Jaci Hammons’ rookie year keeps getting bigger, with her $3,845 win at the Santa Rosa Roundup with a 2.2-second run—moving the Dublin, Texas, cowgirl to No. 3 in the WPRA world standings.
The Santa Rosa Roundup payday moved Hammons to No. 3 in the world with $51,477.77 won, while stretching her 2026 Resistol rookie lead to $53,617.43.
For Hammons, it was a timely win.
“These last couple weeks— or last maybe month or so— has not been so hot,” Hammons said. “I haven’t won anything since I think the first round in Austin. I had three or four rodeos in there that either just didn’t draw good or I didn’t do my job. So it was nice to kind of put one together again.”
Hammons was out the last performance at Vernon on fresh calves that had maybe been roped once or twice. With a couple of 2.3-second runs already on the board, Hammons knew the rodeo was there to win if everything lined up.
Still, she wasn’t trying to force it.
“It just came together,” the 2026 San Antonio Rodeo champion said of the run. “I knew those calves weren’t going to outrun you or anything—they were going to lope out there and wait on you. I just wanted to see my start and just make a smooth run—luckily it was a fast run too.”
That run happened aboard Heineken, Hammons’ 13-year-old bay ex-ranch horse-turned a-string breakaway horse she’s leaned on through her rookie-year run.
“He was great,” Hammons said. “We’ve been having some soreness issues and I’ve been getting him chiropractic on and I think we’re about to get all that fixed—he felt a lot better that day for sure.”
With Heineken being the only horse she is entering on right now, Hammons is doing what she can to take care of him before the summer run.
“Right now, I’ve kind of been giving him some time off in between and trying to jump on a few other horses if I get to practice,” she said. “I practice on him; I get some slower ones and just make some smooth runs on him and make sure everything’s straight and then get to practice for myself on my other horses. But he’s the only one I enter on so I try to take care of him.”
Even while sitting in a sweet spot in the world and in the rookie race, Hammons isn’t letting herself get too wrapped up in the numbers.
“It’s still early,” Hammons said. “I’m trying not to think about it too much and just roping the calf that I get.”
That mindset has been the main theme for Hammons as her rookie season has kept gaining momentum. Since her early-season success, she’s tried to keep things simple and not let the season get bigger than the run in front of her.
“I don’t want to say I’ve dumbed things down, but I’ve tried to slow things down and just keep it basic and just have fun and try not to think about it too much,” Hammons said.
Hammons has a few more weeks at home before her summer run starts to pick up. With plenty of rodeo left—and some dream stops on her schedule—Hammons is more than ready to hit the road.
“Calgary’s kind of hard to beat,” Hammons said of what she is looking forward to. “I’m pretty excited about that one—we’ll get callbacks this week actually. That’s when (ProRodeo saddle bronc rider husband) Jared will get to come and hang out with me, so that one’s definitely looking forward to that one.”
For now, Hammons has the rookie lead, a top-three spot in the world and a fresh win at Vernon to take into the summer run. But she’s not making it more complicated than it has to be.
“There’s a lot of rodeos left,” Hammons said. “There’s no sense in getting upset about anything right now and just trying to focus on the calf that I get for that rodeo.”
