Cole Patterson Breaks the Steer Roping Regular Season Earnings Mark Again

Records are made to be broken – even by the same person.

For the second time in three years, Cole Patterson has broken the record for the most money won by a steer roper in the PRCA regular season before the National Finals Steer Roping.

As of Aug. 22, the Pratt, Kan., cowboy is atop the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $104,756, eclipsing the record of $104,516 he initially set in 2021. The 2023 PRCA regular season ends on Sept. 30.

“It is always cool see records get broken,” said Patterson, 28. “I definitely think this says a lot about where steer roping and the PRCA are headed. There’s probably going to be three guys who are going to get past the old record (of $89,427 set by Tuf Cooper in 2018). It says something about the direction this sport is headed.”

Patterson, a four-time qualifier to the NFSR, won his lone PRCA Steer Roping World Championship in 2021. He finished that season with $190,242, a single-season steer roping earnings mark. That year he also earned a National Finals Steer Roping-record $85,726. A year ago, Patterson finished second in the world standings to J. Tom Fisher.

This year Patterson has two main horses, Dunny, 12, and Tigger, 18. Dunny was the 2019 PRCA Steer Roping Horse of the Year and Tigger claimed the same honor in 2021.

“I think a key to my (2023) season is that I had a lot of luck at some of the bigger stand-alone events early in the year and that’s really where a good majority (of the steer roping regular season) money comes from because this time of year it gets pretty hard to come by,” Patterson said.

Patterson wants to keep adding to his 2023 regular-season total, but he knows to get another gold buckle it is going to come done to how he competes at the NFSR on Nov. 17-18 at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane.

“The money has gotten so good at our Finals that there is really no way to win the world anymore without having a good Finals,” Patterson said.

Courtesy of PRCA