Tonight, the wildies will thunder down the track, the historic stagecoach will race alongside them, the anthem will be sung, and the Ponoka Stampede will ring in its 82nd year. Some of the best cowboys and cowgirls in the world have thrown their name on the draw and will compete throughout the week to earn a piece of the $350,000 committee purse.

Watch the Finning Pro Tour: Ponoka Stampede LIVE on FloRodeo June 26-July 2.

We’re nearly ready to crack the latch on the “Wild West of ‘36” in Ponoka, Alberta, so let’s have a look at who to watch out for this week.

Finning Pro Tour Stop: No. 2

Committee Purse: $350,000

Format: Tie-down ropers, steer wrestlers, and team ropers each compete in two full go-rounds—slack in the morning and a performance each day—with the top 12 on two going to the finals. Barrel racers, saddle bronc riders, bareback riders, and bull riders each compete once during the performances with the top 12 moving on to the finals. From there, the top four in the average after the finals will move on to a sudden-death showdown.

Bareback Riding: Reigning Champ And Season Leaders 

Key Athletes: Jake Vold, Caleb Bennett, Ty Taypotat

Analysis: The reigning champion of the Ponoka Stampede will be back to defend his title on Friday. Jake Vold is paired up against Calgary Stampede’s Y-34 Y Not Crystal—a 19- to 23-point horse according to their 2017 PRCA stock stats—which should be enough to help the three-time Canadian champion make his way to the top-12 finals.

World bareback standings leader Caleb Bennett is also going to be competing in the Friday performance. Bennett is fresh of a second-place finish at Reno Rodeo and has been the No. 1 bareback rider in the world for months now with nearly $100,000 in earnings.

From the No. 1 one the world to the No. 1 in Canada, Ty Taypotat will compete in the opening performance tonight aboard Kessler’s 885 Candy Smile. The horse bucked at the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals in January and brought in scores of 21.5 and 22.5 from each of the judges after bucking off its rider. 

There are many other top competitors on the bareback draw, from world champion Kelly Timberman to reigning Canadian champion Seth Hardwick, and many-time qualifiers to both the CFR and NFR all over the list.

Steer Wrestling: No 1 And 2 In The World, Plus 2-Time World Champion

Key Athletes: Cole Edge, Jacob Talley, Hunter Cure

Analysis: The No.1 and No.2 steer wrestlers in the world are on the draw for the Ponoka Stampede. Cole Edge, who has been in the top spot since the winter with $57,594.59 in earnings so far, will compete Saturday afternoon while Jacob Talley, who sits at No. 2 with $49,938.67 and is fresh of a co-victory at the Wainwright Stampede, competes tonight in the opening performance.

Scott Guenthner and Jesse Brown split the win with Talley at Wainwright, and they will be competing in the Sunday and Thursday performances, respectively.

The two-time world champion steer wrestler Hunter Cure competes in the performance tomorrow afternoon and should also be one to watch out for. Cure isn’t in his usual spot within the top 15 in the world standings, but a huge win at the Reno Rodeo that saw Cure walk away with over $10,000 has him seated at No. 20 in the world at the moment. 

If Cure continues his roll, it wouldn’t be unheard of for him to walk away with another check like that from Ponoka. 

*Jason Thomas, the reigning Ponoka Stampede and Canadian champion, has turned out while he heals from an injury sustained this winter that has aggravated during Reno Rodeo. 

Saddle Bronc Riding: Bradshaw Draws Tiger Warrior, The Wrights Are Heading North, Thurston Back To Defend

Key Athletes: Coburn Bradshaw, Jake Wright, Jesse Wright, Alex Wright, Zeke Thurston

Analysis: One of the matchups to look forward to this week will be between Coburn Bradshaw and Calgary Stampede’s T-65 Tiger Warrior. According to the PRCA Stock Stats, the horse scores anywhere from 22 to a near-perfect 24 points and—while this horse will be a strong contender and bucked off all but one of its riders in 2017—if Bradshaw can make it good ride he should almost be guaranteed a ticket to the finals. 

For the first time in recent memory, Bradshaw’s “in-laws,” the Wrights are also entered in the Ponoka Stampede. Jake, Jesse, and Alex Wright have all entered and have drawn Y-59 Young Carma, T-77 Tokyo Bubbles, and X-41 Xterior Walls, respectively.

With the exception of Alex, all of these competitors sit within the top 20 in the PRCA world standings at the moment and should all be ones to look out for during the Friday afternoon performance of the Ponoka Stampede.

The reigning Ponoka Stampede champion Zeke Thurston is also back again this year and fresh off a victory at the Wainwright Stampede. Thurston is up on Saturday and has drawn C5 Rodeo’s 144 Black Eye. 

Listen to Thurston’s whirlwind trip last weekend on his way to the Wainwright Victory:

Tie-Down Roping: Brazile, Solomon, Durfey And Many More Household Names

Key Athletes: Trevor Brazile, Cory Solomon, Jesse Popescul, and Tyson Durfey

Analysis: It’s hard to point out just a few competitors when looking through the tie-down roping draw. It’s a regular “who’s who,” and tonight may be one of the most exciting of the weekend with both Trevor Brazile and Cory Solomon on the draw. 

Brazile just came off the win last weekend at the Guy Weadick Days rodeo in the tie-down, while Solomon won the Wainwright Stampede. 

Also on the draw for tonight is the No. 1 tie-down roper in the CPRA Standings, Jesse Popescul. Popescul also sits in the No. 2 spot in the heeling standings, which makes him the top competitor in the Canadian high-point race (with the standings updated to the Innisfail Pro Rodeo).

The No. 1 man in the world is also going to be in town on Thursday. Tyson Durfey—a regular at the Canadian Finals Rodeo—has started to run away with the tie-down roping world standings with a near $25,000 lead on his closest competitor.

Check the draw out to see the many names that could have made our preview list HERE.

Team Roping: Johnson/Woolsey & Hall/Tryan On A Hot Streak, Simpson/Buhler Back To Defend Title

Key Athletes: Denver Johnson, Tristin Woolsey, Brenton Hall, Chase Tryan, Levi Simpson, Jeremy Buhler

Analysis: A couple teams on the draw have been on a hot streak lately. Fresh off the “W” at Wainwright Stampede, Denver Johnson and Tristin Woolsey will be looking to have another strong weekend at one of the most pivotal CPRA events of the year.

Woosley is already sitting at the top of the CPRA standings, with Johnson in at No. 7 after their second-place finish at the Innisfail Pro Rodeo, but after their hot streak last weekend, both competitors should be sitting at or near the top of the standings after earning over $7,000 between Wainwright and Sundre.

Another pair that has been on a roll lately is Brenten Hall and Chase Tryan. They won round one and were fourth in the average at Wainwright, split second place at Guy Weadick Days, were first at Innisfail, and then south of the border they picked up the second-round win at Reno Rodeo to total more than $10,000 just between those rodeos.

Reigning Canadian and Ponoka Stampede champions are also back for more this year. Levi Simpson and Jeremy Buhler are up on Saturday afternoon and will be looking for a repeat of their performance last year.

Read about Simpson's thoughts of the entire Finning Pro Tour HERE.

Another quick glance down the list shows Canadian and American talents like Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith, Dustin Bird and Rocky Dallyn, Clint Buhler and Tyrel Flewelling, Matt Sherwood and Walt Woodard, and many more who could easily walk away with the win at Ponoka.

Barrel Racing: No. 1 In Canada Vs. No. 1 In The World

Key Athletes: Carman Pozzobon, Hailey Kinsel, Diane Skocdopole, Taci Betis

Analysis: As with all events at the Ponoka Stampede, the barrel racing has a strong lineup of competitors that will make the competition exciting for rodeo fans to watch. The No. 1 barrel racer in the WPRA world standings, Hailey Kinsel, will make her run on Saturday after the No. 1 barrel racer in the Canadian standings and Ponoka Stampede reigning champion, Carman Pozzobon, runs Wednesday.

Pozzobon is also sitting 13th in the world at the moment and is the only Canadian in contention to qualify for the WNFR in the barrel racing. 

Move down both the Canadian and World barrel racing standings and we’ll see many names that will compete including Diane Skocdopole who is No. 2 in Canada and the 2017 rookie of the year, and Taci Bettis, No. 3 in the world and the 2018 barrel racing champion of The American. 

Bull Riding: Frost, Kimzey And Parsonage Among Top Names In Bull Riding

Key Athletes: Joe Frost, Sage Kimzey, Jared Parsonage

Analysis: The Ponoka Stampede always offers a tough pen of bulls and simply getting 12 qualified rides to go into the finals can be tough, but the list of bull riders on the draw is also filled with tough competitors that should be up to the challenge. 

Both the Frost boys have drawn up in the opening performance of the Ponoka Stampede tonight with Joe Frost riding Kesler Championship’s 671 Pink Panther and younger brother Josh Frost on Northcott’s Z21 Crazy Wings. 

Moving to Thursday night, Canada’s No. 1 bull rider Jared Parsonage will be fired up and ready for another one after bucking off in the finals at the Wainwright Stampede. Parsonage has also drawn Vold Rodeo’s +212 Mish Mash, who helped Cody Coverchuk to the event win last weekend at Wainwright.

We caught up with Parsonage before the short round of Wainwright to talk about the great season he has had in the CPRA so far:

Zane Lambert, Scott Schiffner, Boudreaux Campbell, Lonnie West, and many other names cover the list of contenders, but one that is always hard to ignore is Sage Kimzey. The bull rider who has absolutely dominated his field for the past four years will ride Calgary Stampede’s 483 Click Clackin during the Friday performance.

Performance One: Tuesday, June 26 - 7:30pm CST (6:30pm Mountain Time)

Performance Two: Wednesday, June 27 - 2:00pm CST (1:00pm Mountain Time)

Performance Three: Thursday, June 28 - 2:00pm CST (1:00pm Mountain Time)

Performance Four: Friday, June 29 - 2:00pm CST (1:00pm Mountain Time)

Performance Five: Saturday, June 30 - 2:00pm CST (1:00pm Mountain Time)

Performance Six: Sunday, July 1 - 2:00pm CST (1:00pm Mountain Time)

Top 12 Finals: Saturday, July 2 - 2:00pm CST (1:00pm Mountain Time)

Top 4 Showdown: Saturday, July 2 - 7:30pm CST (6:30pm Mountain Time)