Mt Isa Rodeo winners from Wantabadgery, Tibooburra, Coonamble, Lockington, Murrurundi, Emerald and Yass.

RIDERS from Emerald and Yass won doubles as the best riders in the nation headed to Mt Isa for the richest rodeo in Australia at the weekend.

Emerald (Qld) cowboy and current Australian Professional Rodeo Association All Around standings leader Shane Kenny won the Steer Wrestling with a two-round time of 9.55 seconds.

He then combined with Yass (NSW) rider Clay Bush to win the Team Roping in a two-round time of 15.6 seconds after starting with the best time in round 1. The same combination were joint winners of the Cloncurry Merry Muster a week earlier.

Bush capped a great three days with victory in the Rope and Tie with round times of 11.0 and 13.15 seconds.

Coonamble cowboy Nathan Burtenshaw was the only rider to go time on three bulls at Mt Isa to win overall with a score of 241.

Sam Woodall from Heywood (Vic) was second with 166 and Cooyar (Qld) cowboy Jack McArthur third after scoring 162 points over two head.

After winning round 1 in the Saddle Bronc ride with a score of 84.5, Wantabadgery (NSW) rider Cody Angland scored 70 in the final to win with 154.5.

Tibooburra (NSW) cowboy Fred Osman won the Bareback Bronc ride with 161.5 in the two rounds, including an outstanding 84.5 in round 2.

In cowgirl events, experienced Lockington (Vic) rider Cherie O’Donoghue won the Breakaway Roping with a time of 7.2 seconds over two head.

Murrurundi (NSW) cowgirl Jo Caldwell won the Barrel Race with times of 17.63 and 17.596 seconds in the two rounds.

There were more than 600 nominations for Mt Isa and all placegetters have boosted their chances of a top-15 finish and qualification for The Warwick Rodeo APRA National Finals on October 26-29 in Warwick (Qld).

The next rodeo will be the Burketown Frontier Days  Rodeo (formerly Doomadgee Rodeo) in the Gulf in Queensland starting Friday, one of the few three-day rodeos in the APRA. (Aug 18-20)

The rodeo at the Burketown Rodeo Grounds is for APRA championship points. There are 50 entries for the rodeo

Stock for the rodeo have been provided by Darren Brandenburg and Michael Sypher.

APRA PROGRAM:

August 18-20: Burketown Frontier Days Rodeo, Qld

September 2: St Brendan’s, Yeppoon Rodeo, Qld

September 9: Warwick Junior Rodeo, Qld

September 23: Amber Ranch Bundaberg Rodeo, Qld

September 23: K Ranch Timed Events Rodeo, Mt Hunter, NSW

October 26-29: The Warwick Rodeo APRA National Finals, Second Division and Junior Rodeo, Qld