BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
Shane Hanchey won the slack at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo with a 7.9-second run on Wednesday morning that held up through Saturday afternoon.
It was Hanchey’s first PRCA Playoff Series win of 2024 and his first victory since October 2023.
The win moved Hanchey, a veteran of 14 consecutive NFRs, up to No. 26 in the PRCA Tie-Down Roping World Standings with a $4,500 payday. Although being outside the Top 25 is not where he expected to be, it’s not unfamiliar territory for Hanchey. Last year, he went from No. 50 in mid-April to No. 12 by mid-May. He achieved this largely thanks to Horse of the Year Bugsy, but with Bugsy out, he has had to adjust to his new mount, River.
River is a 5-year-old sorrel gelding on which Hanchey and Trevor Hale have won more than $200,000 in futurities. The pair proved their winning ways translated to ProRodeo with their performance in Vernal.
Hanchey will continue to test River as he attempts to replicate last summer’s success, when he and Bugsy won the Greeley Stampede and the St. Paul Rodeo early in the 100 Rodeos in 100 Days series.
