Riding one bull in a competition is tough enough.
Having five rides in one night seems completely crazy to those that aren’t competing in the sport.
However, for DeWinton, Alta. native Brock Radford, it was all part of the job Wednesday night as he competed in the fourth annual Gold Eagle Casino Professional Bull Riders Classic at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
“I’ve done that once before and I wasn’t supposed to have that many rides tonight, but I ended up getting a re-ride in the long go round,” Radford said.
“That’s the way things go sometimes. There are a lot of points up for grabs at these events and when guys don’t show up it gives us another chance to get on a bull. It’s like doubling down in cards. You just give yourself a better chance of winning.”
The 22-year-old was able to use one of those extra opportunities to his advantage in the PBR Canadian Touring Pro event.
He had the best ride of the night by scoring 85.5 points after riding Big Shot for a full eight seconds in the long go round.
“He’s a bull that I’ve seen a lot as a number of my buddies have rode him,” Radford said. “I did my part when it came to going the distance and I was pretty lucky to have that being the high score.”
Radford had a chance to increase his score in the final ride of the short go round as he went on Minion Stuart, which he rode to 88 points at a PBR Canada event in London, Ont. last year.
This time around, he wasn’t quite as fortunate as he ended up getting bucked off.
“He kind of tricked me today a little bit,” Radford said.
“I think he’s thrown me to the dirt more times than I’ve rode him. He’s bucked me off three times and I’ve only rode him once, so I’ve got some catching up to do.”
As it turned out, Radford had already clinched the event title by the time he got on Minion Stuart, as eight of the nine riders that went ahead of him in the short go round were all bucked off.
“These short round bulls are the best in the world and North Battleford got to see bulls that will be in the World Finals or at the Calgary Stampede,” Radford said.
“Some days they get the best of us and there are times where the cowboys will feed off of each other and will all snap off a good ride.”
Tisdale’s Justin Lloyd had an 84-point ride on Booster Juice in the short go to finish third in the final standings.
The runner-up spot went to Coy Robbins of Bawlf, Alta., as he scored 84.5 points on Snake Eyes in the long go round.
