THE three top rookie cowboys in 2015 will be back on the rodeo circuit when the Australian Professional Rodeo Association's Northern Run kicks off next month.
One of the two biggest runs in the association, the Northern Run will start at Emerald and end in the Northern Territory.
Last year, Roy Dunn, Prosperpine, Owen Lee, Toowoomba, and Sam Champ, Meldale, were the top three rookie cowboys in the APRA.
Dunn headed the standings from early in the season in the open bull ride and was well ahead at the end of the season on April 30.
Mt Isa and Cloncurry rodeos rate alongside Warwick as two of the big three in the APRA. Most rodeos are one day, with Cloncurry two, Mt Isa three and Warwick four days.
Dunn and Champ are two of the best bull riders in the nation while Lee had an outstanding year in the bareback.
The Emerald Rodeo will be a bonanza of action this year with the two-day Junior National Finals between the top-10 in the nation.
There will be an open bull ride on the Friday night and then a championship rodeo with all eight events on Saturday.
These will be held in conjunction with the rounds for the junior finals.
Some of the junior finalists are already winning prizemoney in open events, including Alton Downs roper Jordan Iker and the Gard siblings Ellie and Benjamin from Table Top near Albury.
The Northern Run will be the last group of rodeos before the top 15 in each open event vie for the nation's top titles at the Warwick Rodeo Australian Championships on October 22-25.
APRA RODEO PROGRAM:
July 10 Emerald Bull Ride; July 10-11 Junior National Finals Rodeo at Emerald; July 11 Emerald Rodeo; July 18 Taroom; July 25 Richmond; July 31-August 1 Cloncurry Merry Muster Rodeo; August 7-9 Mt Isa Rotary Rodeo; August 15 Katherine, August 22 Darwin; August 29 Longreach.
