he split the win at the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions (South Dakota). Thurston was also consistently pulling checks in multiple rounds of each leg of the Texas Swing. He has success on the California Run as well winning $10,672 between Red Bluff and Clovis and is coming off his highest marked ride of the season on June 17, a 93.5-pointer on Xplosive Skies in Wildwood, Alberta.
4. Kade Bruno - $91,597
Bruno is the Champion of the Columbia River Circuit Finals and that is how he started his 2023 season. He followed it up by placing in Billings, Montana, and Winnemucca Nevada to earn a total of $6,958. He then proceeded to pick up hefty checks from Fort Worth, San Antonio and RodeoHouston. Bruno’s month of April consisted of him adding $19,426 to his earnings. Since then, he has had outstanding trips to Miles City, Montana, Deadwood, South Dakota and Eagle, Idaho. His most recent check came in Fallon, Nevada at the Battle Born Broncs, where a sixth-place finish was worth $1,176 in a game where every penny counts.
5. Ryder Wright - $71,619
Ryder’s start to the season was slow but it was placing consistently in every rodeo of the Texas Tour that kept him in the game. In May, split the Round 1 win in Miles City, Montana for almost $8,000 before really finding his stride in the month of June. So far, Ryder has cashed in over $15,000 with a win coming his way at Sisters Rodeo and a second-place finish in Fallon, Nevada at the Battle Born Broncs.
6. Dawson Hay - $69,484
Hay hit a jackpot early on in the season with a matchup with fellow Canadian Tokoyo Bubbles in Fort Worth. It was a 90.5-point ride to split the win and add over $20,000 to his earnings. Another Texas Swing win came his way in San Angelo after two great draws lead to an aggregate score of 178.5 points on two. It added another $15,000 to his name. From there, it was gold in California for Hay at the Battle of the Best. Two Go-Rounds and an Average win totaled him $23,855 on May 13. From 2022 to 2023, Hay has raised his riding percentage from 74 percent to 86 percent.
7. Chase Brooks - $61,146
Aboard Professional Lunatic of Burch Rodeo, Brooks picked up the Rodeo Rapid City Xtreme Broncs win to kick off his season with over $4,000. From there, it was a second-place finish in the Finals of San Antonio where he added a total of $14,250 to his earnings before taking second at RodeoHouston, which added another $25,500. Since then, Brooks placed in Miles City, Montana, Palmer, Alaska and Coleman, Texas and just last weekend, he went from No. 10 to No. 7 in the world thanks to pulling in checks at three more rodeos.
8. Wyatt Casper - $60,237
While the New Years Eve Buck and Ball and the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo started Casper’s season, it was until February that the Texas cowboy picked up steam. He placed third at the Dixie National (Mississippi) on Feb. 18, won the Los Fresnos Rodeo (Texas) on Feb. 19 and made the Finals of San Antonio on Feb. 25. On Feb. 26, he finished second in the Average and first in the Short Round at La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros. More recently, Casper has won at least $2,000 at the Old Fort Days (Arkansas), Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo (Colorado), Parker County Sheriffs Posse Frontier Days (Texas) and Jordan Match Xtreme Bronc Ride (Montana) in June.
9. Ben Andersen, $59,718
Andersen’s season started in October 2022 when he split the win at the Bucking Battle in Bismarck (North Dakota) for $5,352. Then it was a stride he found in San Antonio, Jackson and Houston that added almost $28,000 to his earnings and that is including the win at the Dixie National Rodeo. An 88.5-point ride cinched him the win in Havre, Montana at the MSU-Northern PRCA Extreme Bares and Broncs Challenge on April. His most recent win came as of June 4 in Gillette, Wyoming at the Silks and Spurs Xtreme Broncs for a total of $5,161.
10. Tanner Butner - $59,666
Butner picked up a good check from his neighboring state of Colorado when he finished second in Denver in January. That payday of more than $5,000 got him rolling into Fort Worth where he made it to the Finals and finished third, including a 94-point ride along the way. In total, he racked up a total of $22,080 throughout the rest of the Texas Swing. In May, he picked up a win in Guymon, Oklahoma with his second 90-point ride of the season. More recently, it is two third-place finishes in Parker County and at Battle Born Broncs that have added another almost $5,000 to Butler’s 2023 season in the month of June.
11. Jacobs Crawley - $54,611
After a good start to the 2023 season before the calendar even turned to new year, Crawley started January with a second-place finish at the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo (Texas). In April, he picked up his second Cinch World’s Toughest win, this time in Greenville, North Carolina. In May and June, Crawley has drawn checks 11 different rodeos and that includes a big win at the Parker County Sheriffs Posse Frontier Days with a 90-point ride.
12. Brody Cress - $53,462
Cress rode his momentum from the NFR into to the Chase Hawks Rough Stock Rodeo (Montana) and the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo as he won both of them to add $12,500 his 2023 season by Jan. 14. San Antonio and Houston added to that total as well along with a big payday from San Angelo rodeo totaling over $6,000. In the last few months, he placed at Guymon, Oklahoma before picking up wins at the Coleman PRCA Rodeo (Texas) and Strawberry Days Rodeo (Utah) over the last two weekends.
13. Layton Green - $51,975
A second-place finish at the Brad Gjermundson Extreme Broncs got the Canadian cowboy’s season started with almost $3,000. From there it was consistent checks in Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston before the Battle of the Best in Coursegold, California added almost $19,000 to his season earnings.
14. Lefty Holman - $49,296
Holman’s season started with a fourth-place finish at the Chase Hawks Rough Stock Rodeo on Dec. 17 that was worth $2,500. Up next on his successes was RodeoHouston and the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and Rodeo. Combined it was worth over $7,000. At the Battle of the Best in his home state of California, Holman brought in another $14,000 before going on to win the Battle Born Broncs in Fallon, Nevada. That win was worth $7,840.
15. Cash Wilson - $48,750
With $3,270 added to his 2023 earnings in the Fall of 2022, Wilson went on to win a Go-Round of Fort Worth that was worth just as much, $3,255, and he has just kept climbing. The St. Paul Cinch World’s Toughest win came his way in February as did a trip to the Finals in San Antonio before a pulling another check at La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros in Tucson, Arizona. In April, he was the champion of the High Desert Stampede (Oregon), which is his only PRCA Playoff Series win of the year. Wilso ranks second in the PRCA with a riding percentage of 98.
16. Ryder Sanford - $47,934
Sanford is the No. 1 Resistol Rookie in the race right now as he clings to this position in the World Standings. Two smaller wins came his way in October with the payday of just over $1,000 a piece before he dominated Southeastern Circuit Finals and the Cinch World’s Toughest in Indianapolis. The two rodeos together added almost $13,000 to his 2023 earnings. A second-place finish at the Dixie National Rodeo brought in over $4,000 while winning the Finals of the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions brought in another $3,000. His most recent win came in Gladewater, Texas.
17. Isaac Diaz - $43,001
With steady checks coming in from each Go-Round and the average of both the Brad Gjermundson Extreme Broncs and the Texas Circuit Finals, Diaz started his season borderline perfectly. RodeoHouston added $8,000 in March. Last weekend, Diaz rose three spots in the World Standings by winning $5,725 for a win at the New Town Rodeo Days (North Dakota).
18. Shorty Garrett - $41,904
Garrett’s season started with him sweeping the Badlands Circuit Finals and cashing in on more than $9,000. From there, he placed and pulled checks at his next five rodeos including the National Western in Denver. Then it was with an 89.5 at Rodeo Rapid City that he took home the win in February. His most successful rodeo of the Texas Swing was RodeoHouston.
19. Brody Wells - $41,274
With a big win worth $17,404, Wells kickstarted his season at the Brad Gjermundson Extreme Broncs on Oct. 8. A Go-Round win at the New Years Eve Buck and Ball added another $4,700 to his earnings before San Antonio and Houston would add to it again. Another $3,400 came his way in Miles City and he recently placed in Sisters, Oregon and Fallon, Nevada to keep it up.
20. Q Taylor - $39,661
With success finding the rookie at the Mountain States Circuit Finals, Taylor carried that momentum into the Las Vegas Days where he took third on Nov. 12. San Antonio added $5,000 to his season while a win in Okeechobee, Florida added another $2,700. A second-place finish at both Rodeo Austin and the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and Rodeo added over $5,000 to his earnings in March before he matched up with the infamous Indian Burn of Bridwell Pro Rodeo in Redding, California to win it all there in April.
