Colorado cowgirl Kristie Peterson went into the 1998 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas with a slim lead in the world barrel racing standings. She left 10 days later with her fourth world championship following a spectacular performance by her fleet-footed partner, Bozo. At the Finals, Kristie also captured her fifth consecutive NFR average title, something no one had done before in the 40-year history of the championship rodeo. Her 1998 earnings of $212,998 was a Women's Professional Rodeo Association record, as was her $99,000 in prize money from the NFR.
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Kristie Peterson
Peterson, Bozo Are Shooting For Another Crown
Thursday, Dec. 2, 1999 | 4:23 a.m.
PRCA
Kristie Peterson
World titles: 1994, '96-98 World Champion Barrel Racer
Hometown: Elbert, Colo.
1998 earnings: $212,998
1998 NFR earnings: $99,091
Joined WPRA: 1991
Her horse may be named Bozo, but for the third straight year, barrel racer Kristie Peterson proved she wasn't clowning around at the National Finals Rodeo.
Peterson of Elbert, Colo., came into the 40th Anniversary NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas with a slim lead in the race for the world title, sitting at $113,907 -- less than $2,000 ahead of Sherry Cervi. When the dust cleared 10 days later, Peterson had pocketed nearly $100,000 at the Finals alone to finish the year with a record $212,998 and her third straight world barrel racing championship.
It was her fourth world title overall, and she earned her fifth NFR average title along the way at 141.58 seconds in 10 rounds -- a new NFR record.
"Here, consistency really matters," Peterson said at the post-NFR press conference. "I don't know how I do it. Sometimes the horse takes care of you, and sometimes you take care of the horse."
It has likely been more of the latter for Peterson, who paid just $400 for Bozo nine years ago and has since earned more than $1 million on the speed demon.
"He was 100 percent every single time," she said of Bozo, who netted Peterson a paycheck in nine of 10 NFR rounds, though she never took first. "He tried his guts out every time."
As he has in the past several years. Peterson and Bozo have always been strong at the NFR. The one round they didn't place in this year broke a string of placing in 22 straight NFR rounds. More importantly, particularly when it comes to average titles, they don't make mistakes.
"I haven't hit a barrel since the second round in 1993," Peterson said. "I've been shaking my head for seven years. It's just amazing. We've been amazed all these years, and you just wonder how long it's gonna last. I just can't believe it's lasted this long.
"I don't even bring another horse (to the NFR). It would be no fun without him ... I'm spoiled. Why would I want to get on anything else?"
The person who came closest to ending Peterson's reign, as it turned out, wasn't Cervi. Rather, Janet Stover had a stellar 10-day NFR run in which she won five rounds and nearly $90,000 to finish second in the world with $153,465. In the process, the Jacksonville, Texas, resident set an NFR record with a blazing ride of 13.75 seconds aboard Gotewin Bo in the sixth round.
"He has made a few good runs this year that were really exceptional, and (on the record run), he was really running," said Stover, who purchased the 8-year-old at the beginning of 1998. "I couldn't hear my time. I thought they said 13.85, but then I heard them say it was an arena record."
What kept Stover from further threatening Peterson for the world crown was that she knocked over one barrel, which dropped her to sixth in the average race. And though Stover was nearly always faster, Peterson was more consistent.
"Even when (Bozo) didn't have an exceptional run, he had exceptional times," Peterson said. "I won more money than (Janet) did, and I didn't think that would happen."
Cervi, the 1995 world champion from Midland, Texas, had to settle for third in the world with $148,511.
Charmayne James, the 10-time world champ, made some noise at the NFR as well, winning the last two rounds in the hotly-contested event.
"What a great group of girls here this week," she said. "The competition was tough, the ground stayed good. Anybody at anytime could jump up and win a go-round."
When it came to winning the title, though, it wasn't just anybody. And chances are Peterson will make another serious title run on Bozo in 1999.
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