Luke Brown and Jade Corkill, who roped at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo together in 2008, won the 2019 Broc Cresta Memorial Open Team Roping from second call-back after roping five head in 36.62 seconds, winning a check of $20,000 a man.
The win came just a day after winning second at the Oakdale jackpot and winning the Oakdale (California) Saddle Club Rodeo, and placing third at the Clark County Fair & Rodeo in Logandale, Nevada. The pair are roping together just for the California run while their partners stayed home in Texas.
“We had about a second and a half lead over third place,” Brown, who won the Broc Cresta Memorial roping in 2015 with Kollin VonAhn, said. “I was pretty much just roping for second–it payed $11,000. I’m not real sure how fast, but I know we caught him, and we were guaranteed second, so that’s kind of where I was headed.”
Brown and Corkill roped their short-round steer in 7.74-seconds to guarantee them second until the high-call team of Riley and Brady Minor came up with a no-time.
[Read: Jade Corkill: What I’ll Tell My Kids About Rodeo]
“The steers were really good–strong,” Corkill, who won the memorial in 2013 with Clay Tryan, said. “They were Brandon Beers‘ steers. I want to say that they maybe had eight runs on them, so they were broke in enough to know to go, but they were fresh enough to be strong and not just easy to catch. It was a good roping. They scored them out there a little bit.”
“We were just kind of catching along, or I was,” Brown added. “Our fourth steer, we drew a looper and were 5 on him which put us in a spot where we got a good callback. Other than that it was just normal, nothing extra–just catching.”
Brown started out roping on a 10-year-old gelding, Tee, then switch to his old faithful palomino, Fast Time, to secure the win.
“I started roping on a young horse that I bought last fall from a friend of mine–rode him in the first two rounds,” Brown said. “The steers were getting a little bit better and he was getting a little nervous so for the third round I got on Fast Time (15) and finished it out on him. The steers ran a little too hard for him in the beginning.”
[Read: Spinnies: Fan’s Favorite Head Horse: Fast Time]
Corkill heeled on his 10-year-old gelding, Huey, who has come in clutch for Corkill as of late.
“That horse is extremely good,” Corkill said. “He’s pretty much what’s changed my deal around a little bit here lately. I bought him from Travis Graves. He seems like he gets better every time I ride him.”
[Read: Riding Your Horse Out of the Box with Luke Brown]
Even with all the wins that Brown and Corkill have had in the last couple of days, winning the Broc Cresta Memorial is one that means a lot to Corkill.
“The fact that many people support that roping, and it’s pretty cool to see people that you haven’t gotten to see in a long time,” Corkill said. “Just having something that keeps his name alive and getting to win in his honor is pretty special.”
While Corkill knew Cresta on a more personal level, Brown knew Cresta in passing.
“I knew him to speak to him, but I didn’t grow up with him,” Brown said. “That’s a phenomenal roping. It’s got to be one of the best ropings there is. They do so much at that roping for everybody. It’s fun to win it, but it’s even better just to be apart of it.”
[Read: Broc Cresta: The Legend Lives On]
The $20,000 payday is the fourth big check the team of Brown and Corkill cashed in just a few days on the West Coast. The Oakdale Saddle Club Rodeo, which they won with a time of 13.5 seconds on two head, is one major rodeo on which Corkill had his sights set.
“Oakdale has been one rodeo that I haven’t won that I’ve wanted to win really bad for a long time,” Corkill, three-time world champion, said. “I’ve never been able to win it. I’ve messed up there to win it a lot and kind of almost developed a complex about it. I told Luke when we went there, ‘Man, I want to win this rodeo if we can. I want to go for first place.’ It just worked out.”
[Read: Brown and Corkill Win Oakdale Saddle Club Rodeo]
Brown and Corkill continued to bring the heat winning second at a jackpot held in Oakdale and placed third at the Clark County Fair & Rodeo in Logandale, Nevada.
“That’s just one fo those deals where it just kind of worked out,” Corkill said. “It was good to start off. They had a jackpot there and we won second at that jackpot. Then we won third at Logandale, and won this roping and we caught this morning at Red Bluff. It’s just kind of one of those deals where it seems like it should be this easy, but somedays it feels like you can’t even saddle your horse. It still boils down to you still have to catch the steer. That’s the thing that seems like the difference maker, even if you’re not drawing the best steers, if you don’t get a no time you’ve got a chance no matter what.” TRJ