Zeke Thurston is back to defend his 2022 National Finals Rodeo Saddle Bronc title. But he’s not the only former NFR champion set to hit Las Vegas for this year’s event.
If Thurston is to defend this title, he’ll have to do it against three other competitors who have either been world champions or NFR average champions in the event.
His performance last December saw him not only win the NFR title but he won the most money in a single event at the 2022 NFR with $256,078, giving him the RAM Top Gun Award.
Thurston finished fourth in earnings during the 2023 season and stands on the precipice of $2 million in career earnings. He’s also a three-time world champion, as he claimed titles in 2016 and 2019, in addition to last year.
This will be his ninth trip to the NFR and he’ll seek his third NFR average title, as he also won it in 2016.
He had a successful 2023, with eight wins on the season, including three in his native Alberta.
Stetson Wright figures to be prime competition for a Thurston repeat. He won the world title for the 2023 season with $251,570 in earnings for the season. That was his second world title in Saddle Bronc, adding to this 2021 title. This will be his fourth NFR appearance in Saddle Bronc, all since 2020, and he’ll be looking for his first NFR average title in the event.
He already has an NFR average title in Bull Riding, which he won in 2022.
It’s not a surprise that Wright took the world title in the event in the 2023 season. He claimed 19 victories in Saddle Bronc, including the San Antonio (Texas) Stock Show & Rodeo, the Las Vegas Days and the Kitsap Stampede in Bremerton, Wash.
He isn’t the only Wright that Thurston will have to fend off, either. Ryder Wright, who was seventh in earnings in the 2023 season, is a threat to add to his trophy case. He’s won two world titles in Saddle Bronc — in 2017 and 2020 — and also won the NFR average title in 2020. This will be his eighth straight trip to the NFR in the event.
He had a consistent season with a half-dozen wins on the circuit, including rodeos in Idaho, Oregon and Utah.
Brody Cress is the other cowboy with titles under his belt entering Las Vegas. While he’s never won a world championship, he’s done some of his best work at the NFR, where he’s won three average titles in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
So, if you believe in patterns, well, Cress could be due another NFR average title in an odd-numbered year as he enters his seventh NFR appearance.
Cress claimed more than 10 victories on the circuit in 2023, including the World's Oldest Rodeo in Prescott, Ariz., Iowa's Championship Rodeo in Sidney, Iowa and the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo in Dodge City, Kan.
NATIONAL FINALS RODEO SADDLE BRONC FIELD
(with earnings for the 2023 season)
1. Stetson Wright, $251,570.86
2. Sage Newman, $247,263.50
3. Kade Bruno, $225,259.17
4. Zeke Thurston, $221,863.46
5. Dawson Hay, $155,918.54
6. Ben Anderson, $150,842.38
7. Ryder Wright, $150,402.41
8. Wyatt Casper, $142,420.78
9. Chase Brooks, $139,220.98
10. Tanner Butner, $137,788.54
11. Layton Green, $136,829.01
12. Brody Cress, $$132,743.15
13. Damian Brennan, $129,743.87
14. Lefty Holman, $128,954.60
15. Ryder Sanford, $125,332.61
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