Elite World Finals

All USTPA members may qualify to ride in the 2023 USTPA Elite Team Penning World Finals. To qualify, riders must;

1. Ride a minimum of Three (3) USTPA Qualifying Shows during the Qualifying Period (6 ride minimum, pen/sort or a combination of both required for a show to count).

1. Ride a minimum of Twenty-Four (24) 1^st Go Elite Team Penning Class rides during the Qualifying Period (The “Qualifying Period” for the 2023 Elite Team Penning World Finals is May 16th, 2022, through and including July 24, 2023).

There are TWO Deadlines to be aware of: Registration Deadline and Qualified Team Entry Deadline.

Registration Info and Deadline

• The last date for any rider to Register to enter the 2023 Elite Team Penning World Finals is July 5, 2023. Brittany Appenzeller will attempt to contact each qualified rider prior to that date to assist, but you can also Register now by sending your information to the USTPA office: membersupport@ustpa.com. There is no charge to Register, but you must send your Registration information to the office (or provide to Brittany) on or before Monday, July 5^th to be eligible to enter the Elite Team Penning World Finals.
• To Register, simply send an e-mail to membersupport@ustpa.com with your name and number of stalls needed (including any tack stall), and how many teams you intend to enter (including draws). You may change the number of entries as you determine exactly what teams you will enter, but please provide your best estimate of entries at Registration.
• Riders do NOT have to be fully qualified in order to Register (only to compete). If you plan to complete qualifications at a show or shows after July 5^th, you must still Register to enter on or before July 5^th. If you Register and do not become fully qualified and enter teams by the Entry Deadline, your registration will be removed.

Qualified Team Entry Deadline

• The last date for any rider to commit to and Enter their Finals Qualified Teams is July 12, 2023.
• Exception to the Entry Deadline: Riders that qualify teams at the Days of 47 or Boot Barn Buckeye Battlemay elect to enter teams qualified at either or both shows, but those teams must be communicated to the USTPA Office (Brittany) no later than Monday July 24th. All teams except for those that are qualified at the Days of 47 or Boot Barn Buckeye Battle must be entered by July 12th (you may substitute previously entered teams with teams qualified at the other later show(s) if preferred, but you will need to immediately communicate any such changes to the teammates on the teams being replaced).

EXCEPT FOR TEAMS QUALIFIED AT THE DAYS OF 47 OR JULY BOOT BARN BUCKEYE BATTLE, ALL TEAMS MUST BE IN TO THE USTPA OFFICE NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT July 12, 2023.

The Show and Site Information includes everything about stall reservations, stall mats, RV spaces, shavings, host hotel, golf cart rentals and much more and will be available on the home page of USTPA.com by mid June of 2023.

• The Ride Limit is 24.
• This can be up to 20 qualified teams (teams that were qualified at USTPA shows during the season).
• Any combination of qualified teams and draw teams may be used to reach the ride limit of 24 so long as no more than 20 qualified teams are entered. {So, think of it as sort of a Pick 20, Draw 4 or Draw up to 24. The “pick” teams in this case are the teams you qualified}.

Riders may enter as many draws as they would like up to the 24-ride limit (all riders must have at least two (2) “Full-Draw” teams). A “Full Draw” team is one where the rider draws both of the other team members. Riders with few or even no qualified teams (but that are qualified to enter the show) may draw as many teams as they would like up to the ride limit of 24.

This draw program gives every rider an equal opportunity to enter as many teams as they would like (up to the ride limit of 24) to compete for the Huge Payouts and High-Point Awards.

If your team is dropped you can either select another qualified team if you have another available, draw a full replacement team, or;

If two of the team members on a dropped team want to stay together, they can Draw (but not pick) the third team member (see more about drawing a single team member below).

NO. Riders may not drop one of their team members simply to draw a single partner replacement.

The single partner replacement draw must be the result of one of the three team members dropping the entire team, not being qualified, or not being in attendance at the Elite Team Penning World Finals. Then, if the remaining partners want to stay together, they may draw the one replacement team member.

Teams completed by replacing a single team member are considered Draw Teams for the purposes of entries. This provides the rider the option to keep more of their “qualified” teams instead of having this (draw one rider) team counted as one of the “qualified” teams.

All riders must enter two mandatory “Full Draw” teams and drawing a single replacement team member is not considered a Full Draw team.

THREE. No qualified team with the same three riders on that team, may enter (that exact team) more than 3 times in the Elite Team Penning World Finals (unless an additional exact team is the result of a draw).

1. First Round
2. Second Round: 40% of First Round Advances
3. Third Round: 40% of Second Round Advances
4. Fourth Round: 40% of Third Round Advances
5. Final Round: Top 20 (pays all 20 places). Ride Position determined by team selection, with leading team selecting their Finals ride position first (Draft).

            [Top 20 Cattle Herds; 2 herds. 1-10 runs 1 herd, 11-20 runs a different herd]

The Elite Team Penning World Finals Class is a #10 with a 1 second handicap (time off) for every 1 rating point below the class number, and a 1 second “Slide” (time added) for every rating point over the class number (see below for additional information).

This allows the higher rated teams to still enter (if they so choose) since they qualified the team originally as a 10 team, but since they are now a more skilled team (thus the new higher team rating), their time is adjusted to account for that higher skill level in this #10 class.

In the event one or more rider’s ratings are adjusted prior to the Elite Team Penning World Finals, and the result is that the total combined team rider rating exceeds 10, the rider may still enter that qualified team to compete in the Elite Team Penning World Finals, but that team will receive a 1 second addition to their actual time (a “Slide”) for every 1 team rating point above the class number (e.g., combined team rider rating of 11 = 1 second added to the actual time in each round.

The payout at the 2023 Elite Team Penning World Finals includes 60% of the base class entry fees ($125 per ride), less the 5% that goes to the Fast-Go payout Plus the Added Money. Pays top 20 Places; $85,000 Added Cash; Fast-Go paid through 5 places in the first and second round; USTPA Fees and Rules apply. Refer to show flyer for Award details.

Top 20 Payout Distribution.

**Note this is based off 2022 team count, this is subject to change based on 2023 team count.

YES. Fast-Go Payout will be included in the payout structure of the 2023 Elite World Finals – Rounds one and two. Pays five places (30%; 25%; 20%; 15%; 10%). The Fast-Go purse is 5% (2.5% in round 1 & 2.5% in round 2) of the 60% payback.

The final daily schedule is subject to change and if changed will be announced in advance. Based on anticipated team counts the following is the current planned schedule for the 2023 Elite Team Penning World Finals. The exact number of teams to be run each day where partial rounds are run will be determined after the final 1^st Go team count is determined.

Wednesday, July 26^th

6:00pm – USTPA Membership Meeting in the Grandstands

Thursday, July 27^th:  

8:00am – Round 1 (Teams 1- 600)

6:30pm – USYTPA Summertime Showdown

• JR Youth (Rounds 1 & 2)
• SR Youth (Rounds 1 & 2)

Friday, July 28^th:

7:00am – Cowboy Church w/ Sammy and Donna Duncan in the grandstands

8:00am – Round 1 continued followed by the start of Round 2.

6:00pm – Drinks and Appetizers on the Concourse Floor

7:00pm – USTPA Dinner on the Concourse Floor

Saturday July 29^th: 

8:00am – Round 2 continued, followed by Round 3 & Round 4

6:00pm – Raeco Builders Elite World Finals – Championship Saturday Night

• Intro
• Teams 1-10
• JR Youth Championship Round
• SR Youth Championship Round
• Teams 11-20

Sunday July 30^th:

All horses and RV’s should be removed from the grounds by 1pm.

• One point is awarded to each rider on the team for every team beaten by the rider’s team in the final class standings.
• Every team entered can earn points, subject to final team placement.
• Teams receiving a “No-Time” in the first round will not be awarded points for that team.
• So, for example, if 1000 teams are entered and you have a team that finishes the show 70^th, you get 930 points for that one team (you beat 930 teams).

If you are also on a team that finishes 100^th, you get 900 points for that team, and so on for every team you enter as long as you beat at least 1 team in the final class standings and do not get a No-Time in round 1.

As you can see, if you enter the maximum of 24 times you have 24 separate chances to earn points.

High Point Awards • Important Information

Show High-Point Winners are awarded prizes in accordance with the details on the show flyer and the information below.

Only one Show High-Point Award per Rider per rating class (1^st thru 3^rd in Novice, Amateur & Open).

NO. The 2023 Elite Team Penning World Finals is a “Finals” show and does not count as a qualifying show for the 2023 USTPA World Finals or any 2023 USTPA Regional Finals. However, rider points earned at the show will be included for the 2023 USTPA World Champion Points Race.