The Rundown August 18: The One With the Levi Wright Memorial

Home » The Rundown August 18: The One With the Levi Wright Memorial

The Rundown August 18: The One With the Levi Wright Memorial

Taylor Miniat and Love Lane won five titles at the Levi Wright Memorial, Tricia Aldridge won the average at the $61,000 Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston, Oregon, and Carlee Otero drew a check at all three rodeos she entered to climb from fifth to second in the world, all recapped on this week’s episode of The Rundown on The Money Barrel.

From Susan Hadley sweeping the 3D at the memorial race to Sydney Graham winning the Hermiston finals by a hundredth and Emma Smith winning the Fallon County Fair and Rodeo at Baker, Montana, this week’s episode of The Rundown, presented by Chewy, breaks down the biggest results and what they mean moving forward. Listen to the full episode below.

The Rundown is presented by Chewy.

Levi Wright Memorial

A three-day open with a Mega Open 5D over the top of it, plus youth, middles, senior and peewee classes. The race honors Levi “Beans” Wright, the 3-year-old son of Kallie and Spencer Wright of Beaver, Utah, and benefits the Levi Wright Foundation.

Taylor Miniat and Love Lane won the Mega Open 1D in 15.273, the fastest run of the race, and took five titles in all across Saturday and Sunday.
The Mega Open 5D paid $946 to every D champion, $4,730 in all: Miniat 15.273, Grace Rooks and Quicks Last One 15.802, Susan Hadley and SH Especially Smooth 16.280, April King and Smart Flyin Hickory 16.778, and Josie Brande and Rona Bar Blitz 17.299.
Susan Hadley and SH Especially Smooth swept the 3D across the Mega Open, the Saturday Open and the Sunday Open.
Alyvia Madsen and RR First To Vegas won the Friday Open 2D and both Youth 1Ds.
Kallie Wright, Levi’s mother, led the Friday Middles 1D at 15.698 on SDC Fames Vodkatwist.
Annie Jensen swept the Friday Seniors, Aria Sudweeks and KN Fabulous Corona won the Sunday Youth 1D, and Hadley Christensen and Smart N Fancy Boonsmal won Levi’s Little Dinos 1D.

Farm-City Pro Rodeo (Hermiston, Oregon)

Hermiston paid the richest rodeo purse of the week by a wide margin, a new added-money high of $61,000 in every event across Aug. 12-15, on a new two-round format that brought the top 12 back to a Saturday night finals. Nine of the week’s biggest checks came out of it.

Tricia Aldridge won the average on Adios, 34.01 on two head. Her $13,266 was the biggest week in the country and carried her four spots to 11th in the world.
Sydney Graham won the finals in 16.94 and was second in the average, one hundredth behind Aldridge. Her $11,947 pushed her past $127,000.
Kathy Grimes won the first round in 16.84 and moved one spot to 19th in the world.
Taylor June Baize was second in the first round and fourth in the average. With a 12th at Homedale she banked $10,846 and moved nine spots, 53rd to 44th in the world.
Andrea Busby was third in the average, McKenna Coronado third in the first round, and Carlee Otero tied for fourth in the finals on Blingolena, “Sly.”

ProRodeo Roundup: Idaho and Washington

Three checks at three rodeos moved the biggest name of the week, and none of them came at Hermiston. Every stop is in the running ProRodeo results rundown.

Carlee Otero won Owyhee County at Homedale, Idaho, in 16.51 on Cathys Kandy, “Twix,” added a check at Hermiston and was seventh at the Payette County Rodeo in New Plymouth, Idaho. Her $6,329 carried her from fifth to second in the world at $170,339, $12,266 behind Hayle Gibson-Stillwell.
Raelin Jurgens won the Omak Stampede in 16.46 on IMA Epic Blurr Bug, “Bubba,” for $3,682 and moved up one to 22nd in the world.
Megan McLeod-Sprague won New Plymouth in 16.18, was second at Homedale behind Otero and cashed at the Jerome County Fair and Rodeo and at Omak for $5,424, up one to 13th in the world.
Anita Ellis won Jerome in 16.59, and Abby Phillips was third at both New Plymouth and Homedale for $3,175, up three to 39th in the world.

The Montana Run

Four Montana rodeos paid, and Baker was the second-richest of the week anywhere at $15,000 added.

Emma Smith won Baker in 16.07 for $5,505. The Resistol Rookie contender moved up five spots to 43rd in the world.
Loralee Ward was second at Baker in 16.20 for $4,404, the only check she cashed all week.
Blake Molle was third at Baker and seventh at Rodeo Billings for $4,556, up five to 31st in the world.
Andrea Busby won Rodeo Montana at Kalispell in 17.37, and Tayla Moeykens won Rodeo Billings in 17.11 to hold eighth in the world at $119,150.
Tycie Phalen won the McCone County Fair Rodeo at Circle in 16.96. Lisa Lockhart placed at Baker and at the Oregon Trail Rodeo in Hastings, Nebraska, for $6,107 without a round win, up one to 12th in the world.

World Standings Watch

The board below is projected. Official WPRA standings are posted through Aug. 11 and do not yet carry the Aug. 10-16 rodeos. The full month is tracked in the 2026 August ProRodeo results tracker.

Hayle Gibson-Stillwell still leads at $182,605 after a quiet week.
Carlee Otero is second at $170,339, up from fifth. Kassie Mowry is third at $166,952, Emily Beisel fourth at $166,819 and Hailey Kinsel fifth at $165,934, with second through fifth inside $4,405.
Sydney Graham is up one to sixth at $127,641 and is pacing like a first-time NFR qualifier. Tayla Moeykens holds eighth at $119,150.
Andrea Busby made the biggest climb of the week, nine spots from 33rd to 24th on $11,188 and the busiest week on the board. Taylor June Baize moved nine as well, 53rd to 44th.
Also moving: Emma Smith up five to 43rd, Blake Molle up five to 31st, Abby Phillips up three to 39th, Raelin Jurgens up one to 22nd, Kathy Grimes up one to 19th and McKenna Coronado down one to 20th.

The Bubble

The last NFR spot barely moved, and the gap behind it is the widest in the top 20.

Austyn Tobey and Makenzie Mayes are $28 apart at 14th and 15th, Tobey at $91,375 and Mayes at $91,347.
Behind Mayes it is $11,085 back to Loralee Ward in 16th, which means the last spot is not changing hands on one good run.
Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi got to 17th on four small checks at four rodeos, enough to pass Summer Kosel. Ward, Tonozzi and Kosel sit inside $3,291 of each other.

Cinch Playoff Series Watch

Points set this field, not season money, and the two boards do not line up. Ranks and points below are the PRCA board through Aug. 11, so Hermiston, Baker and Omak are not in them yet.

Carlee Otero is No. 1 at 1,148.88 while sitting fifth in official season earnings. Emily Beisel is second at 1,131.13 and Hayle Gibson-Stillwell third at 1,130.26.
Tayla Moeykens is fourth at 865.50 and Makenzie Mayes fifth at 834.26, both well ahead of their money rank, on 58 and 64 rodeos.
Kassie Mowry is sixth at 746.13 off 23 rodeos, the lightest schedule anywhere near the top. Hailey Kinsel is 20th and Michelle Alley 22nd.
Going the other way, Emma Kate Parr is 16th in points on 64 rodeos while ranking 30th in money, and Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi has the most rodeos of anyone on the board at 71.
The Puyallup cutoff is Monday, Aug. 24. It will include points from Caldwell, Canby, Gooding and Moses Lake, and will not include Kennewick, Bremerton or Tremonton. Entries open Friday, Aug. 21 and close Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Still to run, tentative and subject to change: the Kitsap Stampede at Bremerton, Washington; Walla Walla Frontier Days; the Ellensburg Rodeo; the Lewiston Roundup at Lewiston, Idaho; the Pendleton Round-Up; and the North Dakota Roughrider Cup at Mandan. The Cinch Playoffs Wild Card runs at Puyallup, Washington, and the Governor’s Cup at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, closes the series with a Sept. 21 cutoff.

Industry Notes

Ruby Buckle East runs Aug. 19-23, 2026, at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry, Georgia, with $1,155,000 on the line. Runs stream on Ride TV, listed Aug. 20-23. Code Rundown15 takes 15 percent off the first month.
Pink Buckle entries are due Aug. 25. The race runs Oct. 3-11, 2026, at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, with a guaranteed $4.3 million payout. Horses have to be nominated every year to stay eligible.
Tomorrow’s Legends 2027 stallion enrollments are open. The fee is $2,500 and enrollments are due Sept. 1, 2026, online only, no exceptions. Enrollment also carries Legendary Mamas broodmare sire eligibility.
Future Fortunes stallion enrollment is open. A regular sire runs $2,800 for the year, $500 with the application and the $2,300 balance due by Sept. 1. A junior sire, meaning a stallion whose oldest progeny have not turned 4, is $1,000 a year.