ROPER GETS STRONG START AT CAMROSE SPRING CLASSIC PRO RODEO
March 22 , 2010

Randy Smith and his bay gelding July may have taken the winter off from rodeoing, but that didn’t slow them down at the Camrose Spring Classic Pro Rodeo this past weekend.

The cowboy from Pincher Creek, Alta. placed first in the tie down roping with a 9.4-second run at the three-day rodeo at the Camrose Regional Exhibition Grounds in Camrose, Alta.

“I did nothing out of the ordinary, just tried to get a good start and be aggressive on the calf and it seemed to work out good,” Smith says, adding, “I got lucky. He seemed to take the tie pretty good and it worked out.”

Luck didn’t have everything to do with it, though, as Smith himself gives plenty of credit to his 11-year-old roping partner, July.

“He was very important. I rely pretty heavily on him. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my horse.”

The pair earned $1,406 for the win, and if you add that to the second place winnings he picked up in Saskatoon last October – the last rodeo he went to and the first official event of the 2010 season – he agrees he’s set a pretty good tone for his season.

“It mean quite a bit, getting off to a good start. I’m kind of just getting going myself. I never went to nothing this winter, so it feels pretty good,” Smith smiles. “There’s lots of rodeos left, so it’s hard to tell how it’s going to go, but it looks optimistic.”

In the other timed events, Lane Boisjoli’s 3.9-second time in the steer wrestling added $1,989 to that High River, Alta. cowboy’s payroll. In the barrel racing, Lauren Chad of Calgary, Alta. had a run of 13.64, which narrowly beat out 2009 rookie of the year Adel Hansen by 1/10th of a second. Chad placed first and won $1,650. The team roping pair of Matt Fawcett and Dale Skodopole caught their steer in 4.7 seconds. They earned $2,345.

Clem Lowry of Perryvale, Alta. placed first in the saddle bronc riding with an 80.5 on Outlawbuckers’ Ols Tubs She Devil. Lowry, who many might recognize from the bull riding standings in previous years, earned $1,333. Crooked Creek, Alta.’s Dusty LaValley picked up $1,142 in the bareback, after his 83-point ride on Dust Bunny, while bull rider Aaron Gibb placed first in that event. The Duchess, Alta. cowboy rode Jack’T Up for 85 worth $1,435.

Austin Nash had the best score of the bunch in the steer riding, hanging on for 83 points and a cheque worth $349.