RODEO NEWS

Graham Grabs Headlines with Record Breaking Run

By Ann Bleiker

The Wilderness Circuit has become synonymous with standard patterns on consistent and even ground for WPRA barrel racers resulting in record breaking runs. This year the place was Heber City, Utah, and the jockey was Sydney Graham that made headlines.

Graham of Abilene, Texas, and her six-year-old stallion Dupont First continue to turn heads in the ProRodeo ranks and on August 1 at the Mountain Valley Stampede they put it all together in record setting fashion. The duo stopped the clock in 16.49 seconds to set a new WPRA standard pattern record, previously set last year in Burley, Idaho, by Makenna Shook and XV Mario in a time of 16.53 seconds.

“Honestly no it hasn’t,” said Graham when asked if the record run had sunk in. “My phone has absolutely blown up. It is a little wound up.”

She went on to say, “It is honestly crazy because I usually consider myself a nobody, so I am now like ‘wow we are somebody.’ “

The previous arena record holders in Heber City were none other than four-time world champions Hailey Kinsel and DM Sissy Hayday better known as Sister. They ran a 16.59 in 2024 to set the record.

“I have always looked up to Hailey and Sister, who absolutely deserve to be in the Hall of Fame at this point,” stated Graham. “That team is absolutely amazing so to be right there with them in the record books is pretty freakin cool I will say.”

When one sets a record like this, among the first questions asked is did it feel like it was going to be that fast when navigating through the cloverleaf pattern.

“I knew he was flat rolling and I did have to stay two handed around the second barrel, so I thought that was going to cost us some time because he kind of left me behind the second just a hair,” recalled Graham. “Then when I heard the announcer say Holy Cow, I was thinking I just ran a 16.5 or something but oh no it was a 16.4. Then I was like Holy Cow. It did not feel that fast. I could tell how fast he ran to the first, that it was going to be fast but didn’t know it would be record breaking.”

The clock’s time briefly stunned Graham, but surprise quickly gave way to pride. She always knew the stallion was capable of greatness.

“I have always known he was special,” stated Graham. “He has shown bits and pieces of it during his futurity year. He won the Ruby Buckle in Perry, Georgia last year, so I knew he was fast. I knew he could do it and he finally put it all together. I have been waiting for this day this whole time. Trump really does appreciate the wide-open standard patterns because he can run as fast as he can go.”

Graham has been climbing the ranks in the WPRA and after her big win in Heber City she is currently ranked eighth in the world with over $104,000 as she eyes her first qualification to the NFR.

“That would absolutely be a childhood dream come true if that is the case that we end up at the NFR at the end of the year,” noted Graham. “To just be in the mix with all these ladies has already made this a dream season. It is crazy that somebody like me could come from absolutely nothing to being in the top 10. I am just more than proud of my horse for what we have already accomplished this season.”

And to be able to accomplish all of this on a stallion makes so many in the industry take note.

“A good stallion is few and far between,” Graham said. “It really takes a special one to be able to have on the rodeo circuit. It especially takes a good one to win and I do believe that Adios and Trump are one-of-a-kind stallions in our industry. The fact that they can thrive out here on the rodeo trail is insane and I hope they pass that along to their babies because they are super, super special.

I hope everyone sees how special he is and that you don’t have to be a name brand to come out here and win. I want to be an inspiration to everybody.”

So, what is Graham’s goal for closing out the last two months of the 2026 season?

“We do want to make the NFR,” exclaimed Graham. “I have been saying that since he won the Ruby Buckle. We are going to keep trucking away, take one rodeo at a time, and see where God wants us to be at the end of the year.”

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