At last year’s BFI, Tyler Wade had his third steer ready to heel in 1.89 seconds. Folks, that’s behind an 18-foot score.
Billie Jack Saebens didn’t miss his chance to capitalize. Their 4.57 won the first-ever Rickey Green Award for Fastest Overall Time in 2019.
“Anytime you’re roping with T. Wade, if you catch, you’re going to be fast,” said Saebens. “Then again, the BFI is a hard place to win the day money.”
Saebens added that it might have been the only steer they caught that day. What makes the day money so tough, he said, is that even when you draw the right steer, you have to “go at him.”
He said it was cool to win the first prize honoring the icon Rickey Green, whose claim to fame was throwing fast. Rickey was the only heeler besides Clay O’Brien Cooper to ever win three fast-time awards at the BFI (he also won the average in 1984 with Mark Arnold).
Who will win the trophy honoring Green in 2020 – over a 20-foot score?
Pretty tough to bet against the mad-fast Wade, who’s entered again at the Lazy E this month with Saebens. The heeler pulled off the 2019 fast-time award on the Horse of the Year, Sugar, when she was still green. She even stepped out of the corner a little bit on that steer, he said.
“That’s the good thing about real good horses,” he added. “Even when they mess up, they still find a way to let you catch.”
By BFI