World Champions Clay Smith and Junior Nogueira were right at home in Fort Worth to win the Yeti Open Shootout at the 2025 Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping, stopping the clock on five head in 31.99 seconds to earn $28,070.
This was Nogueira’s record sixth US Finals win—his fifth in the Open.
In a field that included some of the top Open talent in the sport, Smith and Nogueira, both 34, came back high call to the short round and delivered a 5.79-second run to seal the win.
“There were a lot of great teams here,” Smith, of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, said. “When you’re the last ones to go and you’ve got to be sharp, you’ve got to trust your horse and your partner and just go do your job.”
Smith’s mount, Peppys Gray Groose, belongs to his sister-in-law Miley, and it was the first jackpot at which he’d ridden the former Relentless Remuda horse they call Toybox. The horse scored strong all day—something Smith said made the difference.
Find full results for the 2025 Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping here.
“He let me see every start clean,” Smith said. “Some of the cattle broke different, but he let me be in the right spot every time. That’s what you need in a setup like this.”
Nogueira was riding a young horse nicknamed Moose and registered as Mr Katz, owned by Nogueira and Las Tunas Cattle Company. Though green, the gelding handled the pressure with poise.
“He’s talented and moves great,” Nogueira said. “Still a little young, but he felt good. I think he’s going to be a big-time horse.”
Their runs built steadily through the rounds: 6.88, 6.08, 7.1, and 6.23 before the short round. And while most teams might play it safe as high call, Nogueira didn’t hold back.
“We kind of have a clock in our heads, and we knew if we got hung up in that wall, we’d be long,” he said. “So I gassed him up and let it go. It worked out.”
Smith, for his part, almost didn’t nod.
“I thought about waiting,” he admitted. “But the steer looked slow, my horse scored great, and I just went. Sometimes those surprise starts are the best ones.”
For Nogueira, this win marked his sixth career USTRC National Finals title—and his fifth in the Open.
“This roping has meant a lot to me,” he said. “I grew up watching tapes of the Open here. That’s what made me want to get better. I always wanted to rope with the best guys and be in this short round.”
Smith echoed the sentiment, recalling his early years at the US Finals.
“Me and my brother won enough here one year to build a top on our arena at home,” he said. “Back then, this was our NFR.”
Beyond the prize money, the day carried personal weight for both. It was Easter Sunday—a day both men were eager to honor.
“All the glory goes to God,” Nogueira said. “The reason we’re here, the reason we’re blessed, is Him. To win on Easter, to get to share that—that’s the biggest thing.”
Smith added, “We’ve been through some tough stuff lately, especially losing a great horse in our stud Bet Hesa Ginnin recently. But we’ve got our families, we’ve got our health, and that’s what matters most.”
While Smith’s kids were hunting Easter eggs back home, Nogueira’s were in the stands—cheering and soaking in what their dad does best.
“I’m trying not to push my son into roping, but he loves it,” Nogueira said with a grin. “They see what we do, they see how hard we work. Whether they rope or not, I want them to remember that their dad didn’t quit.”
That grit was on full display in Fort Worth, where two world champs teamed up, stayed locked in, and reminded everyone why they’re two of the best in the business—and why the USTRC Finals continue to be one of the sport’s most meaningful stages.
