Sharp Shoots to Lead in Fort Worth & WPRA World Standings

By Jolee Jordan

Fort Worth, Texas — For 75 years cowboys and cowgirls have ridden on the famed dirt of Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, chasing championships at the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show—also known as the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo (FWSSR).

Though the event is 123 years old in 2019, the rodeo here began in 1918 when everything was still held at the Fort Worth Stockyards. The Cowtown Coliseum hosted that first rodeo, giving FWSSR the rights to the name, “The World’s Original Indoor Rodeo.” The whole event moved to Will Rogers Memorial Center in 1944 and the rodeo has been held here ever since.

That will all change in 2020 when the rodeo moves across campus to the brand new Dickies Arena.

“We’re just as proud of the Coliseum today as I know they were in 1944 when we moved here from Northside [Cowtown Coliseum],” Stock Show president and general manager Brad Barnes said in an article written by Brett Hoffman in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. “Probably more great rodeo memories have come from this building than any other in the sport. Each time the arena gates open and the grand entry starts, I’m reminded of the many men and women that rode into the Will Rogers Coliseum before me and set the Stock Show on this wonderful course of success.”

With 2019 being the swan song for Will Rogers, champions here will rightly claim a part in the grand history of the building.

The 2019 edition of the FWSSR will not only be historic but lucrative for contestants able to grab their piece of the $40,000 committee purse per event. The WPRA barrel race accepts 210 competitors, giving each lady one round of competition. The top 70 from the long round advance to the progressive round beginning February 6th. Each of those 70 will take another run inside Will Rogers and the top 12 on the two run average will qualify to the short round on Saturday night, February 9th.

The final run in Will Rogers began January 25, 2019.

Opening night belonged to Lesley Casper. Casper came to Cowtown with her husband Wyatt—a PRCA saddle bronc rider—and new baby Cooper Blaze who is just shy of three months old. It was a great trip for the family as Lesley made the night’s best run aboard her nine year old gelding Ice at 16.74 seconds. She was the only lady to break into the 16’s.

Wyatt, meanwhile, rode a pair of broncs over the weekend, landing fourth in the average in his signature event. The whole Casper clan may be headed back to Fort Worth before the show ends.

Weekends are notoriously busy inside Will Rogers during the Stock Show with three perfs on Saturdays (except the final Saturday) and two on Sundays. The early morning hour of the 10 A.M. Saturday perf didn’t seem to bother the competition much as Dena Kirkpatrick won the perf with a smoking run of 16.64 seconds aboard her big mare Kate. Kirkpatrick has been in the money here before and looks solid to return for another run.

The ladies in the matinee show walked the lead up a bit more when Ilyssa Glass of Tatum, New Mexico stopped the clock at 16.58 seconds. Riding Champ, Glass was making her inaugural run inside the famous arena.

“First time for me and first performance for Champ,” she noted. “He handled it like a veteran.”

The tough day wrapped up in the evening perf with yet another leaderboard change. Snyder, Texas cowgirl Jill Wilson rode her gelding Blue Dean to the top with a smooth and pretty 16.49 second run. Wilson won money at the FWSSR in 2018 and her cousin, Kelly Maben, is the only WPRA barrel racer to win this rodeo twice. The WPRA first began sanctioning the FWSSR in 2004 and Maben claimed titles in 2006 and 2008.

The fifth perf on Sunday afternoon got off to a hot start when Sherri Barnes posted a 16.81 as the first runner of the day. When the dust settled, Carlee Otero walked away as the perf champ with her run of 16.79 seconds. The three-time Wrangler National Finalist was riding Uno, a horse she bought last year from fellow Wrangler NFR cowgirl Jane Melby. Uno is out of Melby’s great mare RC Back in Black—aka Beauty—who was named the Scoti Flit Bar Rising Star at the 2011 Wrangler NFR where she won three go rounds. Her sire is Dash ta Fame, the all-time leading sire of barrel racing winners and a member of the WPRA’s Pro Elite Sire Incentive program (PESI).

The long weekend wrapped up on Sunday night with performance six. It was another exciting barrel race with three times in the 16’s including Stephanie Fryar’s 16.62 which moved to third overall. Fryar has been to pro rodeo’s Super Bowl, the Wrangler NFR, making her lone appearance in 2008. In 2019 she is riding Mazi, a six year old mare she trained herself, and is already ranked inside the top 30 of the WPRA World standings.

Things slowed down on Monday in Fort Worth with just one night performance but it was just enough time to allow a couple of cowgirls to make the long drive down from Denver where the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo just concluded its long run on Sunday afternoon.

Jennifer Sharp was the champion in Denver, winning nearly $12,000 aboard her good mare Smooch. When the new WPRA World standings debuted, Sharp was on top of the list with more than $22,000 won already this season.

She’s likely to stay there after posting the fastest time of the FWSSR on Monday night. She and Smooch were 16.48 seconds, nipping past Wilson for the lead so far.

The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo continues on Tuesday with its eighth of 29 performances. The field is stacked with Wrangler NFR cowgirls Kelly Bruner, Tiany Schuster and Kassie Mowry. 2018 WPRA Rookie of the Year Jimmie Smith will also compete on Tuesday.

As the rodeo continues the rest of the week, the field will include other Wrangler NFR cowgirls Christine Laughlin, Cheyenne Wimberley, Tammy Fischer and former Fort Worth Champ Ivy Conrado. Thursday, January 31 is TCU Night at the rodeo and the barrel race will feature the newly crowned WPRA World Champion Hailey Kinsel.

For more information on the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, visit them on-line at www.fwssr.com. Stay tuned to www.wpra.com for continuing updates from the 2019 edition.

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Results (In Progress)

1st Go

1. Jennifer Sharp, Six French Smooches, 16.48
2. Jill Wilson, Lean Mean Blue Dean, 16.49
3. Ilyssa Glass, Championofthehouse, 16.58
4. Stephanie Fryar, The Red Maserati, 16.62
5. Dena Kirkpatrick, Kates Always First, 16.64
6. Jennifer Driver, Famous ThreeBugs, 16.70
7. Lesley Casper, Streakin ta Blues, 16.74
8. Carolyn Uhler, Lil Pep of Gold, 16.78
9. Carlee Otero, RC Dashin ta Game, 16.79
10. Sherri Barnes, Famous Little Jet, 16.81

Courtesy of WPRA