Win, lose or draw, Marty Yates said he will not leave the Pendleton Round-Up again until the all-around champion is named.

When it was announced Yates had won the title in 2022, he already was in La Grande and had to turn around and come back. He missed the fanfare, but collected his treasure trove of prizes.

“I just felt terrible for running off and leaving,” Yates said. “I got all the stuff, I just didn’t get the atmosphere of making the victory lap around the track.”

The Pendleton Round-Up, which began in 1910, runs Sept. 13-16. Performances begin each day at 1:15 p.m. Slack performances are Monday through Thursday. Tickets are getting scarce, but there still are a few to be had.

Yates, who had made his ninth trip to the National Finals Rodeo in 2022 in tie-down roping, will need a little Pendleton magic this year for a repeat trip to Las Vegas. As of Aug. 2, he was 30th in the world standings and about $20,000 out of 15th place.

“I have been having a slow year,” Yates said. “I’m not in the top 15, I need to get to doing some winning. I will be in Pendleton needing to win the calf roping to make it to the NFR.”

Yates began his Northwest rodeo tour in Caldwell and will finish in Pendleton.

“For us Texas guys, it’s a good time to get out of the heat, win some money and be part of some rich history,” Yates said.

Whether an athlete has won at Pendleton multiple times, or once, the experience is surreal.

“It’s such a historic rodeo,” said Kacey Gartner, who won the 2022 barrel racing title. “It’s just special to have that memory.”

Gartner, who makes her home in Walla Walla, said she used to watch the Round-Up when she was in high school before women’s barrel racing was an event. The Round-Up welcomed barrel racers in 2000.

“I always thought it would be cool to do it,” Gartner said of the barrels. “Everybody wants to run on the green mile.”

Over the years, Gartner raised a young horse named Mercedes. She decided to race her in 2018.

“My husband (Chance) wanted me to run there (Pendleton) and I was reserve behind Cheyenne Allen, and again the next year,” Gartner said. “In 2021, I knocked over a barrel. Last year, I went in with no expectations. My mare loves this place.”

Pendleton’s barrel pattern is larger than most, and it can be hard on the horses. Gartner likes to run slack earlier in the week, giving her horse time to recover should they make the finals.

“I give her a spa week before I get to do it again,” said Gartner, who will be back to defend her title. “I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s very surreal. That mare has taken me places I have never thought I’d be. She is a true blessing from God.”

In Pendleton, the winners from each year are honored with their names on the back of the arena until the next year’s champions have earned their spot. Gartner said she has yet to see the champion’s wall in person.

“Honestly, I have yet to stop and take it in,” she said. “I don’t know where this whole year has gone. Before Pendleton, I’d love to go take it in and maybe have some pictures done.”

One place Gartner and Mercedes have never been is the NFR, and hopefully that will change one day whether Gartner is riding her, or her daughter Paige.

“It’s a dream of mine,” Gartner said. “I feel like I have the horse that could take me down that road. I’m just figuring out how to do it.”