Rider credits `once-in-a-lifetime horse' for barrel-racing success
Shelby Spielman kicked off Day 6 of the Calgary Stampede rodeo with the fastest time in the barrel-racing competition.
She sped around the cloverleaf course in a blazing time of 17.42 seconds to set the standard for the day.
“I never really think about it,” said Spielman, of Dalhart, Texas, of whether she goes first, in the middle of the pack, or last. “I just try and go make a good clean run every time and let my run fall where it's going to. I like whenever it stays at the top.”
Which is exactly what happened on Wednesday as she earned $5,500 to go with the $4,500 she and her 14-year-old mare Hot Donna earned 24 hours earlier.
“She's been a once-in-a-lifetime horse,” said Spielman, who celebrated her 24th birthday July 4.
Prior to the start Pool B action at the Stampede, Spielman had a second-place showing in Bonnyville, Alta., before finishing out of the money in Teepee Creek, Alta.
“I was definitely ready to get in front of a loud crowd and a bigger atmosphere where it kind of gets your nerves going and gets your horse pumped up,” said Spielman, who's well on her way to improving her showing from 2019 in Calgary when she finished fifth in her pool before failing to advance out of the wild card.
Stacey Ruzicka of Viking, Alta., placed second on Wednesday with a time of 17.63, while Brittney Barnett of Stephenville, Texas, and Lindsay Kruse of Fromberg, Mont., finished in a tie for third at 17.67s.
Spielman leads the overall standings with $10,000 in earnings, while Kruse ($8,500), Ruzicka ($8,000) and Jennifer Sharp ($4,000) round out the top four.
TIE-DOWN ROPING
A double-double from Tim Hortons proved to be all the fuel Justin Smith needed to earn his first cheque in tie-down roping.
Smith, 23, who hails from Leesville, La., is enjoying his first visit to Calgary to compete at the Stampede and he took some advice from fellow competitor Ben Robinson, of Red Deer County, Alta.
“He told me I had to get two creams, two sugars (in his coffee) because that's the Canadian way,” he said.
The advice paid off as Smith posted Wednesday's fastest time of 6.9 seconds to earn $5,500.
“I think honestly, my nerves settled a little bit. I didn't really know what to expect. It didn't go good yesterday, but I was able to come back and have more of a game plan prepared today.”
Shad Mayfield, of Clovis, N.M., stopped the clock at 7.2 to finish second on Wednesday, while Erik Dublanko of Thorsby, Alta., and
Haven Meged of Miles City, Mont., tied for third at 7.4s.
Dublanko leads the aggregate standings with $8,500 in earnings, followed by Smith ($5,500), Morgan Grant ($5,000) and Mayfield ($4,500).
BULL RIDING
Josh Frost is fit to be tied.
For the second straight day, he finished in a tie for top spot in the bull-riding competition.
On Wednesday, Frost had an 85.5-ride atop Diamond Black before Lonnie West posted the same score aboard Sky Fall.
Thanks to back-to-back paydays of $5,000, Frost, of Randlett, Utah, leads the aggregate standings.
Mexico's Edgar Durazo posted a score of 85 on Night Shift to finish in third and boost his earnings to $6,000.
That puts Durazo in a tie with Jordan Hansen, of Okotoks, Alta., for third place overall.
Hansen thrilled the audience
with an 83.5-point performance atop Waters Edge to finish in fourth.
BAREBACK
Two days, two impressive rides for Jesse Pope.
The 22-year-old bareback rider from Waverly, Kan., followed up his 89.5-ride on Tuesday with a 90-point performance atop Snap Chat.
Like he did on Tuesday, Pope will now have to wait for a fellow competitor to have a re-ride a day later to determine if he'll hang onto his top placing.
Wednesday's bareback event started off with a re-ride from Taylor Broussard (from the day before). Once Broussard was bucked off Arcadic Joke, Pope officially earned $5,500 for winning Tuesday's go-round.
Confused? Just wait.
After Pope started things off with his impressive ride on Snap Chat on Wednesday, his fellow competitors didn't fare so well as three more re-rides were awarded.
Orin Larsen, of Inglis, Man., used that second chance to his advantage as he scored 89.5 points aboard Fired Up to put him in second spot.
Ky Marshall, of Bowden, Alta., had a pair of re-rides and scored 80.5 points atop Alert Warrior on his third performance to leave him in fourth.
Mike Fred, of Hoyt, Kan., will now have to wait until Thursday for his re-ride before the standings of the second go-round of Pool B can be finalized.
SADDLE BRONC
Once again, re-riders were the order of the day in saddle bronc.
Allen Boore, of Axtell, Utah, had Wednesday's top successful ride of 88 points on Burban, while Shorty Garrett, of Eagle Butte, S.D., had an 85.5-point performance atop Zelda's Whitney.
They'll have to wait for three re-rides by Ben Anderson, Wyatt Casper and Chet Johnson — which were delayed until Thursday afternoon — to find out if their scores will hold up for first- and second-place showings respectively.