Cutting Night returns to The Run For A Million on Thursday, Aug. 13, bringing two of the sport’s richest single-run events to South Point Arena in Las Vegas. The lineup features the $250,000 Cutting Horse Challenge and the $125,000 Non Pro Cutting Horse Challenge.
$250,000 Cutting Horse Challenge
The centerpiece of Cutting Night is the $250,000 Cutting Horse Challenge, where 15 qualified riders get one run each under the lights to chase one of the richest prizes on the cutting horse calendar. There’s no averaging and no second round: one run decides it all.
The field qualified through the 2025 Brazos Bash at Bosque Ranch in Weatherford, Texas, where the top 15 finishers in the Open advanced to Las Vegas. Horses of any age, from 3-year-olds to those 7 and up, were eligible to qualify, with the horse’s first go-round Open score counting toward the field.
The Cutting Horse Challenge takes the arena at 7:30 p.m. at South Point Arena, with doors opening at 4:30 p.m.
$125,000 Non Pro Cutting Horse Challenge
Opening Cutting Night at 6 p.m. is the $125,000 Non Pro Cutting Horse Challenge, a new addition to The Run For A Million in 2026. Like the open event, it’s a single-run format: one go, no second round.
The 15-rider field qualified through the inaugural Winter Bash, held at Bosque Ranch in Weatherford, Texas, from Jan. 23 to Feb. 6, 2026. Non pro riders compete on horses they own, without compensation for training or showing, facing the same herd, the same clock and the same lights as the pros.
Judges score each run on degree of difficulty and how well the horse anticipates and reacts to the cow once the rider releases the reins after the initial cut.
Together, the two events give fans a full night of fence-side drama before the reined cow horse and roping action takes over South Point Arena the following evening.
