Cory Solomon Off to Strong Start in Fort Worth
By Tracy Renck
Finally healthy and with a new horse, tie-down roper Cory Solomon is back to his old form.
The six-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier (2011-12, 2015-18) advanced to the semifinals at the Fort Worth (Texas) Stock Show & Rodeo by finishing among the top two with the most money earned in his bracket.
Solomon won the first round in Bracket 1 in 8.2 seconds and placed fourth in the second round in 12.0 seconds. He earned $2,200 to move on to the 16-cowboy semifinals Feb. 6-7, at the new Dickies Arena. The rodeo, which began Jan. 24, concludes Feb. 8.
“For me, it was pretty cool because the opening night I won at the new arena,” said Solomon, who joined the PRCA in 2009. “I missed Fort Worth last year because I was hurt, and that was bittersweet. To come back this year in the new building and win the first round of the opening night was historic. I like the (tournament) format at Fort Worth, it just creates more trips where you don’t know where you should go, but I understand what they are trying to do to get the top guys.”
The Cowboy Channel is broadcasting the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo live. The performances Jan. 30-31 will air at 8:30 p.m. (ET); Feb. 1, 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.; and Feb. 2, 3 p.m. The performances Feb. 3-8, including the final round, will air at 8:30 p.m. each night.
Solomon, 29, was awestruck by the $540 million Dickies Arena.
“That arena is amazing, and the way they treat you there is amazing,” Solomon said. “Hopefully, I can keep doing well at Fort Worth.”
Solomon initially injured his left hand in Round 3 at the 2018 Wrangler NFR and was out until March. Then, the last weekend of June, Solomon fell ill at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo and injured his knee.
“I got like a virus and the flu and was in a hospital in Pecos for four days and missed the Fourth of July run,” Solomon said. “I also hurt the (MCL, medial collateral ligament) in my left knee during a run I made in Pecos. I was out for a month or so with my knee. Then, I went out to the Northwest rodeos and won a little bit, but it feels like I was out for an entire year. January (2020) was the first time I felt healthy since the 2018 NFR.”
While recovering from his knee injury Solomon did get some good news.
“I found the best horse I’ve ever owned in my life in Brazil,” Solomon said. “His name is Play, and he’s 14. It is a long process (to get a horse from Brazil), and the day of the San Angelo (Cinch) Roping Fiesta (in October) I got the horse. Finding that horse could possibly change my whole life. Everywhere I have been on him I have done well. Fort Worth was the third rodeo I have been on him. He’s one of the fastest horses I have ever owned and one of a kind. This horse is going to really let me be myself.”
Courtesy of PRCA