Shorty is standing tall in his first Calgary Stampede.
Deb Renger from Gladys Ridge and her horse Shorty have advanced to the ladies barrel racing’s $100,000 Showdown Sunday on July 17 by winning two of the first three performances in Pool A at the Calgary Stampede last week.
Renger had the fastest time on both Saturday and Sunday with times of 17.81 seconds and 17.83 respectively.
Renger finished third on Monday at 18.29 seconds clinching a spot in the top four in her pool.
After four days of racing Renger finished second in Pool A with $14,500 earning her a berth in Sunday’s Showdown. She finished behind Joleen Seitz who earned $16,500.
Shorty has earned a rest and it could be critical as the horse took some days off due to soreness before the Stampede.
“Usually when I turn this horse out in the pen, he just takes off running really fast,” Renger said on Sunday. “I told Gord (her husband) this morning ‘Finally yesterday and today he is back to running and taking off.’”
Shorty got off to an almost too fast start on Sunday. He came barreling down the alley before the gate was open to start their run.
“Thank God it was still closed,” said Renger, the 2004 Calgary Stampede champion.
Although Renger looked comfortable, she wasn’t taking anything for granted on her final run.
“It’s never over until it’s over,” Renger said.
Barrel racer Lauren Byrne, who moved to Okotoks last year, will be in the Wild Card Saturday despite a great result on her final run on Monday.
“I am having a rough go,” Byrne said after toppling a barrel on Sunday. “I’m riding a new horse this year, but he (Augustus) isn’t running as well as I wanted. So I am switching to my old horse, Macho, who I made the Canadian finals on… I need a big win tomorrow.”
Macho and Byrne finished second to Seitz on Monday to collect $3,500. Her $6,000 in total was good for sixth place in Pool A. Lindsay Sears of Nanton grabbed the fourth and final spot for Showdown Sunday from Pool A by winning $10,000.
Steered correctly
Good things happen to those who wait, even if you are trying to get your work done in less than four seconds.
Black Diamond steer wrestler Lee Graves advanced to the Showdown Sunday on July 17 when he won on Monday when he pinned his steer in 3.8 seconds to finish in fourth place in Pool A.
He was in eighth place going into Monday.
“The draw dictates a lot of your run and I had finally a good steer today,” Graves said. “Then it was up to me to perform to my level... I still had to do my job.”
Graves was diving into mud on Monday’s go-round.
“It was muddy and sloppy and I was the first to go,” Graves said. “I wanted to have a good run and then see how the chips would fall.
I was lucky enough to win the pool.”
Graves won $8,000 in four days to finish fourth.
Luck of the draw
A DeWinton bareback rider likes to stay positive. As far as he is concerned, he rode well, he has just been matched up with the wrong horses during the first three days of Stampede.
Davey Shields Jr. finished out of the money with a ninth place finish when he rode Dear Abbey to a 77 on Sunday.
“I had him before and I knew what to expect from him,” Shields said. “He is hard to get a good score on. Hopefully, I can get a horse I can score on (Monday)… That has been kind of my week. I haven’t been drawing the right horse.”
Shields Jr. stayed on all three of his horses the first three days of the Stampede. However, the four-time Calgary Stampede champion has only won $2,000 after splitting fourth and fifth place money on Saturday by riding Hombre to an 83.
Shields scored an 82 on Monday to finish in sixth in the go-round. He was ninth in the Pool A standings.
The Calgary Stampede tournament has the top four money winners from Pool A (July 8-11) advancing to the Showdown Sunday. They will be joined by the top four from Pool B (July 12-15).
The remaining six athletes in each pool will compete in the Saturday Wildcard. From that competition, two will advance to the Showdown. Foothills athletes competing in Pool B are: Tyler Thomson from Black Diamond in bull riding and DeWinton’s Sierra Stoney in the barrel racing. The rodeo starts at 1:30 p.m. in Calgary. To follow the action go to www.calgarystampede.com
