Diné bull rider wins inaugural Cody Jesus Invitational

WINDOW ROCK
Wyatt Betony waited patiently for a phone call from Cody Jesus.

The Tonalea, Arizona, cowboy wasn’t sure if he would get an invite to the inaugural Cody Jesus Invitational, but when he got the go-ahead, he did what he could to prepare himself for the big event.

That preparation paid dividends for the 27-year-old as Betony was the only rider to cover two bulls in succession on Saturday night before a packed crowd at the Dean C. Jackson Memorial Arena.

“I was praying that he would call me and give me that invite and when he did, I was pumped up for it,” Betony said. “Luckily he did because I put in my dues, and I prepared myself for these bulls.”

Betony rode Kickback for 85 points in the long go round and placed fifth which qualified him for the finale.

In the short round, he scored an 89.5-point ride on a bull marked 834F and finished with a two-head aggregate of 174.5 points.

“Honestly, I was feeding off the guys in the back,” Betony said of the Texas Rattlers as well as local Diné bull riders JaCauy Hale and Robbie Taylor Jr.

“When you hang out with champions, chances are you’ll become a champion,” Betony said.

As for his draws, Betony said he didn’t know any of the bulls, so he had to rely on his training to last the full eight seconds.

“I didn’t even know the stock contractor’s name,” he said. “They just told me that this is the bull I’m riding, and it all worked out for me.”

Of all the bulls in the short round, Betony said he drew the best one in the herd.

“I took advantage of it,” he said. “All the other ones were bucking and like the stock contractor said I was the first one to cover him.

“He’s probably a PBR bull, so that’s something to be proud of,” he added.

Texas Rattler Braidy Randolph finished behind Betony in the average race by posting the event’s highest score of 90 points aboard Watch Out in the long go.

“Tonight, was the first time I truly got to score 90,” Randolph said. “I’ve been marked 90 before, but not a real 90, and it felt great. I’m tickled to death.”

The Stephenville, Texas, bull rider made it back twice in the short round as he took fourth in his other ride in the long go with 86.5-point ride.

With a pair of buck offs in the finale, Randolph placed second and fifth in the average.

“They gave me four checks, so this is pretty dang good,” he said. “It’s great to be here and when Cody Jesus told us he wanted to put a bull riding on for the people I told him that I was all in.

“I think this is the best crowd that Window Rock’s has had in a long time,” Randolph added. “Maybe some people might think different, but I’ve been here four times now. I’ve never seen it that packed before.”

Behind a pair of 89-point rides in the long go round, Trey Thomas and Robbie Taylor Jr. earned two checks. They split second in the long-go, and the two riders also split third in the average race.

“It was really cool to ride in one of my buddies’ bull riding, his first invite,” Taylor said, while noting that he and Hale skipped a pair of PRCA rodeos on Saturday night to make the Cody Jesus Invite.

The 19-year-old Chinle bull rider was supposed to ride his short round bull at the NFR Open in Colorado Springs, Colorado while Hale made the finale at the Central Wyoming Fair & PRCA Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming.

“It was a tough decision, but I felt like I made the right decision to ride here tonight,” Taylor said. “Cody is a good friend of ours and he’s someone that I really looked up to growing up. I’m just happy that I got to place here.

“It was a good bull riding with a good crowd,” Taylor added.

Thomas was also pleased to have placed at the Cody Jesus Invite.

“This is probably one of the coolest bull ridings that I’ve ever been to,” Thomas said. “I’ve been to bull ridings all over the country, and I’ve never seen a crowd like this. They have a helpful staff and everybody is nice as they can be. The energy was good, the fans were great and the bulls were good.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better bull riding,” he added. ‘I can’t wait to come back next year.”

In the long go, Thomas successfully rode Ram Jam, a bull that he’s been on before.

“That bull is so good,” he said. “That bull is as good as you can ask for one. I put my first trip on him back in October and he’s doing nothing but getting better.

“I knew that when I had him drawn he was going to be a fist fight,” he added. “He’s up-and-down and strong as you can ask for him. I was tickled to death to have him drawn tonight.”

Taylor, meanwhile, went the full eight seconds on True Religion in the long-go round.

“He was really cool,” Taylor said of his draw. “Cody said he was gonna be real nice and I rode him jump-for-jump.”

As for his short round bull, the Diné cowboy said he lost his footing during the ride.

“He kind of went wide and he moved forward a lot with me,” Taylor said. “My inside foot came out and he brought me to the

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