The “eliminator pen” of bareback horses were perfect for Jess Pope, who finished fifth during Saturday’s third round of the National Finals Rodeo. The money from that helped the 2022 world champion cross the $1 million mark in NFR earnings.
(PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)

 

LAS VEGAS – Over 53 nights, Jess Pope has won more than $1 million at the National Finals Rodeo.

Now competing on ProRodeo’s premier stage for the sixth time, he surpassed the mark Saturday night with a fifth-place finish in the championship’s third go-round, riding Rosser Rodeo’s Right On Q for 85.75 points. The $9,463 he pocketed pushed him over the threshold.

It’s been a rapid ascent. He’s earned that kind of money over 53 rounds. A big chunk of that cash has come through his consistency. Being a three-time average champion – he won it consecutively from 2020-2022 – offers a hefty prize at the end of the 10-day run for having the highest cumulative score.

He finished second in the aggregate race in 2023 and placed fifth a year ago. If he were to win a fourth this December, it would pay better than $94,000. The truth about his steady style came Saturday night during the “eliminator pen” of bareback horses.

“(Saturday) was our true eliminators,” said Pope, 27, of Waverly, Kansas. “(Friday) night was our semi-eliminators, and the horse I had last night has always been in our ‘eliminator pen.’ ”

His Round 2 horse was Smith Pro Rodeo’s Girl Crush, which he rode for 83.25 points. The horse threw plenty of tricks at the six-time NFR qualifier, but it was just a tip of the iceberg leading up to Round 3.

“That horse I had (Saturday), I was a few points higher just because it matches everything else,” he said. “I thought I got along pretty good. I feel good. The judges that are out there, I can’t write their scores down for them, so I feel really good.

“I feel confident, and I’m just happy to be here and pulling checks.”

Pope is fourth in the average race, but it’s too early to put anything definitive toward that. A lot can happen over the next seven nights. Still, he’s ridden three horses for a cumulative score of 255.5 points and is less than four points behind the leader, Louisianan Waylon Bourgeois. So far, Pope has collected $41,345.

He is third in the world standings with $244,974. As a veteran of the game, he understands the nature of riding bucking horses during ProRodeo’s grand championship. He’s felt the emotions, and he’s ridden all styles of bucking horses in his career. It’s just magnified on a greater scale in Las Vegas.

He took note of that when he walked into the locker room. Facing the toughest-to-ride horses in the business can be intimidating.

“It was a little quiet when I got in there to the locker room,” he said. “We’ve got three speakers in there, and I told them boys, ‘We need to link these speakers together and get some freaking music in here; let’s change the mood a little bit.’

“It seemed like all the young guys were pretty excited about that afterwards.”

Pope keeps his emotions in check most of the time, but he has a million reasons to be excited about this NFR.