Kirby Pentilla loves this time of year. In 2025, the barrel racer/veterinarian won the Pro Tour Finale in Armstrong to punch her ticket to her first CFR. Fast forward to one year later. This time around the five-year pro headed into the final (Labour Day) weekend clinging to a spot in the twelve-woman field of would-be CFR qualifiers with several cowgirls nipping at her heels.
And while it wasn’t as dramatic as 2025, Pentilla did what she had to do on the BC run that wraps up the regular season as she caught second hole in her pool at the Massey Ferguson Tour Finale at Armstong’s I.P.E and Stampede. That netted her a critical $1200.00 payday, and she was able to add $721 with a 10- 11 split at the Valley West Stampede and an 11 th place $282 payday at Merritt that enabled her to capture the 12 th and final berth for the upcoming CFR.
But Kirby Pentilla was apparently just getting warmed up. As the 2027 CPRA season got underway, the veteran hand posted back-to-back wins at the first two stops of the new campaign. First she laid down a smoking 17.76 second run for $2829.40 at Oldstoberfest, then followed it up with a 12.27 second run at the Hanna Indoor Rodeo for another 1519.98.
Could be this crafty cowgirl is hoping to avoid another stressful September in 2027. That’s a pretty good start toward that goal.
Other contestants who made the most of the mid-September events (which count for the upcoming Maple Leaf Circuit Finals at Regina’s Agribition in late November as well as the 2027 season) included:
- Steer wrestler Brendan Laye who proved, once again, why he is a perennial CFR qualifier with a 3.9 second run at Hanna ($1740.41) and a share of 1st at Oldstoberfest (3.6 seconds and $2460.57) to establish an early lead in the 2027 steer wrestling standings.
- Tie down roper Logan Bird who topped the field at Hanna with a smoking 7.8 second run and $1967.42 added a share of 4th at Olds for a $3418 total on the weekend.
- Breakaway roper Shaya Biever who split the win at Hanna (with fellow competitor Caitlyn Dahm) via a speedy 1.9 second run and $1717.85. Biever added a healthy $1673.79 cheque at Olds for an overall $3391.64 cash injection to her bank account.
- And saddle bronc rider Lucas Macza who rode C5 Rodeo’s F14 North Country to 86 points and $1766.08 in Olds, then added $582 for 3rd at Hanna.