The Calf Roping Horses of the 2026 Governor's Cup

The Calf Roping Horses of the 2026 Governor’s Cup

The bloodlines behind the nine horses carrying 12 tie-down ropers into Sioux Falls.

Twelve of the best tie-down ropers in the world will ride nine different horses at the 2026 Governor’s Cup, Sept. 25–27, at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The purse is $166,667, and Sunday’s sudden-death final round pays $34,000 to the winner.

All 12 calf ropers run in each of the first two performances. The top eight on two head move on to Sunday’s semifinals, and the four fastest there rope in the final round that same afternoon. The field includes the last two tie-down Horses of the Year, the NFR’s arena-record holder and one famous buckskin gelding that three guys will ride.

Common Bloodline Threads

High Brow Cat: Three horses in the field are grandsons of the cutting sire: Rudy (by Metallic Cat), Lil Wayne (by Palo Duro Cat) and Lil Punch (by Kit Kat Sugar).
Dual Pep: He’s the sire of Lollipop’s sire, Popular Resortfigure, and of Mario’s sire, Duals Blue Boon. He also turns up deeper in the pedigrees of Titus, Baby Rey and Lil Punch.
Dual Rey: He’s Baby Rey’s grandsire and Lil Punch’s damsire.
Doc O’Lena: He’s Mario’s damsire. He’s also the sire of Peso’s damsire, Paddys Blue Twist, and of Titus’ damsire, CD Olena.
There’s only two mares in this field of horses, Shad Mayfield’s Lollipop and Cory Solomon’s Baby Rey.
The average age of the nine horses is 14.2.