In a breathtaking 2.212 seconds, William “Axel” Sanders of Collinsville, Oklahoma, took home the gold trophy in amateur breakaway roping; it was his fourth breakaway world championship in a row.

But he wasn’t riding the horse he won his three previous world championships on, Crockers Bay Boy. He was on a new horse, Bea Bar Play Buddy, aka “Buddy.”

“I’ve been lucky,” Sanders said. “New horse, (his) first time at the World and under the bright lights; I’m pretty happy with him!”

Sanders’ newest champion is a 1999 sorrel gelding he bought from friends Bob and Evelyn Asberry of Exira, Iowa.

“Yesterday in the (roping) prelims he was wanting to be a little excitable in the box, he didn’t want to just sit in there,” Sanders said. “So I just made a smooth run yesterday trying to make it back.”

A little more riding before the finals tonight settled Buddy right down into championship form.

“I just enjoy him,” Sanders added. “When he needs to work, he will. At home, he won’t do anything for you. I’ve had him at four shows and won two circuits and then this. It seems like when he gets out in public he knows to work.”

Bea Bar Play Buddy and Axel Sanders of Collinsville, Oklahoma, take home the horse's first championship in amateur breakaway roping, and Sander's fourth in a row.

Sanders’ wife, Tina, was in the stands to cheer him on. “I think I get more nervous than he does,” she said.

“I was really nervous this year because I usually get with some friends of mine and rope (before the finals),” Sanders said. “(AQHA Professional Horseman) Doug Clark trained this horse and rode him for several months for me. And then I got him home and didn’t have time to ride him. And then Doug made the NFR this year and didn’t have a whole lot of time.

“I was nervous but he worked good, and I can’t complain. He got me a buckle, and that’s what we came for.”

By Playgirls Conclusion, “Buddy” was bred to be a halter horse and never developed the front end the Asberry’s wanted on him. They convinced the Sanders to come and take a look at him.

“I’d like to thank Bob Asberry for talking me into buying him,” Sanders said with a laugh. When Sanders got the horse home to Oklahoma, Buddy turned out to be a lot taller than he’d looked standing in a deep sandpit in winter.

“(Buddy) didn’t know a whole lot when I got on him,” he continued. “And when I got home with him, he was still a stud, and I thought, ‘Man, what did I buy?’”

“The horse is so lazy, you’d never think he’d make a roping horse,” Sanders added.

“Buddy’s just the kind that you can put a 2-year-old on, and he’s just going to drop his head and lope. And if you don’t have spurs on he’s not going to lope. He’s real cowy; he’s got an immaculate stop.

“The first time under the bright lights in the tie-down got him, but in the breakaway,” Sanders shook his head and smiled, “as long as he can put me there, I’m fine. I was pretty happy.”