Rodeo Houston steer auction sets another record

Driving the news: This year's reserve grand champion steer — the runner-up — sold for $690,000 at auction Saturday.

The intrigue: That's not only more than the price of this year's grand champion but also a Rodeo Houston record for the reserve.

Zoom in: High school junior Jett Hale, from Miami, Texas, fetched the reserve record with his steer, Mike, a stunning charolais crossbreed.

• The Champagne Cowgirls, a longtime group of Houston women whose rodeo fashion statements and livestock auction victories date back years, teamed up with the Tutcher Family Foundation to secure the winning bid.
• Jacob Schickedanz, a 16-year-old sophomore from Perryton, Texas, sold his grand champion black crossbred steer, Kareem, for $675,000.

Flashback: The record-setting sale was a full-circle moment for Hale, 17, and the Champagne Cowgirls.

• Seven years ago, when 10-year-old Hale was showing his then-reserve grand champion steer at Rodeo Houston, the Champagne Cowgirls were the winning bidders as well.

Go deeper: Rodeo Houston offers up to $75,000 of the funds generated by each individual auction to the students who showed the animal.

• The rest of the money goes into scholarship and educational funds, contributing to the organization's more than $28 million in commitments for 2025.

Stunning Stat: 2.7 million people attended Rodeo Houston this year, surpassing the previous record of 2.6 million in 2017, the organization said.

Saturday's attendance of 199,220 people also beat the single-day attendance record, set in 2003.