The Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo is about medals, specifically Gold Medals. Held in Salt Lake City, it’s the only rodeo that offers such a prize, and with $18,000 to the winners, a Gold Medal could certainly make a difference in the race for a Gold Buckle.

Bareback rider Bradlee Miller and bull rider Tristen Hutchings are both No. 1 after Salt Lake City, but took different routes to get there. Miller allowed a lead he had recently taken to balloon, while Hutchings had to reclaim what had been his as recently as two weeks ago.

Regardless, if either cowboy wins Gold (again), it will be impossible to tell the story without including what happened this weekend in Utah.

World No. 1 bareback rider Bradlee Miller extended his lead to over $45,000 after winning the Gold Medal at the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo. Miller was 86 to win his bracket in the Long Round and then rode Championship Pro Rodeo’s Hooey Rocks for 90.

“That horse showed me how I’ve advanced over the last year, because I got on her last (September) and she led me around and I didn’t ride her very good, so I was glad to redeem myself,” he said. “I can’t wait (for the rest of the season).

It was Miller’s second 90+ ride of his season, he was 92.5 earlier this month to win The Calgary Stampede.

Miller added $20,095 to his season purse, bringing his total over $225,000 for the season. That would have put him No. 2 in the World entering the NFR in 2025.

Hutchings, of course, had to come from behind. Noah Lee had retaken the No. 1 spot in the World when he won Calgary and there was reason to believe that the rookie would hold onto that spot for a while.

A while turned out to be about two weeks.

Hutchings was 88 in the Long Round and then 85 on Tesla in the Short Round, he was the only one to ride, and it paid him $18,143.

“It was unorthodox,” he said of his winning ride. “We banged off the panels a little bit, but I was hustling happy to stay on.”

Hutchings also finished second in Round 2 of the Cheyenne Xtreme Bulls with a 92-point ride and 4-for-6 with all four qualified rides being at least 85 points last week.

With $253,524, he sits about $2,000 ahead of Lee.

As for the rest of the action in Salt Lake City, Cash Robb moved from No. 7 to No. 3 in the World by winning the steer wrestling with a 3.7-second run.

Clay Smith/Coleby Payne tied Cody Snow and Lane Mitchell at 5.1 seconds each in the team roping Finals, but the Gold went to Smith/Payne. Both teams qualified atop  their brackets, but Snow and Mitchell were 10.4 on two compared to 9.7 for Smith and Payne.

Saddle bronc rider Brody Wells had another magnificent showing in Salt Lake, winning the event for the second time in three years. He qualified for the Short Round with an 88.5 on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Tony Hawk before a season-high 91.5 on Larry Culpepper earned him the win.

In tie-down roping, 2025 Resistol Rookie of the Year got it done with a 7.2-second run in an event that had nine runs of 7.5 seconds or faster. That win moved from No. 17 to No. 12 in the World.

KariAnn Cross won the barrel racing by the closest of margins, besting Hayle Gibson-Stillwell by one one-hundredth of a season.

Beau Peterson dominated the breakaway roping with three runs of either 2.1 or 2.2 seconds. She never finished worse than second in a Go-Round.