Dublin barrel racer Mowry out-earns field with $60K
The RodeoHouston championship featured some of the biggest, toughest and most accomplished cowboys in the sport.
A little lady out of the Texas town of Dublin outearned them all.
Kassie Mowry won Super Series IV, her semifinal and the Shootout on Saturday at NRG Stadium, circling the barrels in 14.06 seconds in the short round to exit Houston with a rodeo-best $60,000.
“I came in here not very confident and feeling really overwhelmed, and my horse came through for me in the very first round, and I thought, ‘You know what, maybe we have a chance at this,’ ” Mowry said.
“So we kept going, doing the best we could, and he pulled through.”
Mowry primarily trains horses.
She rodeos part time but won San Angelo, earning her a bid to Houston — where she came up empty in two previous trips.
This time, Mowry and her horse, Firewater-makes me happy, won it all.
“He was unbelievably consistent,” Mowry said
“I don’t even know what to say. He blew it out of the water. I couldn’t have expected him to do even close to what he did.”
Saddle bronc rider Cody DeMoss did it again.
The veteran cowboy won his first Houston championship in 2003 — then finally repeated 14 years later.
“It seems like it was yesterday,” DeMoss said. “Or maybe the day before.”
The first win helped DeMoss make his first National Finals Rodeo but only came with a check for $15,942.
This time he left with $56,438.
DeMoss won the 10-man final with 88 points on Final Feathers, then rode Two Cookies to the Shootout victory.
Bareback rider Jake Vold won his first title in his seventh trip.
The three-time Canadian champ placed second in the long round, then won the big check with a 90 on Control Freak.
“(Kaycee Feild) won RodeoHouston on that horse last year, too, so I knew I had a really good horse,” Vold said.
“He’s really electric, really underneath himself, and he allows a guy to show off.”
Vold barely survived his super series but settled in as the rodeo went on, winning his semi Wednesday and leaving with $56,000.
“It’s a long rodeo,” Vold said. “We’re here for a long time, so it’s a longevity deal. To come out on top of this thing is phenomenal, with the money, the people, the building, the atmosphere — everything.
“This is one I’ve really been wanting to win for a while.”
Reigning world champ steer wrestler Tyler Waguespack added to his growing résumé, grabbing his first Houston championship with a time of 4.7 seconds on the first run of the four-man Shootout, earning $56,500 in Houston.
Garrett Smith ($53,375) won the bull riding championship.
Meanwhile, the tiedown roping and team roping champions clinched their victories with RodeoHouston record-tying Shootout performances. Caleb Smidt ($58,500) won with a 7.4-second time in tie-down, and Zach Small and Levi Lord won with a 4.1 clocking in team roping.
“I couldn’t even tell you want happened,” Smidt said. “It was a blur.
“I just knew if I scored well and got the calf roped my horse would be awesome, and it’d probably work out pretty well.” Jason McDaniel is a freelance writer.