RENO - Chad Ferley already has one set of spurs from the 2006 Reno Rodeo, and those are safely secure in a trophy case in his South Dakota home.
"I'd like to win another pair so I could wear them," Ferley said after an 85-point saddle bronc ride aboard Dual Motion Wednesday night at the 90th annual Reno Rodeo before a crowd of 7,468. "I've been off two months. I need to win some money."
If Ferley, who missed two months of action after tearing the medial collateral ligament in his left knee at the Dodge Circuit Finals this past spring, continues to ride like he has for the past two days he'll have those spurs and a nice sum of cash.
"It feels pretty good," said Ferley. "It's nice to be in the short round."
Ferley didn't have much time to savor his score. He was leaving in just a few minutes to go to a rodeo in Pecos, Texas.
Ferley's 162 for two rides puts him seven points behind leader Dusty Hausauer, who is at 169 after an 83-point ride aboard Distant Fire. Justin Arnold is second at 166, Bradley Harter is third at 164 and Cody Wright is fourth at 163. Josh Reynolds and Dustin Floundra also appear to be in good shape. Floundra is at 160 and Reynolds at 158. Reynolds posted an 81 on Holly Holly last night.
In bareback riding, young superstar Kaycee Feild maintained his lead with an 80-point ride, giving him 168 on two rides, a scant three points ahead of world leader Clint Cannon, who turned in an impressive 82, the top score of the night, aboard Spy. Justin McDaniel is next at 163 and Heath Ford follows at 162.
"I've been on the horse before back in 2006," Cannon said. "I knew he was a good horse coming in. I've been pretty excited
Cannon and Ford are ranked 1-2 in the world, and also are traveling partners. Cannon said they share a healthy rivalry.
"Believe it or not, we do talk about it a lot," Cannon said. "He talked about not entering a (future) event and I said I was going. He said he guessed he had to go then. We really feed off of it."
Cannon said he's impressed with Feild.
"He's loaded with talent," Cannon said of Feild. "I like watching him ride. I like watching every competitor ride. I use it to study the horses. It keeps my adrenaline rolling."
Feild said he was disappointed with his ride.
"I really wasn't (happy)," he said. "I messed up for about three seconds. The horse was strong. I kept thinking it wasn't that strong. I had to get gathered back up."
Cody Whitney turned in the best bull ride of the night with an 83, while Tyler Johnston recorded an 81. Chris Roundy had the third-best score with a 76, while Joe Meling scored a 75. J.W. Harris, the reigning world champion, still leads the way with a 91.
"I'd never had that bull before," Whitney said. "Somebody said he was in the first performance and was ridden. The bull didn't do anything he did the first time, according to what the guy told me. He sure tried to buck me. He went in both directions and put me over the top."
Jana Isaac turned in the fastest time for barrel racers last night with a 17.44. Washoe Valley's Lita Scott turned in a 17.66, fourth-fastest on the night.
Lindsay Sears still leads the way with a 34.03, including a 16.96. Sears broke her leg at a rodeo in Canada, but Reno officials have been told that she will ride on Saturday.
B.J. Campbell from Benton, City, Wash., has one pair of trophy spurs in his collection and just might add another. Campbell won the all-around title here in 2006 competing in team roping and steer wrestling. He is roping here with his older brother Bucky. They have had two solid runs that are outside of the pay window in the rounds. Their total time of 13.0 is in the top 12 to qualify for Saturday's finals so they will anxiously be waiting to see if they get moved out during the next two performances.
B.J. Campbell did take the lead in the steer wrestling and is placing in both preliminary rounds. He has a total time of 8.4 seconds to top the leaderboard in the overall standings. Joey Bell, Jr., from Malakoff, Texas, is now in second place with 9.1 seconds on two head.
In team roping, Chad Masters and Fallon's Jade Corkill still lead the way with a 10.7 for two rides. Travis Tryan and Michael Jones are next, and JoJo Lemond and Randon Adams are at 11.8 each.
In tie-down roping, Jason Vohs still leads at 19.0, Matt Shiozawa is second at 19.2 and Ryan Jarrett remains third at 19.3.