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Mikala Grady’s Champion Steer, Rocco, Sells for Record-Tying Bid at Fort Worth Stock Show

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Tony Maples Photography

 

A women’s group from Fort Worth paid the record-tying auction price of $240,000 for the top Stock Show steer, and Mayor Betsy Price made the winning bid. In a press conference following the sale, Price made sure to emphasize that “No public money was spent.” The Stock Show’s grand champion steer, Rocco, a European crossbred, was shown by Mikala Grady.

Grady, 15 years old from Grandview, Texas, showed the steer while the bidding soared, finally ending with the Women Steering Business making the winning bid. Further to her press conference comments, the mayor identified that the more than 170 members of the group had long been planning this purchase, citing, “We said five years ago, ‘In five years we are going to buy the grand champion, if it is a woman.’ And this year it was, so we made good on our promise.” In an empowering statement, Mayor Price noted, “We want to promote everybody. But this is particularly for these gals [who are showing] to see women come together and do something like this.”

In an interview with the Star-Telegram, Brad Gray said of his daughter, “Mikala’s work ethic has always surpassed other kids her age. She’s got a drive like no other.” And her payday proved her mettle as her livestock show career has seen a number of triumphs, but none yet quite as comparable. “I work really hard at this. I love doing it too, so I guess that helps. But it’s a lot of work,” Grady told the Star-Telegram. The 9th-grader who is also a 4-H member will continue to show livestock, but having already shown a grand champion steer as well as a barrow in Fort Worth, she’ll be unable to do so again in the same arena. Rocco’s rise to his short-lived fame won’t end here. He has been donated by the Women Steering Business to the Fort Worth Arlington Heights High School 4-H program to be studied, and possibly resold, if the group so chooses.

Source:

Star-Telegram