Jesse Wright notched his 10th career Wrangler National Finals Rodeo round win Friday night in a saddle bronc performance that only featured four 8-second rides.
“It feels really good,” Wright said. “You go from really low to really high. It’s been a while (since he last won a round.”
Wright’s score of 89.5 was well clear of the rest of the field. His nephew Rusty finished second to move into No. 3 in the world standings and Jacobs Crawley (84.5) and Brody Cress (78.0) were the other two riders to score.
Ryder Wright and Zeke Thurston remained No. 1 and No. 2 in the world standings.
“Horse by horse and just try to stay positive, have fun and take it all in,” Jesse Wright said of his mindset after a difficult round for the field. “You’ve got to keep having fun no matter what is going on, because if you start beating yourself up too bad it isn’t going to get too much better than what it is. Round by round, and horse by horse.”
Saddle Bronc World Standings (NFR money in parentheses)
1. Ryder Wright - $234,488 ($10,000)
2. Zeke Thurston - $213,222 ($36,230)
3. Rusty Wright - $148,922 ($30,730)
4. Jacobs Crawley $146,665 ($25,653)
5. Spencer Wright - $137,438 ($17,333)