DEADWOOD - For rodeo participants, the final day of a rodeo is often about making entry fees and paying travel expenses. Saturday at the Days of '76 Rodeo in Deadwood was no different.

It was only harder since doing so meant out-riding some of the best rodeo cowboys and cowgirls in the business.

Hoping to make some money in bareback riding? Better be prepared to outride the reigning world champion, Justin McDaniel and the No. 1 and No. 3 in the 2009 average, Clint Cannon and Heath Ford. The chance of catching that formidable threesome all having a bad day on the same day is slim and was impossible Saturday.

In the matinee performance, Ford overcame his own forgetfulness and a slippery horse to post an 85-point ride.

"I usually wear a neck roll," said a happy but somewhat rueful Ford. "I got kicked in the head in Houston and knocked out and I have a soft spot now. If I hit the back of my head hard it can knock me out. And just before I went out today, I realized that I hadn't put it on and it was too late then, so I told myself to tuck my chin on my chest and hope for the best."

And in the evening go-round, Justin McDaniel matched Ford's ride with an 85-point ride of his own.

"I heard a lot of good stories about the horse," McDaniel said. "So I knew I had a chance for a good ride. I'm looking to get on fire now, and maybe this win will kind of boost things into gear."

Those hoping to cash checks in bull riding didn't have it any easier. Among the competitors on hand was J.W. Harris, the 2009 world average leader. Harris withstood eight seconds of twisting and turning on a bull named Hard Times. In the process he earned 89 points and the top spot in average. Harris needed every point to hold off the 88-point ride from Bobby Welch of Gillette Wyo., during the evening performance.

"It was a good trip here for me," Harris said. "I'd seen the bull a couple of times and it was a bull I wanted to get on, so I was pretty excited with the draw. The Deadwood rodeo is special. It's just different from every other rodeo. You don't see wooden bucking chutes anymore, and it's just an old school setting that is really neat."

In saddle bronc, Red Lemmel, a crafty veteran from Faith, posted the afternoon's best time converting a re-ride opportunity into 81 points and third spot in average.

"I got an automatic re-ride when the first horse turned back and wanted to stop," Lemmel, a 45-year-old father of five said. "The second horse everybody told me was pretty mediocre, but he had a really good day today, and I felt really good throughout."

Lemmel's performance was only marred by a twisted knee on the dismount, an injury with which he is quite familiar.

"My spur stuck in the rein jumping out and when I dismounted hung a bit," he said. "I landed hard and my knee popped out which happens once in a while. In a few days I'll be walking normal again."

The best ride of the day was turned in by Chet Johnson, a Gillette cowboy who was born in Rapid City. Johnson rode one of the PRCA's top bucking broncs to an 86-point ride and a second in average behind Friday night's event winner Joesy Hauser's

87-point ride.

Saturday night's saddle bronc event featured many of South Dakota's elite bronc riders, which meant going up against the very best in the world.

"This rodeo always gets the best bronc riders," Johnson said. "Most of them are from South Dakota, so to do good here at Deadwood is a bronc rider's dream."

The cowgirls didn't have it any easier than their male counterparts on Saturday.

Standing in the way was barrel racer Lisa Lockhart of Oelrichs, one of South Dakota's outstanding cowgirls. Her 16.72 time posted in slack stood up to all challengers.

Lockhart downplayed her performance.

"I feel very fortunate," said Lockhart. "I actually hit the first barrel and was able to sit it back up. Lady Luck had to have been with me so I'm really happy with my run considering all that transpired."