Ten-year-old Sydni Rae Jones, daughter of Steve & Ricci (Grimes) Jones of Brady and granddaughter of Robert & Barbara Grimes of San Saba, competed Las Vegas the past two weeks at two different junior rodeos that she’d qualified for by winning qualifier races in Texas in December 2020 in Waco and in February 2021 in Hamilton.
The first week, she competed in the Vegas Tuffest Jr. Rodeo in the '12 and under barrels' and '19 and under barrels' at the World Market Center in Vegas. She won 2nd the 2nd go round of the '19 and under barrels' and won $3,200, and that was the second fastest barrel run of the week, which is huge considering she was running against some the best horses and riders from the US and Canada. She made it back 2nd to the short round in the '19 and under' which is the top 15 average and had some ground trouble and finished 10th in the average. She and her horse, Felix, tipped a barrel in the hot round to win some big money but still won $1k.
She competed in the Jr. World Finals the second week in the Jr. barrels which is '12 and under' and the '17 and under poles'. In round one, she won 5th in the poles and 8th in the barrels and won $800. In round two, she won 5th in the poles again to add another $500 to her pocket. A tipped barrel cost her winning the round in the barrels and running the fastest time of the week, too. She made it back to the short round in poles which was the top 10 in the average, coming back 3rd in the average and the youngest competitor to make the short round in poles. Unfortunately, she knocked down poles, finished 10th in the average. Sydni Rae was awarded Best Dressed Cowgirl in the poles and won a gorgeous Louis Vuitton and lots of other neat prizes.