Cheyenne Frontier Days Milestone Caps Late July Surge for Ryder Wright

The three-time world champ earned his first Frontier Days buckle as part of a monster stretch that netted more than $52,000 in prize money to end July.

Ryder Wright earned his first Cheyenne Frontier Days championship over the weekend to cap a monster finish to the month of July. | Bailey Ford/@bailey.ford.photography

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – The only thing Ryder Wright could do was watch and prepare to respond. 

As the short round of saddle bronc riding at Cheyenne Frontier Days played out on Sunday, the Beaver, Utah, native was the next-to-last man up in the set. Four riders in, Cheyenne product Brody Cress, a four-time winner of the event, set the tone with a 92-point ride. Moments before Wright eased into the bucking chute, Sage Newman matched the score, creating a tie for first. 

“Once those guys go out and make awesome bronc rides, it just fuels my fire. It makes me want to ride even harder,” Wright said. “I like to beat people at their best, not when they fall off. Those kinds of rides only make me want to do better.”

Rafter S Rodeo Company bucking horse Cancun Moon gave the three-time world champion a fight, but one he was able to endure, netting a 92-point ride to force a three-way log jam atop the leaderboard. 

A newly established tie-breaker rule at CFD amplified Wright’s dominance at Frontier Park over the course of his three rides, as the championship was presented to the cowboy who had earned the most money over the course of the week. Because Wright won both his preliminary match and his semifinal round, the top honor at one of ProRodeo’s most historic events went to him. 

The dramatic finish was only fitting as it ended a longstanding drought for the veteran roughstock competitor. In a career that features three world titles and 10 trips to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Wright had never won the championship at CFD.

In fact, the legendary Wright family has found Cheyenne a difficult place to compete. Stetson Wright, Ryder’s younger brother, is the only other family member to ever win a buckle at the Daddy of ’Em All, taking saddle bronc and all-around honors in 2021. 

“He can’t brag no more – but he does have that he’s won it outright,” Ryder joked, noting that he finished runner-up in saddle bronc the year Stetson won. “This rodeo is huge. I’ve been coming here since 2016. What is that, 11 years? Yeah, 11 years. It finally went my way.”

The Wyoming win was part of a huge momentum swing to close out the month of July and keep Ryder in contention for another world title. 

Between the three round wins in Cheyenne, Ryder brought home almost $24,000. Additionally, he earned nearly $13,500 from a win at Spanish Fork (Utah) Fiesta Days Rodeo and more than $15,000 for two rides at the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo in Salt Lake. 

All told, the last two weeks of the month put $52,838 in Ryder’s ledger, pushing him to $175,625 in earnings for the season and No. 4 in PRCA World Standings. 

And while all the prize money was important, finally nabbing that elusive little buckle from Cheyenne was the perfect way to cap the run.

“At this thing you never really know what’s going to happen, with all the good bronc riders and awesome horses,” Ryder said. “You just go out there and do your thing and hopefully it goes your way.”