20-time World Champion Jackie Crawford shattered the arena record at the WCRA Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo after shutting off the clock at 1.91 seconds, winning the first semi-final round and $1600 on Wednesday, July 20.
“I think that the arena record’s so fun, but I really feel like the starts a little different this year,” Crawford said. “Some things are making it a lot quicker, so I think you’re gonna see a lot of quick times this year.”
This win secured Crawford’s spot in the Gold Medal Performance on Monday, July 25. NFBR Qualifier, Taylor Hanchey finished in second place with a 2.17-second run and will have to wait to see if she makes the cut.
“It’s so nerve-wracking at this thing because you have to be the fastest time out of your set, you know, or at least be really fast and have a lot of confidence and that’s gotta hold all week for the Wildcard spots,” Crawford said. “But to knock it out first thing and be like, okay, I’m for sure on Monday and I don’t have to worry about it. I’m short-round bound. That’s a good feeling.”
Horsepower
Crawford rode Kevin, registered Peppin Up My Step, an 8-year-old bay gelding, who has stepped up for Crawford in a major way and has proven himself in the ProRodeo arena.
“Kevin’s been doing great,” Crawford said. “Kevin’s kind of been pulling through for me at all the setups and he’s been doing really good. I’ve been working on my roping a lot here lately. We’ve had a couple of down two weeks and just had a lot of stuff to work on and he’s been taking a lot of the runs, cause he is just the youngest and kind of the soundest and he’s just a trooper. So Kevin’s Kevin, man. He doesn’t do a whole lot of things pretty, but you know, he just kind of one of those that ended up being a horse that lets me win. We came from Cheyenne yesterday where I had to sit there and see him out and then go get him. We were 4.2 there and made it back to Cheyenne short round to turn around right here, I feel like I needed him moving with my nod. And so he did both of ’em really well, you know, he’s just a silly little horse that lets me win, but he’s been doing really good.”
The Grind Doesn’t Stop
Crawford’s schedule is jam-packed with ProRodeos before she returns to compete at the Gold Medal Performance on Monday.
“We started at Ogden Monday, we went to Cheyenne Tuesday and this morning pulled straight into here,” Crawford said. “We go to Nampa tomorrow, Spanish Fork. Friday we go to Salinas. If we make Nampa, we have to rope two rounds at Salinas then we will have to charter back to Nampa short round. Then we have to go back to Salinas short round the next day. Then we have to come here for the short round the next day. Those are all good problems if you have to go to the short round.”
Going for Gold
This will be the third time breakaway ropers will compete in Days of ’47 since it was added to the event roster in 2019. Crawford won the Silver Medal last year and hopes to capture the Gold this year.
Action at the WCRA Utah Day of ’47 Rodeo continues July 21 at 7:30 p.m. MT. Live streaming of the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo is available on RidePass PlutoTV nightly at 7:30 p.m. MT. CBS will air the Gold Medal Round of the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo on July 31 at 11 a.m. MT.
WCRA Days of ‘47 Semi-Finals Round 1 Results:
1. Jackie Crawford, Stephenville, TX, 1.91 seconds, $1,600; 2. Taylor Hanchey, Carmine, TX, 2.17, $1,200; 3. Lari Dee Guy, Abilene, TX, 2.34, $800; 4. Shelby Boisjoli, Calgary, AB, 3.60, $400.
Gold Medal Performance Current Qualifiers:
Jackie Crawford, Josie Conner
