Bringin the Heat to the Bull Bash on the Horizon Series
WEATHERFORD, Texas – October 16, 2017 – Five events into the new CBR Horizon Series season, and Braden Richardson of Jasper, Texas is the current leader of the CBR’s qualifying series, but he is being chased by a pack of veterans and rookies that are hoping to get to the Road to Cheyenne by January where the bulk of the $580,000 annual CBR purse is dispersed.
Richardson has earned 689 points during the Series first quarter and is 172 points ahead of rookie rider and National High School Rodeo Champion Trey Holston of Fort Smith, Kansas. Holston is currently positioned third in the CBR World Standings after riding 5 of the 8 bulls he has attempted. The two time Kansas Junior State Bull Riding Champion (2016-17) and the National Junior High Finals (2013) has advancing to the four man Shoot Out round three of the four events during the first quarter of his professional career on the CBR’s premier televised tour and is giving Richardson a run for the money on the Horizon Series as well.
Richardson who is proving the old saying birds of a feather flock together” or in cowboy terms “you are only as good as the guys you hang with”, is true. Richardson spends his time with the CBR’s World Standings leader, Boudreaux Campbell and former CBR super star and reigning PBR World Champion bull rider Cooper Davis, and that is time well spent as he won the $4,500 prize check and event title of the Waterloo Blue Optimist CBR on September 23.
CBR Veteran rider Denton Fugate checks in at third place with 354 points. He made a strong run to win the Horizon title last year and lost by a few points, but he is up and running again this year and is making a case for the 2018 buckle and $10,000 bonus check.
The CBR’s Fall Run on the Horizon has three event lefts before the end of the first quarter of the 2017-18 Horizon season calendar ends. The Horizon Series is a great place to go for the riders to get to know the bulls as well. The CBR Bull team Challenge Contractors support the Horizon Series events as contractors and producers and many of the series are an open team bull format.
On October 28, the CBR will be in full swing with two events on the same day. The 2017 Hamilton City Dove Festival Cody Ohl Bull Riding and the Bull Bash Revolution held in Jacksonville, Texas. The Cody Ohl Bull Riding is new to the schedule and being held in conjunction with the city’s Dove Festival.
The Bull Bash Revolution is in its eighth year and has former World Champion Bull Team owner, Jeff Harris busy making plans again for this year’s annual Halloween themed event. “We awarded over $11,000 last year to 11 FFA and 4-H students in Cherokee County and the entire event is geared towards helping these kids realize their hopes and dreams for the future,” said Harris who DONATES all the bulls for the event with the help of his good friend and CBR Stock Contractor of the Year, Mike Rawson.
“Not taking any out money allows the event to raise even more money for the scholarship fund and I would like to thank Mike Rawson for his donation and help and between us we bucked 59 last year with zero re-rides,” added Harris.
The Horizon Series has grown to 18 CBR sanctioned events during the twelve month qualifying series tour which cris crosses the country and the bull rider roster is continually growing as the demand to qualify for the Road to Cheyenne increases. The two round format of most Horizon Series events pushes the number of riders up to 40 at each performance thus increasing the number of riders needed per event.
With the Road to Cheyenne on hiatus until January the top 24 World Standings CBR riders keep their chaps warmed up by entering Horizon events as well and according to one participant “the rider is getting deep at the Horizons.”
This year’s Bringin the Heat Horizon Series event is in memoriam to the Knapp’s nephew – Michael Chase Allbright who was killed in an automobile accident.
Brennon Eldred won the 2016 Mansfield, Texas, “Bringin the Heat” bull riding last November produced each year by JC and Amber Knapp, and said in a post event interview he was wanting to stay in shape and get on some bulls before the National Finals Rodeo held each year in December in Las Vegas.
The Bringin the Heat, held on November 11 at the Knapp Rodeo arena, is a tradition in North Texas and known for the best BBQ concessions, the best T Shirt design, and the last Horizon Series of the first quarter. JC Knapp is also known to pen a rank group of buckers for the event as he sorts his herd for the upcoming Road to Cheyenne tour which kicks back off in January with a prize purse of $63,750 on the line.
Individual Horizon Series event results are available on www.cbrbull.com.
CBR Horizon Series Standings as of October 16, 2017
1. Braden Richardson | Jasper, TX | 689.00
2. Trey Holston | Fort Smith, KS | 517.00
3. Denton Fugate | Dixon, MO | 354.00
4. Billy Quade Phillips | Henryetta, OK | 348.00
5. Brendon Averett | New Orleans, LA | 334.00
6. Lane Toon | Smithville, OK | 33.00
7. Brandon Parrish | Belville, Texas | 180.00
8. Corey Maier | Timber Lake, SD | 178.00
9. Casey James Kirwan | Stephenville, TX | 174.00
9. Jackson Landgraf | Georgetown, TX | 174.00
11. Daniel Lambright | La Boca, CO | 173.00
About the CBR Horizon Series
The CBR Horizon Series allows local promoters to conduct a sanctioned CBR event under published guidelines provided by Championship Bull Riding’s administrative office in Weatherford, Texas. The top riders on the Horizon Series Tour, at the time entries will be allowed to enter the CBR Road to Cheyenne televised tour competition. At the end of the twelve month season, the Horizon Series Tour Champion is awarded to the rider with the most points. The winner earns a Hyo Silver custom engraved trophy buckle and a $20,000 bonus check at the CBR World Finals at Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The reining 2017 CBR Horizon Series Tour Champion is John Pitts of Panama City, Florida.
Courtesy of CBR