Edmonton calf roper Dublanko chasing big paycheque at Canadian Finals Rodeo
Dublanko makes it to second straight Canadian Finals
It was the end of July and calf roper Erik Dublanko, the only Edmonton cowboy to make the upcoming Nov. 7-11 Canadian Finals Rodeo, was running out of time and rodeos.
He had only won $ 4,000 and was mired in 35th place in the Canadian standings. Only the top 12 contestants in each of the major events — saddle bronc, bareback, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping and ladies barrel racers — make it in to the $1.4-million CFR at Rexall Place.
“I was very worried. I almost had the year wrote off,” said Dublanko. “Unless you have a heck of a year, you don’t really make any money during the regular season. It all gets eaten up in expenses travelling from one rodeo to the next. The Canadian Finals is where you get a chance to get out of the red and into the black.”
But then came August and Dublanko and his trusty 19-year-old roping horse Suzie got hotter than a branding iron when he won four rodeos.
It started at the Elks Rodeo in High Prairie the first weekend of August when he was eight seconds flat. Then he drove to the Mighty Fraser Rodeo in Abbotsford, B.C., where he was tops again with another eightsecond run. Two weeks later, Dublanko won both the Cranbrook, B.C., and Jasper Heritage rodeos — the latter with a clocking of 7.9-seconds, his fastest run of the year.
“I won about $8,000 in August and that moved me into 10th spot in the Canadian standings,” said Dublanko, who ended up getting the 12th and final spot in tie-down roping.
Now living 45 minutes from Rexall Place near Thorsby, Dublanko could finally exhale. While first place in each of the six go-rounds pays just over $11,000, it isn’t the money that drives cowboys like Dublanko.
“It’s the prestige,” he said. “If you win the Canadian title, it means you are the best roper in Canada. To me, that’s more important than the money.”
This is Dublanko’s second straight CFR appearance. But he’s hoping that this one goes better than last year.
“Last year wasn’t as successful as I was hoping,” said Dublanko, who never won a dime in any of the six go-rounds which comprise the CFR.
“This year I want to show that I deserve to be here. This is our Stanley Cup.
“This is where the best of the best in Canada compete.”
Not to mention, Dublanko said, the five American ropers that have made this year’s tie-down roping event.
“You’ve got guys like Clint Robinson, who was fifth in this year’s world standings; Shane Hanchey, who is eighth in the world and Clif Cooper, who finished 15th and got the final spot for the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. So not only do you have the best in Canada, you’ve got some of the best ropers in the world, too,” said the said the six-foot-three, 240-pound roper who became only the second Canadian to make the short round at the Cheyenne, Wyo., Frontier Days rodeo, where more than 250 ropers competed to make the 12-man final round.
Born in Edmonton and living so close to the city, Dublanko said he hopes there is a “home- field” advantage.
“I find that it helps that there are lots of people that I know that come to watch me. It feels advantageous to have that support in the building.” There’s also another factor. “If I need to practice or work on something, I can go home and practise a few mornings.”
To get to the Canadian Finals, Dublanko went to 43 Canadian rodeos. He figures he has put about 40,000 kilometres on his truck and four-horse trailer.
“There’s nothing that wears out a cowboy or his horse more than driving.”
The longest trip Dublanko had came on the Fourth of July weekend which cowboys refer to as Cowboy Christmas.
“It started out on June 29th when my travelling partner, Murray Pole, who also made the Canadian Finals, drove from Airdrie to Williams Lake, B.C. Then we turned around and drove all night to Ponoka. Then we got back in the truck and drove all night again to Red Lodge, Montana, then to Livingstone, Montana, and then to Cody, Wyoming.”
The next day they went to South Dakota for two rodeos and then back to Cody.
“We left South Dakota at 9 p.m. and got to Cody at 5 a.m. Then we went to Calgary.
“You get used to it pretty quick,” Dublanko said of all the driving, eating at fast-food restaurants and little sleep.
“When you got to get somewhere for another rodeo it keeps you awake. Once you get a little taste of it and you get a small taste of success it’s pretty hard to kick the habit. It never gets old because when they send you a cheque in the mail it feels good and you just keep going. If it gets old, I have to get a real job and I’m not ready for that.”