The 59th annual Rodeo de Santa Fe, June 25-28, will have more participants than ever because its prize money has been doubled, and its opening parade will return to downtown after two years on the far south side of town.

Chris Czmyrid, marketing director for the Santa Fe Rodeo Association, said the "added money" for this year's rodeo has been increased from $28,000 to $56,000 because of a $30,000 grant from the New Mexico Rodeo Council.

"Here's what we're up against — the price of fuel and the price of feed," he said. "And these cowboys and cowgirls, it's really tough out there to keep up doing what they do. These guys, sometimes they'll drive anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 miles a year competing in rodeos."

The added funding is combined with the purse from the entry fees of $60 to $80 per event to come up with prize money divided among the top four contestants in each of the seven events — barrel racing, bull riding, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, team roping, tie-down roping and steer wrestling.

The extra money has drawn 618 contestants this year — up from 350 last year. At least 122 of this year's contestants are from New Mexico, including Santa Fe, Villanueva, Edgewood, Moriarty, Estancia and Albuquerque.

This year's competitors include some of the world's top cowboys, including six reigning Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world champions — among them five-time world champion all-around cowboy Trevor Brazile. "This is like having Michael Jordan compete!" Czmyrid wrote in a news release.

The rodeo queen contest is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Santa Fe Rodeo Grounds, 3237 Rodeo Road.

There is no admission fee to attend the contest in horsemanship skills that will feature two queen contestants, two princess hopefuls and a single entry for junior princess.

The June 21 parade kicking off the annual Rodeo de Santa Fe returns to downtown Santa Fe after two years on Rodeo Road. It begins at 10 a.m. in the Fort Marcy parking lot, heads east on Murales Road, south on Bishop's Lodge Road to Washington Avenue, right on Palace Avenue, right to Grant Avenue, right on Paseo de Peralta, then left on the Old Taos Highway.

Czmyrid credited Mayor David Coss for helping bring the parade back downtown despite ongoing construction projects.

"We found out that the mayor is a big fan of rodeo," he said. "He's been coming to the rodeo for years, but we never engaged him. ... So this is the first year we did it, and that's when we really started ramping things up."

Santa Fe residents Gene Petchesky and Austin "Slim" Green organized the city's first modern rodeo in 1949. Over the past 59 years, Rodeo de Santa Fe has become one of the PRCA's top 100 rodeos. In 2006, it was voted the best rodeo on the Turquoise Trail Circuit, which includes 15 rodeos in New Mexico and Arizona.

Tickets for events at the Santa Fe Rodeo Grounds, 3237 Rodeo Road, can be purchased online at www.rodeodesantafe.org or by calling 471-4300. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The rodeo grounds' west-side bleachers that crumpled during a freak windstorm Dec. 1 have been removed. Tables and chairs will be set up under a tent in the space once occupied by the bleachers. But a major overhaul of the grounds isn't expected to begin until this fall.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.