Teenage competitor Taylor Raupe capitalized on a new breakaway roping format at the Riata Buckle on November 2, 2023 to max out the gold level of competition and earn $8,913 for her aggregate victory with a time of 16.19 on three calves.
Format Formula: The Riata Buckle breakaway—the richest jackpot of the year for breakaway ladies—featured two short rounds: a platinum level and gold level. All 30 cowgirls who captured both calves in the qualifying rounds were placed into one of the two shorts. The platinum short round was comprised of No. 1-15 high callback ladies, while No. 16-30 were placed in the gold short round. Read about the platinum breakaway champion, Danielle Wray, here.
The Douglas, Kansas, lady had the opportunity to climb aboard Peanutbetter N Jelly thanks to her boyfriend, Paden Evans. Evans’ grandparents, Kerri and Darrel Birkhead own the 2018 mare by Bet Hesa Cat and out of Rey Of Grace by Dual Rey.
“She’s great,” Raupe said. “She made my job really easy. All I had to do was rope my roping and she made it work for me.”
Raupe came back No. 15 high callback overall, which landed her deep in the gold short round. A smart run in the short round helped her solidify the gold victory, and Raupe was the picture of consistency each round. She wasn’t feeling rushed in the setup and enjoyed the change of pace from fast-throwing rodeos.
“My dad really taught me how to score, and the first thing I learned was to run them down and catch them” Raupe explained. “So this was like going back to the basics for me. I feel like if you score good and rope good, in these kind of setups you’ll end up in there almost every time. I roped at the (Bob Feist Invitational All-Girl breakaway) last year, so I was familiar with (the Lazy E) and was comfortable here.”
Raupe brought just one horse to her first Riata Buckle roping and was more than pleased with the outcome and her decision to play in the incentive event.
“Roping for this kind of money is exciting,” Raupe said. “I worked to turn my nerves into excitement every time I backed in the box.”
With $8,913 headed back to Kansas, Raupe will continue attending online classes through Coffeyville Community College, along with spending as much time in the breakaway and team roping practice pens as she can.
Riata Buckle 2023 Gold aggregate results
- Taylor Raupe and Peanutbetter N Jelly, 16.19 seconds on three, $8,913
- Shyanne Allen and SF Cat For Hire, 17.64 seconds on three, $6,367
- Jessie Perkins and Crazy Bet, 17.97 seconds on three, $4,839
- Briena Wells on CR Tuffs Legacy, 21.52 seconds on three, $3,565
- Brandi McDowell on Metallic Dot Lena, 23.79 seconds on three, $1,783
Click here for full platinum aggregate and round-by-round results.
