Glass shines at Strathmore Stampede

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

For the second year in a row, Jason Glass and his infamous checkerboard chuckwagon have won the Strathmore Stampede July 31 to Aug. 3.
Glass, along with outriders Chad Cosgrave and Chanse Vigen, posted an aggregate time of 4.59.79 to claim the championship
“It was great,” said Glass. “It was an up-and-down summer for us. The horses have been strong and running really well all summer, but they deserve it.”
It was that time of year where the stock was getting thin and Glass had to dig deep into the barn to find the right combination with the horses that were available to him.
“It’s near the end of the year and I went through the whole barn,” said Glass. “I think there was one horse out of 23 that have never gone this weekend and that’s two horses who’ve never been in a wagon race.”
Glass could not praise the committee any more for a job well done on the track.
“Everybody put so much work in the sport that anytime you can win one of these events, it always feels so good,” said Glass. “It was a great weekend. The committee did a great job on the race track, it was in real nice shape, the stands were full every night, the crowd saw great wagon races every night.”
Strathmore and District Agricultural Society director Pascal Del Guercio could not have asked for a better outcome from a fan favourite rider.
“When you see him come across a finish line, the crowd is excited and what more could we offer to the crowd?” asked Del Guercio.
He was pleased with not only the competitiveness of the races, but the close ones they had encountered, which was contributed to the grounds being in tip-top shape.
“We’ve had four wagons straight across the finish line in a dozen heats in the last two days,” said Del Guercio. “That tells us the ground is good. The guys are racing competitive and the fans love it when there’s a real close race.”