Pendleton Bareback Riding Title Decided By Half-Point

Despite Jess Pope posting the best ride of any competitor in bareback riding at the Pendleton Round-Up, Dean Thompson walked away with Saturday’s title on average.

Thompson entered the finals with the top ride in the first round, an 87-point ride he logged on Thursday riding Great Nation of Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics. Thompson rode to a third-place finish in the finals with an 84.5 ride, which earned him another $900 in the final go-round.

That, combined with his first ride, gave up a two-ride total of 171.5 points, just a half-point ahead of Pope.

Thompson walked away with another $6,074 for the title.

Pope put together an 88-point ride on Bronc Riding Nation, also supplied by Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics. Pope entered the finals in a tie for sixth place with an 83-point ride on Friday. He walked away with $1,650 in the finals and another $4,657 for his 171-point average for his two rides.

In Saturday’s finals, Keenan Hayes was second with an 85.5 ride. After Thompson, Kody Lamb logged an 84-point ride to finish fourth and Jacob Lees had an 83-point ride to finish fifth.

Hayes had the top ride on Friday.

After Thompson and Pope, Hayes was third in average, followed by Lamb and a three-way tie for fifth between Jacob Lees, Ben Kramer and Sam Petersen.

Pendleton Round-Up

Bareback Riding Results

First round: 1. Dean Thompson, 87 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics' Great Nation, $6,074; 2. Keenan Hayes, 85, $4,657; 3. (tie) Austin Foss and Jayco Roper, 84.5, $2,835 each; 5. Jacek Frost, 84, $1,417; 6. (tie) Ben Kramer and Jess Pope, 83, $911 each; 8. Cooper Cooke, 82.5, $607.

Finals: 1. Jess Pope, 88 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics' Bronc Riding Nation, $1,650; 2. Keenan Hayes, 85.5, $1,250; 3. Dean Thompson, 84.5, $900; 4. Kody Lamb, 84, $600; 5. Jacob Lees, 83.5, $350; 6. Sam Petersen, 83, $250.

Average: 1. Dean Thompson, 171.5 points on two head, $6,074; 2. Jess Pope, 171, $4,657; 3. Keenan Hayes, 170.5, $3,442; 4. Kody Lamb, 165.5, $2,227; 5. (tie) Jacob Lees, Ben Kramer and Sam Petersen, 165, $1,080 each; 8. Shane O'Connell, 162.5, $607.