Gallup’s Best of the Best is becoming Youth Rodeo’s Premiere Event Sandra McKinney

Best Gallup’s of the Best is Becoming Youth Rodeo’s Premiere Event

The beauty surrounding the arena - Church Rock in the Background (All Photos by Ben Welch)

By Sandra McKinney

Throughout the warm months of each year, you can find a rodeo somewhere around Gallup on any given weekend. We are definitely RODEO COUNTRY! For eight years, Gallup was fortunate to host the National Junior High School Rodeo Finals each summer at Red Rock Park. This weeklong event was very beneficial to our economy and the sport of rodeo. The contestants and their families loved coming to Gallup and to Red Rock Park with the beautiful arena. Unfortunately, 2013 was the last year that Gallup was able to host this event.

Those who love the sport of rodeo in our community know that we have a premier arena for hosting large rodeo events. There was great disappointment in Gallup and in the Junior High rodeo community that they would no longer be coming to Gallup and Red Rock Park to compete. This brought about some thinking “outside the box.”

The City of Gallup decided to host their own rodeo for Junior and Senior High School students; thus, THE BEST OF THE BEST event was born in 2014. There may have been a few rodeo enthusiasts working at the City, but not someone who was knowledgeable enough to coordinate and run a rodeo event of this magnitude. In comes the name of Walt Eddy, a top-notch rodeo participant himself, but also a knowledgeable promoter in the world of rodeo.

Walt Eddy is Gallup born, the former owner (along with his mother) of Trice’s Western Wear. This man knows rodeo; how to procure high-dollar sponsors, how to reach out to rodeo participants around the United States, and how to provide excellent prizes worth traveling to Gallup for from around the country.

The first three years of Best of the Best contained some growing pains, but word started getting around about the excellent arena and the high-dollar payouts. By the fourth year, the event had become very well-known and more participants and their parents began traveling to Gallup, New Mexico. Out of the $250.00 entry fee per event, 80 percent is returned to the prize fund, and 20 percent goes to City expenses. An additional $35.00

Secretary Fee is also assessed. This return to contestants, along with sponsorshipadded monies, makes the Best of the Best the most attractive High School Rodeo in the Nation!

The Best of the Best is an openinvitation event. If you, as a student, are a quality rodeo participant, you can enter this event for 2019. Watch the local rodeo news for information on the date for 2019, the entry fees and events.

When the dust settled on the 5th Annual Bloomer Trailers Best of the Best Timed Event Competition, it was evident it was in fact, the best yet! 372 high school and junior high contestants from 13 states, spanning from Florida to California, brought 511 horses to our beautiful Red Rock Park here in Gallup, New Mexico, and competed against the toughest competition for each large purse.

The City of Gallup and producer Walt Eddy went above and beyond for the 2018 event. They upped the ante by adding $3,000 added money to each standard event and included the addition of steer wrestling. The event champions came from a total of eight different states, proving the event lives up to the name, drawing in the best competitors in the nation to the event.

Paige Jones, a sophomore from Wayne, Oklahoma, was the barrel racing champion on her extremely talented four-year-old, High Cotton Lane, winning both long rounds and the average, pocketing over $5,200 in one event! Paige Jones states, “The Best of the Best is one of the most prestigious events to compete in as a high school student. Winning it and receiving the payout that it offered is a very rewarding accomplishment!”

Wyatt Bray of Stephenville, Texas, was the team roping champion with his partner, Zant Lewis, of Snyder, Texas. This is Wyatt and Zant’s second year to compete at the event, and between the rodeo and the nightly jackpots, they took home nearly $7,000 each. The Best of the Best is one of Wyatt’s favorite events all year.

Bray states, “My Gallup experience was nothing short of outstanding. The weather was great, the rodeo was awesome, and the payout exceeded expectations. No words can express the gratitude I have for Walt Eddy and the City of Gallup for producing this event. I’m deeply honored by the title I

Saddle Prize - One of the Trophy saddles

have won, and I’m ready to try for it again next year!” A unique element to the event every year is the parent team roping and ribbon roping. These events are always a hit, getting everyone up on their feet in the stands to cheer on their favorite team! Ribbon roping champions this year were mother/son duo Colton and Erin Oliver from Utah, and the team roping champions were father/son team Jaylen and Marlow Eldridge of Idaho. Each winner was awarded a CSI saddle pad, and the ribbon ropers took home a Charlie calf dummy and sled. The team roping champions took home a Hot Heels SureFire dummy. Cowboys of the future Martin Saddlery trophy saddles were awarded to each standard event champion, as well as American Hat and Cinch Jeans certificates. The All-Around Champions, Kenna Hayes McNeil of New Mexico and Kash Cattoor of Utah, were awarded new iPads and hand tooled leather cases, courtesy of Red Rock Security. New to this year’s event was Red Bluff Buckles (Continental Divide, New Mexico) gifted to each winner, each round, courtesy of Lansing Construction. Additionally, Classic Equine awarded Classic Fit leg boots to each round winner as well. From the parent events to the jackpots, wooly riding, junior looper roping, and junior incentive side pot, there is something for everyone in the family in Gallup at the Best of the Best. This year’s event paid out over $130,000, and only looks to keep improving. The hospitality and scenery are second to none at this event, with the vision to do everything possible to make rodeo better for the next generation. Gallup and the surrounding area is full of young rodeo competitors. For 2019, let’s have a whole lot of Gallup area competitors showing who is truly Best of the Best. For full results and payout, visit www.facebook. com/BestOfTheBestGallup and for additional information visit www.gallupnm.gov. We look forward to seeing YOU next year!