Rookie Smith lone bull rider to complete eight-second ride

Bull rider Tyler Smith didn’t enjoy the first six nights of the National Finals Rodeo, when he was bucked off five times and failed to earn a check the only time he completed an eight-second ride.

His outlook improved Wednesday night when he placed second and earned $13,840.

On Thursday night, the 23-year-old NFR rookie struck gold at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Not only did he win the go-round with a score of 84.5 points on Flying Diamond Rodeo’s Nobody’s Business, but he also was the only one of the 15 competitors to turn in an eight-second ride.

That meant Smith got the first-place check of $17,512, which counts in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association standings, and a “ground money” bonus of $38,978, which otherwise would have been divvied up among the second- through sixth-place finishers.

“I was surprised I won the round because there were a bunch of good bulls out tonight,” Smith said. “I thought if I was going to win a round, it would have been last night when I was 89 and won second.

“I was pretty happy winning with an (84.5) and being the only one to stay on.”

Other winners in the eighth of 10 go-rounds were Bobby Mote (Culver, Ore.) and Justin McDaniel (Porum, Okla.), tied in bareback riding; Jule Hazen (Ashland, Kan.), steer wrestling; Derrick Begay (Seba Dalkai, Ariz.) and Cesar de la Cruz (Tucson, Ariz.), team roping; Cody DeMoss (Heflin, La.), saddle bronc riding; Cody Ohl (Hico, Texas), calf roping; and Sherry Cervi (Marana, Ariz.), barrel racing.

■ INJURIES — Two cowboys competed in their final go-rounds of the Finals on Thursday.

Bareback rider Matt Bright of Azle, Texas, was transported to University Medical Center with a lumbar fracture after being bucked off and landing awkwardly.

Bull rider Chad Denton of Berry Creek, Calif., broke his left tibia after he was bucked off.

■ TOP GUN — Trevor Brazile won $4,519 in team roping to push his NFR total to $102,483 and maintain his lead in the Top Gun standings for most money won among the 119 NFR contestants. Bull rider J.W. Harris, who did not earn a check, is second with $92,644.