AFTER starting riding poddies and steers, Dingo rider Bailey Woodard is now at the top of the bull ride standings in the Australian Professional Rodeo Association.
The 21-year-old manages a property during the week and rides bulls at the weekend.
He is one of many Queensland riders who headed south for the Christmas Run in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.
Bailey had wins at Alexandra and Yarrawonga in Victoria and was second at Mytleford on Boxing Day.
He had a highest score of 87 on the Garry McPhee bull High Alert at Alexandra.
Bailey is a second-generation bull rider.
His father Lawson Woodard won some titles in Central Queensland before retiring from the sport.
Three of the five Woodard siblings compete in rodeo, Bailey and Brody in the bull ride, and Hank on poddies and steers.
"Brody and I are often in the same bull rides and we help each other on the day," Bailey said.
"I plan to compete in up to 20 APRA rodeos this season," he said.
He is planning on a trip south for the three Victorians rodeos on the long weekend in March.
After that trip, he may head to the United States for the first time to compete.
This season is the first where Bailey has headed the standings.
"I always go into a rodeo with confidence. It is a sport where you have to be confident," he said.
Bailey qualified for his first national finals last year and was second in round 1 and fourth in the aggregate.
"I was in 14th place going into last year's finals and want to be in the top-10 this year," he said.
APRA titles are determined by results during the pro tour and in the four rounds of the finals.
He has won a second-division bull ride at Mt Isa in one of his career highs.
During the Christmas Run, Bailey was based in Victoria and trained on some practice bulls at the Woodall property at Heywood. He does a lot of travelling with Sam Woodall and North Queensland cowboy Rohan Markham.
Woodard said "touch wood", he had been lucky to not suffer many injuries. "I want to get in there, do bull riding well and be out of competition by the age of 30."
