By Kendra Santos
It all went according to plan at Rodeo Corpus Christi 2023 for four-time World Champion Steer Roper Scott Snedecor. He only had to rope two steers today to strike for the coveted signature trophy surfboard for the second straight year at this coastal cowboy contest. The living legend they call “Sned” also skipped town $21,000 richer.
“It’s unique to win this rodeo once, much less twice in a row,” said Snedecor, who lives with his head cheerleader and wife, Kelli, just three hours from Corpus Christi in Frederickburg, Texas. “This is such a cool event, and a great friend of mine, Walter Priestly, works hard on it. Walter and I rope and hunt together. It’s neat to come win an event that feels like my second hometown rodeo.”
Today’s steer roping was held at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown, Texas, where preliminary rounds in all events will be held before this $550,000 World Champions Rodeo Alliance major moves to town for the May 10-13 performances at the American Bank Center. Rodeo Corpus Christi is the first 2023 WCRA major, which also makes it the first 2023 WCRA Triple Crown of Rodeo stop, all of which are broadcast on CBS.
Priestly put on a four-round, $10,000-added steer roping in Robstown yesterday. The round winners and top four in the average advanced to today’s WCRA event, along with WCRA leaderboard front-runners. A total of 32 steer ropers started the day in the Showdown Round. The fastest three—Snedecor was 9.45, Cole Patterson’s 9.93 and Neal Wood at 10.30—advanced to the Triple Crown of Rodeo Round. Snedecor won the finals on his 14-year-old, four-legged ace, Goose, with a 10.26-second run.
“Goose and I are on the same page,” Sned said. “He makes my job very easy. If I do what I’m supposed to do, we’re going to win more than we’re going to lose. That’s fun.”
Snedecor’s a frequent flyer in the winner’s circle. He won gold buckles in his signature event in 2005, 2008, 2017 and ’18. He’s roped at 21 National Finals Steer Ropings since his first one in 2001, and has won that prestigious 10-steer average three times, in 2005, 2011 and 2017.
At 48, Snedecor’s closing in on the big 5-0. But he’s still in fighting shape physically, and has more experience under his belt than his youthful cowboy counterparts.
“I still love to rope,” he said. “It’s not about the money or the gold, it’s about winning. At 48, I’m going against guys half my age and younger. But I love this sport, and I love this event. And winning never gets old.”
All the steer ropers appreciate the addition of their event to the Rodeo Corpus Christi roster.
“If anybody wants to be a steer roper, you’re crazy if you don’t try to get down to this,” Snedecor said. “Besides the chance to win this kind of money, they went above and beyond, and made the extra effort to get a good set of steers, then prepared them perfectly.
“If you rope steers, this is one of the best opportunities there is. I think it cost me $150 in nomination fees to get here, then there are no entry fees or stock charge. I’ve won $35,000 here in just the last two years. It doesn’t get any better than that. And Challengers go for another side pot, and have the chance to double dip into the big pot also. It’s a no-brainer to qualify yourself for this event if you’re a steer roper.”
There’s not much left for a guy like Scott Snedecor to win. But, “I don’t think a guy ever runs out of goals. If you quit having goals, you need to be done. I always have the goal to try to be the best in the world at whatever I’m doing, whether that’s roping steers, making horses or being the best husband and dad. I don’t take losing very good. If I ever run out of goals, I need to hang up my hat.”
