Some ropings are measured in checks and fast times. Jack Todd’s memorial roping was measured in the friendships he left behind. Born in Texas and raised in Ojai, California, Jack came to team roping through the local hands he met around town, and by the 1980s he was a fixture at the Barnard Ranch in Ojai. When he settled in the Fillmore area in the 1990s, the Fillmore Roping Arena became his second home, and the Fontes, Smith, Kelly, Basolo, and Haller families became the kind of friends a cowboy ropes beside for life.
Jack’s fingerprints are all over the local roping community. When the Tri-County Team Roping Association, which then included the Fillmore arena, hit legal trouble and went dark in the late 1980s, Jack was one of the ropers who stepped up to save it. In 1989 he helped put the association back together and served as its president through 1994, running events at the Fillmore Roping Arena, the Ventura County Fairgrounds, and the Santa Barbara Rodeo. He handed off the presidency in 1994, but the association he rebuilt and the friendships he made inside it stayed strong until his passing on New Year’s Day, 2026.
On June 27 the Fillmore family gathered to rope in his memory, and everyone there will tell you Jack was watching from horseback aboard his favorite mount, Fresno. He was congratulating the hands who caught and rode off with saddles and buckles, laughing at the ones who missed, and offering that familiar grin along with his standard verdict: “Shit happens.” That was Jack, competitive and humble, quick with a smile, and always able to find the humor in a missed loop. The day drew a tremendous turnout of 192 teams in the 5.5 handicap and down and 150 teams in the 7 handicap up and down, and Ropers Sports News joins the roping community in thanking the Todd family for organizing the day and providing every trophy and award.
5.5 Handicap and Down (192 teams)
Fast time: 1. $280, 7.15, Julianna Perez and Paul Mullins; 2. $210, 7.47, Ethan Strassburger and Luke Real; 3. $140, 7.63, Frank Brancato and Tommy Mullins; 4. $70, 7.74, Paden Soto and John Fawkes.
Average: 1. $900, 24.81, Julianna Perez and Levi Cash Real; 2. $790, 27.06, Ethan Strassburger and Luke Real; 3. $680, 27.49, Gary Christensen and Edgar Realzola; 4. $560, 27.77, Alberto Benitez and Mike Fontes; 5. $440, 27.90, David Ramirez and Juan Jimenez; 6. $320, 28.93, Karen Fontes and Jeff Fontes; 7. $200, 30.07, Gary Christensen and Tim Boyle; 8. $80, 30.12, Beccah Haller and Mike Fontes.
7 Handicap Up and Down (150 teams)
Fast time: 1. $340, 6.29, Artemio Semder and Anselmo Ramirez; 2. $210, 6.38, Elijah Soto and Gavin Eaton; 3. $140, 6.39, Tyler Forsberg and Paul Mullins.
Average: 1. $1,020, 20.62, Colby Hand and Levi Cash Real; 2. $860, 20.96, Tyler Forsberg and Paul Mullins; 3. $710, 23.07, Tyler Forsberg and Juan Jimenez; 4. $550, 23.18, Clark Quigley and Mike Fontes; 5. $390, 23.52, Clark Quigley and Colby Hand; 6. $240, 23.87, Jamie Fontes and Jeff Fontes; 7. $160, 23.89, Wyatt Soto and Tristin Quigley.
Jack Todd was a California team roper born in Texas and raised in Ojai. A fixture at the Barnard Ranch in Ojai through the 1980s, he settled in the Fillmore area in the 1990s and made the Fillmore Roping Arena his second home. He passed on New Year’s Day, 2026.
When the association hit legal trouble and went dark in the late 1980s, Todd was one of the ropers who stepped up to save it. He helped rebuild it in 1989 and served as president through 1994, running events at the Fillmore Roping Arena, the Ventura County Fairgrounds, and the Santa Barbara Rodeo.
June 27, 2026, at the Fillmore Roping Club in Fillmore, California.
Julianna Perez and Levi Cash Real won the 5.5 handicap and down average at 24.81 for $900. Colby Hand and Levi Cash Real won the 7 handicap up and down average at 20.62 for $1,020.
The day drew 342 teams total, 192 in the 5.5 handicap and down and 150 in the 7 handicap up and down.
