Sutherland’s hardworking horses making him proud
Chuckwagon racer gets compliment from one of his childhood heroes
Mark Sutherland welcomed a surprise visitor to his barn late on Monday night.
Earlier that evening, off Barrel 1 and aboard his Air Canada/Tourism Arizona chuckwagon, Sutherland guided his horses around the Stampede Park track in a fast time of 1:11.84 to win the fifth heat.
Several hours after the race, four-time GMC Rangeland Derby champion Tom Glass stopped by to congratulate Sutherland on his third-place showing, while commending his horses on how well they ran.
“Tommy Glass drove by (Monday) night and it was about midnight and I was just leaving the barn and he was leaving I think probably (his son) Jason’s barn,” said Sutherland, who moved into fourth place in the aggregate standings thanks to his quick rip around the track. “He was talking to me about the horses and how they worked. That just makes you proud. One of your heroes — I’ve known Tommy since I was born. For him to come by and tell you how great your horses are, that’s important.”
Like most drivers, Sutherland has one outfit he likes to use off the first and second barrels and another off the third and fourth barrels.
Since he drew Barrel 3 in Heat 8 on Tuesday, he was able to give his main unit a bit of a rest.
“It’s nice to have a day or two off for these horses in between,” said the 47-year-old reinsman, who resides just south of Calgary near De Winton, Alta. “It doesn’t matter what barrel you’re on, you’ve got to turn them all.”
After negotiating the figureeight turn around the outside barrels on Wednesday, Sutherland will go back to his 1-2 outfit on Thursday and Friday. His goal is to secure a spot among the top eight drivers, who will advance to Semifinal Saturday.
“If we can stay penalty free and fast, which, by the way, is the secret to success for all the wagons, then hopefully we’ll be in the semifinals in a few days,” he said. “There sure are some great outfits here this year. It looks like we’re all trying to chase Kurt Bensmiller again, which has been pretty difficult for the last couple years. We’re trying to track him down and some other pretty fast wagons as well.”
If Sutherland can get himself into contention to win his first Rangeland Derby title, Air Canada might just have to hook up his legendary father, Kelly Sutherland, with a flight down to Calgary from Grande Prairie.
“I’m sure we can talk to Air Canada,” Mark said. “They’ve got a great relationship with him as well. They’ve been corporate partners with him for a while, too, before his retirement.”
Sutherland said his dad has been a constant source of support since he retired from wagon racing at the end of last season.
“He’s certainly supportive and he’s in contact — texting and talking a little bit about some of the horses,” said Sutherland, while noting he’s missed racing against his dad and commiserating with him before and after races. “It’s different not to be able to come back and just talk about the races. I realized that right at the beginning, the first show of the year and as the shows carried on. We just did that lots.
“It didn’t matter whether we were racing against each other or in the same heat or in separate heats. We always kind of talked and provided advice.”
Who better to ask than Sutherland as to whether his dad misses competing on the chuckwagon circuit?
“He had a great career and he was ready to retire,” Sutherland said. “I think he’s happy with it. He’s won everything there is to win. They call him the King for a reason and I don’t think he could have got any more in the sport than he did.
“It’s a tough grind going down the road, both mentally and physically. It’s a very demanding sport. I don’t know if people see that. It’s high intensity, high stress. It takes its toll on you and it’s hard on your body and you always have to be on.
“Fifty years was enough for him and that’s what he told me. He’s had enough. He’s happy to ride off into the sunset.”
AROUND THE BARRELS
After finishing second in his heat in a time of 1:15.44, Sutherland fell from fourth into fifth place in the aggregate standings behind Rick Fraser (The Pioneer Building), who stopped the clock at 1:14.94 to win Heat 7 ... Jason Glass (Birchcliff Energy) won the top prize of $6,000 in day money for posting Tuesday’s fastest time of 1:14.30 in the fourth heat. He moved up into seventh place overall ... Despite taking a one-second penalty for starting ahead of the horn in the final heat, Kurt Bensmiller (Versatile Energy Services) still maintained his grip atop the aggregate standings ahead of Kris Molle (Helical Pier Services) and Vern Nolin (CBRE), who edged out Sutherland to win Heat 8.
SCARY MOMENT FOR MOTOWYLO
A scary incident occurred in the eighth heat at the GMC Rangeland Derby on Tuesday when driver Obrey Motowylo was ejected out of his chuckwagon while his League Projects outfit completed the figure eight.
While he was being moved to the safety of the infield, his team of horses ran a short way down the track before being safely stopped and taken back to the barns.
Motowylo was attended to in the infield while the race continued and was then loaded into an ambulance and taken to hospital.
Motowylo waved to the crowd as he was put in the ambulance.