Course Completed: Browne and Looper Fight Through Rough Week for $132,200 Riata #8.5 Win
Calli Montague1 hour ago
Travis Browne and Ty Looper spent much of Riata week struggling to finish the course, but four steers—8.16, 9.43, 8.95 and a 13.84 with a leg—finally got them all the way through it, winning the 2026 Riata Championships #8.5 with a 40.38-second time on four and a $132,200 payday.
For Browne, of Riverside, California, and Looper, of Pilot Point, Texas, the money was substantial. But immediately after the win, both went back to the same thing: they had finally made it through.
“More than money, I’m excited that I finished the course,” Browne said. “I’ve been getting stuck on that second steer all week, and getting over that hurdle for me is great.”
But then he added: “The money really helps.”
Looper had been fighting his own battle. He had been at the Riata since the #12.5 and said getting through the second arena and into a short round had been a struggle all week.
“It’s been a rough week, but we’re finishing off strong,” Looper said.
Their #8.5 run started with an 8.16 before the ever-cursed second arena was almost a problem—again.
Browne got close on his second steer but barely got it on the horns, while Looper missed his slack before scrambling to get dallied. They survived it for a 9.43.
On their third, Browne had another steer make him work for it, but they stopped the clock in 8.95 and finally cleared the hurdle that had stopped them throughout the week.
“I came in here and I was like, ‘Man, I got to get it done,’” Browne said of pre-short-round thoughts. “That was my hurdle, and I just barely cleared it, but I still cleared it.”
For Looper, the week’s struggles had been largely self-inflicted. He said he had been pulling legs, getting out of time and fighting to keep his bottom strand on the ground.
“It just hasn’t been going great,” Looper said. “Something I’ve been fighting for a while, and it’s been taking a toll this week.”
Three clean runs put Browne and Looper at high call with room to work, but Browne’s fourth steer came with the kind of horns he’d been battling mentally.
He watched the cattle come down and looked at his options, even noticing that the steer immediately behind his would have been more user-friendly. But once his steer was his, there wasn’t much left to do except rope him.
“You know what? You can do it,” Browne told himself. “You’ve done it a million times on the dummy, and I’ve roped big horns like that in the arena. Just go do it. Don’t worry about it. You drew that one for a reason.”
Months earlier, Browne had even bought a larger set of horns after discussing the problem with Rank Rack’s owner Justin Copp in Cheyenne. He pulled them out of the trailer and practiced on them ahead of the #8.5.
“It helped,” Browne said. “It got me ready.” Pasted markdown
Browne spun the fourth one, but the flagger held his hand up for the leg he slipped when it was over.
Looper immediately thought he had cost them the roping.
Browne was more optimistic. He figured the run was around 14 seconds with the leg and thought they might still have enough.
“I was like, ‘I think we got it, but let’s listen,’” Browne said.
They had to be 15-something to win it—they were 13.84.
For Browne, the $132,200 win adds another landmark to a team roping career that began less than two years ago. The former UFC heavyweight started learning to team rope in October or November 2024. At his first jackpot Jan. 4, 2025, he missed all four steers; a month later, he won his first $400 check.
His rapid progression has centered on coaching and horsepower, and both showed up again at the Riata.
Browne headed aboard SJR Diamond Playit, “Monica,” by CD Diamond and out of Playin Lil Pistol that came out of Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker’s program. He tried the mare earlier in 2026 after realizing the horses he had been hauling hard weren’t enough to keep up with how much he wanted to rope.
Trying Monica showed him another level.
“The training in the horse and the horsepower and how she handles them in the corner and faces and how she scores and all that kind of stuff,” Browne said. “I was like, this is a different level.”
More than simply upgrading his horsepower, Browne said Monica has forced him to become a better horseman—a direct continuation of the horsemanship learning curve he talked about earlier in 2026.
“She showed me how to ride, really,” Browne said. “She’s just really helped me with my riding overall.”
Looper’s Pepcid Tough, by Pepcid and out of Cash Quixote Girl, represents a different kind of investment. Looper raised, started and trained the 5-year-old himself.
“He’s been great,” Looper said. “My kids ride him, and he’s been a fun one and made it fun again to rope again.”
In fact, Looper’s oldest daughter had a junior rodeo the day before—and wasn’t particularly pleased that Dad had taken the horse she considers hers to Guthrie.
“She was kind of upset that I took her horse, but she’ll be fine” Looper said.
A $132,200 check should at least make that conversation a little easier.
After a week when both men repeatedly found themselves stopped somewhere short of four steers, Browne’s first reaction ultimately summed up the #8.5 better than the dollar amount could.
