Kade Sonnier is excited to show his stuff along with the other 11 bareback riders who will be in the field during the Cinch Playoffs The Governor’s Cup, which takes place Friday-Sunday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
(PRCA PHOTO BY MALLORY BEINBORN)
The Governor’s Cup bareback riders chasing every dollar
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Kade Sonnier is a motivated soul.
He’s a rodeo athlete, so he has to be. There is no employer lurking over his work station. He is the boss, and his daily assignments revolve around riding bareback horses for a living. He’s pretty good at it, too.
Sonnier is having the best regular season of his career and will be part of an elite field at the Cinch Playoffs The Governor’s Cup, presented by Texas Precious Metals, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept 25-Saturday, Sept. 26, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
“Making it to Sioux Falls is one of the goals you create for yourself at the beginning of the year,” said Sonnier, the fourth-ranked bareback rider in the world standings. “There’s so much money on the line there. It’s so tough. This will be the third time I’ve been there, and I haven’t made the short round yet. I’m looking forward to that this year.”
For much of the summer, Sonnier was the top dog in the PRCA’s Playoff Series bareback riding standings. He held that spot until this past weekend, when 2022 world champion Jess Pope shot into the lead with top-five finishes at the final two tour rodeos of the 2026 campaign.
Both men have secured their qualifications to the National Finals Rodeo, which takes place Dec. Dec. 3-12 in Las Vegas. While Sonnier is No. 4, Pope is third, about $14,000 ahead. Texan Bradlee Miller holds the lead on the money list with more than $290,000, and Jacob Lees is second with about $223,000.
For them and a handful of others, competition in Sioux Falls is about putting themselves in better position to win a world championship when they battle in the Nevada desert in a couple months. Others, though, are still battling for a spot at the NFR, the sport’s grand finale.
Take Clayton Biglow, the 2019 world champion from Clements, California. He enters this week 15th on the money list, the bottom spot in the standings to qualify for the NFR. Biglow made it eight straight years beginning in 2016, the year he was named Resistol Rookie of the Year, but he hasn’t been back in Sin City since 2023. He’s eager to return, and The Governor’s Cup could be the remedy.
“It’s a clean slate when you get there,” said Sonnier, now a three-time NFR qualifier from Carencro, Louisiana. “All the points are gone, so it’s those 12 guys trying to win the money.”
Money is vital in rodeo. Not only will it go toward filling tanks with diesel that’s running an average of $6.50 per gallon, dollars equal championship points. The contestants in each event with the most money earned through mid-December will be crowned world champions.
There is big cash up for grabs at The Governor’s Cup. Cowboys and cowgirls will compete in two rounds, with Friday and Saturday night’s winners pocketing $12,533. The top eight times will advance to Sunday’s final performance for a semifinal round, then the top four will move on to the championship. The top score or time in the shootout will win $34,000.
That kind of cash can make a difference for someone like Biglow, Oklahoman Jayco Roper or Nebraska cowboy Garrett Shadbolt, the last of whom spent several months on injured reserve after having surgery at the beginning of the year to repair a torn labrum in his hip. All three men are at or near the bottom of the money list. Any earnings they have in Sioux Falls can be a big plus to get them to Las Vegas
“We take a lot of horses there that have the potential to buck at the NFR,” Sonnier said. “It’s not just important for us; it’s important for the animals, too.
“Everybody does a great job of trying to get the horses as even as it possibly can. They’re bringing the best horses there to give everybody a chance, and that’s important. That thing’s like a miniature NFR, and the atmosphere in that building is great.”
The goal, as always, is to walk away with rodeo’s gold, that precious metal buckle awarded to world champions in each event. That doesn’t happen without the cash to prove it. It takes money to make the NFR, where the purse is estimated to be greater than $13.5 million. What happens in Sioux Falls could be the difference between first and second.
“Bradlee’s got about $70,000 on the field right now,” Sonnier said. “If I can win Sioux Falls, that cuts his lead in half, and then I’m just about (an NFR) round win within first place. You set yourself up for having a real good chance to win a world title. That’s the main goal. That’s the goal at the beginning of the year.
“That’s what makes me excited to go back to Sioux Falls.”