Reality series showcases ‘Run for a Million’ reining competition
The arena goes dark and the crowd lights up.
“Las Vegas, are you ready?” the announcer asks rhetorically, his voice booming like a fireworks display. “This is the event that the week has built up to, one of the hottest shows on dirt. Sixteen riders, 16 horses, $50 million in earnings. That is incredible.”
It’s a Saturday night in August at the South Point Equestrian Center, the place is packed, the air thick with anticipation and the scent of livestock and popcorn.
This is the culmination of the “Run for a Million,” the premier event in Western equine sports with the richest competition in the history of reining, which showcases a horse’s athletic ability.
Tonight’s winner takes home a cool $500,000.
Six days of events have led up to this moment — numerous cow horse and cutting horse challenges and the $150,000 Bareback Buck Out Invitational among them — with everything being filmed for the latest season of “The Last Cowboy” documentary series, which chronicles the daily lives of the competitors. (The first four seasons can be streamed at Paramount+ and therunforamillion.com.)
“Run for a Million” was launched in 2019 by writer/director/producer Taylor Sheridan, who penned the screenplays for such gritty actioners as “Hell or High Water” and “Sicario” and created popular TV series such as “Yellowstone,” “Tulsa King” and “Mayor of Kingstown.”
An avowed horseman himself, Sheridan also owns the Four Sixes (6666) Ranch and Bosque Ranch.
With “Run for a Million,” he aims to showcase some of the best horses in the world.
And that’s what’s happening on this night at the South Point.
The first rider out of the gate is Duane Latimer from Whitesboro, Texas.
This begins a 2½-minute run, in which horse and rider work together in an intense choreography of power and dirt.
The horse gallops at full speed then stops on a dime and does circles, its hooves leaving indentations in the fresh clay.
The next 150 seconds fly by in what feels closer to 15 during this mix of unbridled force and precision.
“You are witnessing greatness,” the announcer gushes.
Witness it again when “The Last Cowboy” premieres next year.
