Saddle Bronc Riding at the National Finals Rodeo can be a hard club to break into. That may be why there are just two first-time participants in next month’s NFR in Las Vegas.
Damian Brennan and Ryder Sanford slid into the NFR by finishing No. 13 and No. 15 in the 2023 world standings, meaning the pair had to wait until the season’s final weekends to know they were safe to start making travel plans.
Their earnings were a little more than $4,000 apart.
Sanford slid by an NFR vet in the event, Isaac Diaz, by just $2,000. Diaz has been to NFR seven times and has also won a Tour Finale title.
Brennan and Sanford are relatively young in their PRCA careers and getting to NFR represents a big step for both of them.
Brennan is from Injune, Queensland, in Australia, and only started riding on the circuit in 2021. He went from finishing No. 46 in 2021 to just missing NFR qualification in 2022 with a 16th-place finish. His qualification this year represented nearly $40,000 more in earnings over the 2022 season.
Even with the near-miss, he won the PRCA/Resistol Rookie of the Year in saddle bronc riding.
He won four events this season and was also a co-champion in the Deadwood (S.D.) Days Of '76 Rodeo. He also had nine go-round wins. But consistency is what got him to Las Vegas.
Of his 118 rides in 2023 he qualified on 104 of them, a rate of 88 percent. He managed three 90-point rides and 28 80-point rides with an average score of 81.82.
Sanford’s qualification represents a huge jump for the 25-year-old from Sulphur, La. The 2022 season was his first on the circuit and he won just $4,081.
In the 2023 season, Sanford won 11 rodeos, including the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days and the Southeastern Circuit Finals in Davie, Fla. He surged late in the season with a win at the Washington State Fair Pro Rodeo in Puyallup, Wash., in the season’s final month.
Whether Brennan or Sanford can push their way through an experienced field to claim their first NFR title remains to be seen. But the pair more than earned their way into the field.
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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