We can’t wait for the 2018 Canadian Finals Rodeo, when all the best professional athletes that competed on Canadian soil this year will go head-to-head for six rounds. As CFR45 draws near, we’re counting down the best athletes in each event this rodeo season. The sixth competitor on our list is the No. 1 tie-down roper heading into the CFR, Riley Warren.

See if Warren can hold onto his lead at the Canadian Finals Rodeo LIVE on FloRodeo October 30 to November 4.

Canadian Standings:

2nd - $26,753.61 (Tie-down Roping Standings - No. 1 going into CFR)

7th - $14,757.74 (Heeling Standings)

1st - $41,511.35 (High-Point Standings)

Big Wins In 2018:

Jasper Heritage Rodeo (Jasper, Alberta)

Dawson Creek Stampede (Dawson Creek, British Columbia – split the win)

Medicine Lodge Fall Roundup (Medicine Lodge, Alberta – split the win)

Dallas Sunstrum Memorial Pro Rodeo (Brooks, Alberta)

Hanna Indoor Pro Rodeo (Hanna, Alberta)

Fastest Times In 2018:

7.2 – Calgary Stampede (Pool A Long Rounds)

7.8 – Hanna Indoor Pro Rodeo (Hanna, Alberta)

7.9 – K-Days Rodeo (Edmonton, Alberta)

7.9 – Medicine Lodge Fall Roundup (Medicine Lodge, Alberta)

7.9 – Dallas Sunstrum Memorial Pro Rodeo (Brooks, Alberta)

Analysis:

Riley Warren just keeps getting better. 

Put him in the mix with tough competition, and it seems like this cowboy can keep turning it up. Warren dominated his amateur career — with earnings in the tens of thousands between the several amateur rodeo associations in western Canada — and then when he decided to raise the bar and step into the pro rodeo game, his talent raised with it.

Fast-forward to the 2018 rodeo season, and I think Warren is roping better — and faster — than ever. The Stettler, Alberta, cowboy broke the eight-second barrier four times in CPRA competition, but we saw his best performance at the 2018 Calgary Stampede in July.

The event’s setup and user-friendly calves means it’s made for fast runs, and Warren didn’t disappoint the thousands of people in attendance when he laid down a 7.2-second run in the Pool A competition, the fastest of his career. He proved that wherever you set the bar, Warren can rise to meet it.

The end of his season saw a string of more fast runs and rodeo wins, including winning the final rodeo of the year — the Hanna Indoor Pro Rodeo — to overtake the No. 1 spot heading into the CFR. 

(Trevor Brazile is the CPRA season leader, but did not go to enough rodeos to qualify for the CFR.)

Sign up for a FloRodeo Subscription to see if Riley Warren can hold the No. 1 spot and take home his first Canadian tie-down roping title HERE.