Casper riding strong at NFR

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – Over his five qualifications to the National Finals Rodeo, Wyatt Casper has developed a bit of a routine.

He enjoys spending time with his family and also has NFR and sponsor appearances, where he signs autographs and meets with fans. It’s there that he gains a true understanding of what’s special about rodeo.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “You wouldn’t think anybody would even know you, but it’s pretty cool to go in there and have people tell you how good you’re doing. I enjoy it because rodeo is all about the fans. We wouldn’t have a sport without the fans.”

There are about 17,000 who crowd into the Thomas & Mack Center each night, but there are more than 100,000 folks in Las Vegas per day just for the rodeo and to experience the cowboy culture in the City of Entertainment. It’s a sought-after ticket for the fans, and Casper is putting on quite a show.

He has placed five straight nights, most recently in Tuesday’s sixth round by finishing in a tie for second place after posting an 86.5-point ride on Outlawbuckers Rodeo’s Little Muffin, worth $23,364.

“I’ve had Little Muffin out here before, and, shoot, this is probably the fifth time I’ve been on Little Muffin,” he said. “It’s a really good horse. This was our nice horses tonight, kind of the weaker ones the whole week, but you’ve still got to treat them all the same.”

His mindset is working. Casper has ridden six horses for a cumulative score of 513.5 points. He is first in the aggregate race by two seconds over the field and has pocketed $92,769 so far. He’s fourth in the world standings with $313,553.

“It’s always nice to collect those top-three checks,” said Casper, the 2016 intercollegiate champion while attending Clarendon (Texas) College. “Anytime you can do anything in a day for $20,000, that’s pretty dang nice.”

With rounds paying so much, the Texas cowboy is holding his focus per night. He understands that he can make a ton of money each of he four nights, but doing well in the aggregate race is also vital when competing for a world championship. The average winner will be awarded a bonus of $86,391 when the NFR concludes Saturday night.

“I’m just trying to take it horse by horse,” he said. “It’s nice to look at that and see I do have a little bit of a lead (in the average), but I’m not ever going to safety up. I’m going to just treat every single horse like I’m trying to win the round.

“I think that’s where you can stub your to is when you start thinking about the average and maybe trying to stay on your horse instead of riding them.”

Casper is $45,000 behind the money-list leader, two-time world champion Ryder Wright, but there’s a lot of money remaining in the round payouts. Wright has also had a no-score and is not in the aggregate picture just yet, so it could all come down to who has the best final four rounds. After two years of struggling through injuries prior to the NFR, he is healthy and ready to race toward the finish.

“I feel good, and I got to treat this fall how I wanted to instead of being hurt,” Casper said. “I got to get on all the practice horses I wanted. I enjoy not having a torn hamstring.”