NFR Day 6 Preview: Brazile on cusp of 13th all-around title; Cooper turns back clock in team roping

Trevor Brazile is all but assured of winning his 13th all-around gold buckle this week at the National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Center. It's just a matter of when the 39-year-old cowboy from Decatur, Texas, clinches his 23rd overall world title. That moment could take place today in the NFR's sixth round.

Brazile, who has $355,972 in total winnings this year, leads JoJo LeMond by more than $177,000 in the all-around race and could clinch his 10th straight all-around crown under several scenarios.

Brazile will try to add to his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association record collection while competing in team roping and tie-down roping, two events that featured lead changes in Monday's fifth round.

Team ropers Derrick Begay and Clay O'Brien Cooper won their third round in five tries — splitting the victory with Coleman Proctor and Jake Long with a 4.0-second run — to take the top spot in the world standings from two-time defending world champs Clay Tryan and Jade Corkill of Fallon. It's the first time a team other than Tryan and Corkill have led the standings since February.

Cooper, who lives in Gardnerville, has won seven world titles with fellow ProRodeo Hall of Famer Jake Barnes, the last coming in 1994.

"Is this a dream?" said Cooper, 54. "Can I hit the snooze button and just keep sleeping? I don't think I want to wake up. This is my 29th time here, and this is the best start I've ever had.

"Derrick threw it a mile tonight, and made a heck of a shot. We've got to keep grinding it out and doing our jobs. We just need to keep our heads down and keep making runs. The rodeo's only half over, and there's a long way to go."

Begay and Cooper lead Tryan and Corkill by about $10,000.

In tie-down roping, Hunter Herrin's second-place finish moved him past defending world champ Tuf Cooper by a mere $663.

On a night of fast runs and big rides, four-time defending bareback riding world champ Kaycee Feild turned in one of the best rides in NFR history, a 91-point trip on Calgary Stampede's Reckless Margie.

It was the Spanish Fork, Utah, cowboy's best and most meaningful ride ever at the NFR, surpassing 90.5-point trips in 2008 and 2011.

"This is No. 1," Feild said. "There are a lot of things happening right now in my life; I'm a father of two, which is still weird to say, and then with my dad (five-time world champion and ProRodeo Hall of Famer Lewis Feild) being sick (with pancreatic cancer), this ride is pretty special. He's been watching on TV every night, and I think he's about worn his recliner out by now."

It was just the sixth bareback ride in NFR history of 91 or more points, and was a half-point off the NFR record.

"I had a really good horse tonight, and I've been feeling the pressure from Steven (Peebles) and knew I had to go out and ride tough and do my job," said Feild, who now leads the world standings by more than $19,000 over Peebles. "I knew I had an opportunity to go out and have a big ride, and having pressure on me and riding in Vegas is something I thrive on."