HOT RUN FOR THE ROMA QLD COWBOY

ROMA rider Jamie Howlett is one of the Queensland bareback bronc riders set to challenge the best from New South Wales in the Tamworth Pro Rodeo on September 20.

Howlett has started the new Australian Professional Rodeo Association season in outstanding form to take the lead in the standings.

He was second in the Mt Isa Rodeo behind local rider Deon Lane who hailed from Western Australia before settling in the north west of Queensland.

Last year, it was Wandoan rider David Worsfold leading the way in bareback standings but Howlett is now at the top of his game and a strong contender for the pro tour buckle and end of season title at next year’s National Finals Rodeo.

With the prize money on offer at Mt Isa the highest in the sport, Howlett has almost secured a top-15 finish for next year’s finals.

Their biggest challenge in bareback at Tamworth on September 20 will come from Boggabri rider Cody Angland.

He is one of many riders from the Western Downs, Maranoa, Moreton and Scenic Rim areas starring in rough stock events.

Earlier this year, Wandoan rider Cameron Webster won the saddle bronc pro tour title for most money won in the season to April 30 while Beaudesert star Fraser Babington was the leading money winner in the bull ride.

One of the riders to watch in the bareback will be Gracemere star Stuart Frame who also competes in the bull ride. Frame was third at Mt Isa after an eighth place in last season’s standings.

Tibooburra and former Gore cowboy Fred Osman won the bareback title at the finals in May from eighth place in a year when finals were sudden death.

The South Queensland success in the APRA is not restricted to rough stock events, Ebenezer cowgirl Tamara Knox leads the standings early in the season in breakaway roping.

In a change to the format for determining titles, competitors will take some carryover points from their pro tour results into next year’s National Finals Rodeo but the format is designed to give every competitor in the top-15 at the finals a chance to win the title with a top performance in the finals.

APRA members will now head to Tamworth for a pro rodeo on September 20.

Three Northern New South Wales riders to watch at Tamworth will be Upper Horton bull rider Jackson Gill who is third in the standings and cowgirl stars Nichole Fitzpatrick (Willow Tree) and Wendy Caban (Moree).

Tamworth is becoming one of the top rodeos in the APRA and is ideally placed to attract the best from the premier state as well as Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.