The long haul to Davie, Florida, paid off for Booker McCutchen and Riley Istre, who claimed the year-end and average titles at the Southeastern Circuit Finals, Nov. 8-10.
After missing out on the year-end title in 2023 by $499, McCutchen, 24, was elated to win his first Southeastern Circuit title in the calf roping by $5,707. McCutchen placed in the second round and won the third round, placing fourth in the average, banking $6,305 on three head.
Istre claimed the calf roping average title by over three seconds, with a time of 27.6 seconds on three head, walking away from the finals with $11,130. The 28-year-old won the first round with a time of 8.2 and placed in the second and third rounds with times of 10.8 and 8.6 seconds to earn his first NFR Open qualification.
Redemption for McCutchen
The Harrison, Arkansas native had almost 19 hours of drive time to consider his plan for the 2024 finals.
“My first calf was pretty rough,” McCutchen said. “I drew a stout calf, got off my feet, and tied her in 15 seconds. In the second round, I ran a pretty good calf. I tied her in 8.9 to be second in the round. I made a horse change in round three and drew a good calf. I tied that calf in 8.3 to win the round.”
McCutchen rode his good sorrel horse, JJ, to $21,095 in 2024 circuit earnings. A horse change to JJ in the third round landed McCutchen $2,967 and the round win.
After not having any luck at his first NFR Open last year, McCutchen is excited to return to Colorado in July.
“There’s a lot of money to win at the NFR Open, so I’m real excited to be going back,” McCutchen said. “I’m planning on rodeoing more this year. I’d like to get as much won through the winter as possible. I didn’t get into Houston, but hopefully, I can get into the other building rodeos, get some money won, then head out for the California run.”
Luck of the Draw for Istre
Istre drew three good calves at the circuit finals and got paid in all three rounds.
“We tied the calves the morning of the first round, and I thought there were five calves in the herd that were better than the others,” Istre, said. “I ended up being lucky enough to draw three out of the five of those calves.”
Istre won the first round, placed third in the second round, and placed second in the third round, securing the number one spot in the average.
“I thought the calf I drew in the first round was the best calf there,” Istre said. “In my opinion, when you draw the best calf, you’re supposed to win first, and I was lucky enough to win the round. I came back the second night and drew probably the second-best calf. I did everything possible to mess it up but still ended up third. I had a little bit of a lead on the second-place guy on the two-head average, and I had another good calf in the third round. She ran pretty hard, but she was good on the ground, and I just hit the barrier, making the best run I could on her, and won second in the round.”
Istre was aboard Grays Two ID Light to his wins at the circuit finals.
“She’s a 14-year-old bay mare that we call Becky,” Istre said. “I bought her almost five years ago when she was 10. She’s pretty darn special.”
The $11,130 Istre secured at the finals made the 15-and-a-half-hour drive worth it.
“It’s a long drive down there from my house, so there’s plenty of time to think about what I want to do on the drive,” Istre said. “I’ve had success in the past, but never to this amount. I knew I was sitting eighth in the standings, too far out to win the year-end title. Driving down there, I told myself my main goal was to win four checks, placing all three rounds and winning the average. That was my goal, and I was lucky enough to get it done.”
Istre may have started the finals in the eighth-place seat, but he ended the season as the reserve year-end champ, $3,566 behind McCutchen, securing his first qualification to the NFR Open.
