Tacy Kay Webb kept her Triple Crown of Rodeo dreams alive after winning the second performance of the WCRA Cowtown Christmas Championship Rodeo with a smooth run of 2.33 seconds to advance to the Showdown Round.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Webb, 24, said after collecting $1,600 for the performance win on December 16, 2021.
Webb won the last WCRA Major held, the Days of 47 Cowboy Games in Salt Lake City back in July — a win that earned her a Gold Medal in addition to a large payday. Under WCRA rules, the Triple Crown bonus of $1 million is offered to any athlete who wins three straight WCRA Majors. Along with Webb, team roper Tanner Green and bareback rider Clayton Biglow are still in the running; both compete during Friday night’s performance in Fort Worth.
Though excited about the possibilities, the Madisonville, Texas cowgirl has a very grounded outlook on the situation.
“The Triple Crown bonus is awesome,” she said. “But honestly, I think the likelihood of it happening in the breakaway is so slim.”
Webb refers to the ultra-competitiveness of the breakaway event, one which hasn’t seen a repeat champion at a WCRA Major event since the group’s inception.
Webb Overcomes Challenges to Win the WCRA Days of ’47 Gold Medal
“I’m shooting for it, of course,” Webb laughed. “But the breakaway is so tough, we give the barrel racers a run for their money.”
Webb kept her hopes alive after winning the second performance of the Cowtown Christmas Championship Rodeo held at the historic Cowtown Coliseum in the Stockyards in Fort Worth; the top two competitors from each performance from December 15-17 advance to the Showdown Round along with the number one competitor on the WCRA Leaderboard. The Showdown Round is one round of competition with the top three coming right back that night for the sudden-death Triple Crown Round worth $12,500 to the champion.
Northside, the locals’ name for the Cowtown Coliseum, is familiar to many Texas competitors as the venue hosts weekly rodeos most of the year as well as the semi-finals competition of The American every February. The iconic venue will also host the preliminary rounds of the WRWC in 2022.
“It’s kinda weird, I am probably one of the only ones that doesn’t rope here that much,” Webb noted. “Before The American, I hadn’t been here much at all.”
The Coliseum is famous for its small size and short, tight roping boxes.
“You feel like you’re right on top of your calf,” Webb agreed. “It’s so fast and usually, you come right behind them.”
During the WCRA Cowtown Christmas Championship event, however, the start wasn’t the usual nod and go start.
“You really had to wait a little to get out,” Webb noted. “I liked it. It was good.”
Despite being third out and not having much time to figure the start, Webb nailed it to take the early lead. Though she had to sweat out WPRA Prairie Circuit Champ Christi Braudrick and two 2021 Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping qualifiers (Martha Angelone and Cheyanne Guillory), her closest competitor was Britta Strain who stopped the clock at 2.78 seconds to take the second position into Saturday night’s Showdown Round.
Webb relied on her horse Spooner for the ride on Thursday.
“I gave my good horse a break,” she said. Twelve year old Spooner came from friend Keaton Denio, a now-retired tie down roper. “I usually don’t buy horses, we train them ourselves, but my friend used to tie down and he quit.”
“I always loved this horse so I called him up,” Webb said. Spooner was turned out so Webb went and picked him up to see how he’d fit in her program. “He’s a cool piece of my team. He’s very seasoned, honest and easy to ride. It’s nice to have another option.”
The WCRA works well for Webb, who has to juggle rodeo around her full time gig as a nurse. She actually graduated nursing school in 2019 and got her career started just in time for the health care crisis of COVID-19. Now, she’s able to nominate jackpots and regional rodeos like the United Professional Rodeo Association (UPRA) that fit into her work schedule and earn points towards lucrative events with WCRA.
On Saturday night, she’ll be looking to take the second step towards $1 million bonus by winning the Cowtown Christmas Championship Rodeo.
“Score good, ride my horse, go do the same thing twice,” she laughed of her strategy for the next round. “If I just score good, that sets up the whole thing and everything usually falls into place.”
Webb keeps it simple and enjoys the process.
“If it happens for me, great. If not, I’ll be happy fo the next breakaway roper who wins.”
