Rodeo, chuckwagon preview
It’s not just the cowboys who get cranked for the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
Ace chuckwagon driver Kurt Bensmiller, the reigning champion of the GMC Rangeland Derby, figures the four-legged stars can sense the excitement, too.
“Ever since last year when we won, I have been doing nothing but thinking about getting back to Calgary to have a shot to defend the title,” Bensmiller said. “As soon as a guy gets closer to the time and then when you finally get to see the grandstand, when you come in that hill to go take the horses in, I think even the horses can feel it. They act differently. They’re a bit more antsy, because they know the place they ’re at and they ’re excited to be there. I think they know what is on the line, as well.”
Bensmiller cleaned up at the Calgary Stampede last summer, claiming the Richard Cosgrave Memorial Award as the aggregate leader, earning the Safety Award thanks to a penalty-free stat-sheet and then leading the charge across the finish line in the $100,000 dash.
That’s become old hat for the 35-year-old family-man from Dewberry, now a three-time Rangeland Derby champion in a four-year span.
When the fine folks from Versatile Energy Services forked over $130,000 to sponsor Bensmiller’s wagon tarp for 2018, they were teaming with the hands-down favourite to win the darn thing again.
Starting with Friday’s races, 35 other drivers will be trying to knock him from that perch.
“Consistency is probably the biggest key,” Bensmiller said, pondering the recipe for his run of top-notch results at Stampede Park. “Calgary is not like the rest of the shows, where it’s three or four days and then you’re in the dash. It’s a marathon with eight days (of aggregate action), so barn management and the barn help that I have in the back always seems to really excel over the 10 days.”
Recent history proves that the other guys are in tough.
Bensmiller is coming off a dream season that also included triumphs at the Ponoka Stampede and Guy Weadick Days in High River and his second world title.
And how did the third-generation chuckwagon driver spend all that dough that he won?
He added even more oomph to his barn, purchasing 13 new horses.
“It seems like I have quite a bit of horsepower, and not just on one outfit,” Bensmiller said. “I guess that makes me dangerous every night and I think it makes the other guys have to maybe chance a little more just because they know they have to be perfect to be able to beat some of my outfits. I think that makes it a little tougher for them.
“I think my horses are running good enough now that it would be kind of like last year, if I’m not close to winning it, it would be my fault, not the horses . ... As long as my outfits stay healthy and happy, we’ll be tough to beat, I would say.”