Barrel Racing Times Strong Despite Adverse Weather at Stampede

Barrel Racing Times Strong Despite Adverse Weather at Calgary Stampede

Pool B action began today at the 2010 Calgary Stampede. And, despite rather challenging weather conditions, barrel racers rose to the occasion with Lethbridge, Alberta’s Rana (Walter) Koopmans winning the round with a 17.64 second run. 2009 NFR qualifier, Sue Smith rode her Dash Ta Fame gelding, “Claimer” to second place money (17.74) with five time Canadian Champion Deb Renger (who was on the top of the ground) third with a 17.82 second run. All pretty respectable times considering the Stampede has seen two plus inches of rain in the last couple of days.

Pool A action which began last Friday, July 9 with sunshine, warm weather and great ground conditions, wrapped up yesterday. The first set of barrel racing contestants contended with moisture too, as a strong weather front arrived just after the rodeo started July 12… dumping significant moisture on the infield at the start of Monday’s rodeo. Ironically enough, the ground held up very well despite the rain… a tip of the hat to Stampede officials for working to create positive ground conditions for the breadth of infield events held during the ten day event. At the end of Pool A, the top four barrel racers (who earned spots in Sunday’s Showdown Round July 18) were Brittany Pozzi, Jill Moody, Lindsay Sears and Lisa Lockhart.

Pool B contestants return for three more performances… hopefully under drier conditions. For the 12 contestants in each major event who don’t earn a buy into Sunday’s Showdown round by virtue of their regular performance results, “Wild Card Saturday” (July 17) offers one more opportunity for them to secure one of two additional spots on Sunday’s roster.

Tune in later this week for further Calgary Stampede barrel racing highlights.