“Big Money” Bob Harris has earned nearly $90,000 over the years at the BFI – in fact, he’s one of our top-35 all-time money winners. It’s safe to say the roping has been very good to him! Now, thirty years after Harris both nailed one of his second-place finishes at the BFI (with Dee Pickett) and clinched the Timed Event Championship of the World – then also won the 1991 PRCA world championship – he’s entered in the 2021 BFI with Blake Hughes.
“It was a good move to bring the BFI to the Lazy E,” said Harris. “It brings it back to classic – how it was at the start, at Chowchilla with that long score.”
Harris figures he last roped in Reno about six years ago. While he still loves Reno, it’s just a ten-hour drive to Guthrie and even closer for Hughes of Sulphur, Oklahoma. Lately, most of the only roping Harris has been doing is in the middle of nowhere outside itty-bitty Recluse, Wyoming, where he runs yearlings on his family’s fourth-generation ranch. Harris also conducts team roping and breakaway schools and camps, which he’s been doing for 30 years. And he had a total knee replacement in October.
Now that Harris is back on his feet with a knee that feels good and a new heel horse he really likes, all the cards are on the table. He and Hughes placed in the average of the last US Open they entered.
“Blake’s known for having real good head horses and is a real good average roper, so I’m excited,” he said.
No doubt, Harris will arrive in Guthrie in time to catch the finals of the Cinch Timed Event Championships prior to the BFI. After all, he placed there several times and owned the heading and heeling records for a while. In fact, with the success Harris has had in the Lazy E Arena, with Hughes, and at the BFI, this team is sure to be a calcutta favorite.
By BFI