Braylee Shepherd captured the Hooey Jr. Patriot 19 & Under Breakaway Last Chance Qualifier Championship with an aggregate of 7.93 seconds on three head, outlasting more than 180 other ropers and earning a total of $5,356.
“At The Patriot, I wanted to go make some solid runs,” said the 2023 WPRA Resistol Rookie of the Year. “I wanted to be a little off the start and make my run. Those calves made it hard to be fast on two, and I was eighth high call in the short round. I was 5.5 second on two runs, and leading it was 5.1 so I knew I could make it up.”
A time of 2.42 seconds in the short go sealed the deal for Shepherd, who rode up-and-coming rodeo horse Dollar 63.
“That short round run felt great,” Shepherd said. “He scored great and let me take a good shot. He’s a big horse so I’ve had to adjust my swing a little bit—get sharper in my angle.”
As Shepherd has upgraded her horsepower throughout the years, so has the rest of her breakaway competition. She’s been roping at The Patriot for at least five years and noted that while a 3.5-second time may have gotten a check in a go-round several years ago, as the competition has gotten stiffer, that’s no longer the case.
