Bull rider Durazo makes short commute to pick up rodeo winnings

By Laurence Heinen Times Contributor

Edgar Durazo didn’t mind having to wait a day to be crowned champion of the bull-riding competition at the 2021 Strathmore Stampede rodeo.

After all he lives close by, so the commute from the community of Speargrass just 15 minutes south of Strathmore, wasn’t a big deal for Durazo, his wife Karly and their six-month-old son Edgar.

“Definitely I’ll be here,” said Durazo on Sunday after earning 87.5 points from the judges following a successful eight-second ride atop Sky Fall. “I’ll be glad to come and hang out. It’ll be a good time.”

And it definitely was for the 29-year-old bull rider, whose score stood up to earn him top spot and a cheque for $5662.56.

“It feels good,” said Durazo in regards to his impressive showing aboard Sky Fall. “I saw him a few times before, but this is the first time I’ve been on him. It was a battle. It was a really good bull, strong.

“It feels great definitely, no doubt about it.”

Originally from Moctezuma, Sonora, Mexico, Durazo now makes his home in the community surrounding Speargrass Golf Course.

“I live here and I rodeo out of here in Canada and the U.S., but this is my base,” said Durazo, who works at a feedlot in Mossleigh where he also trains horses. “I ride bulls in the rodeo, but I train horses. I start colts, young ones. I keep all my horses there (in Mossleigh) and I work them.”

While Durazo was a first time champion in Strathmore, Clint Laye earned his second straight title in the bareback competition thanks to an 85-point ride aboard Actually Gorgeous on Monday.

“It was awesome to win this rodeo in 2019,” recalled Laye, of Cadogan, Alta., whose repeat performance earned him a payday of $5,143.68. “After everything that everybody’s been through and to come back, honestly it means so much more today. 

“I appreciate everything and the hard work that this committee did to pull this together so we could do this.”

Eric Dublanko is also no stranger to taking home big cheques from Strathmore. The tie-down roper from Thorsby, Alta., followed up his Stampede title from 2015 with another one this year.

“It’s a blast just to be out in front of all these people in a post-COVID era that we hope keeps sticking on,” said Dublanko, who tied his calf in a time of 8.7 seconds to narrowly edge out Clayton Smith and Shane Smith (who both had times of 8.8) for top spot. “This is a huge step to making the Canadian finals and a huge step to next year, so it’s awesome. I’m excited.”

For his efforts, Dublanko took home $5668.20, while the Smiths (no relation to each other) won $4880.95 each.

“I think I’ve won a cheque every year,” Dublanko said. “With this money, I think I’ve won over $30,000 at this rodeo. 

“Maybe they’ll give me a key to the city one day. We’ll be back as long as they keep taking me.”

Unlike Laye and Dublanko, saddle-bronc rider Logan Hay had yet to find success in Strathmore until Monday when his wild 87.25-point ride aboard Little Sister earned him top spot and a cheque for $5730.24.

“I’d never done any good here until this year,” said Hay, whose younger brother Dawson won the saddle-bronc title in Strathmore two years earlier. “I hadn’t been on that horse. He’s just a young one, so that’s just the second time he’s been to a rodeo. I seen a couple videos of him. He’s just really nice in the videos, so I was pretty excited. 

“When you’re getting on colts, you never know what they’re going to do. I was happy with him. He was really nice and it worked out.”

Although she was one of the youngest competitors at the rodeo, 14-year-old Aubrey Ross didn’t let that stop her as she posted a quick time of 2.96 seconds on Monday to win the ladies breakaway roping title.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said Ross, of Botha, Alta., while noting she’ll most likely put the $1160.12 in prize money she won towards entry fees at other rodeos. “I’ve been here in amateur rodeos, but this is my first time being here for a pro rodeo.”

In ladies barrel racing, Bradi Whiteside’s time of 17.76 seconds that she posted on Friday morning held up as the top clocking to earn her a cheque for $6,847.90.

In steer wrestling, Justin Miller stopped the clock in 4.0 seconds on Saturday, but he had to wait more than two days to find out that his quick time stood up to earn him $5,625.90 for finishing first.

Team ropers and brothers Grady and Quentin Branden set the time to beat of 4.9 seconds on Saturday and it held up to earn them a payday of $3,214.80 each. 

Also on Saturday, Cruz McNulty had a 74-point ride atop Dirty Money and that score stood up to earn him first place in the novice bareback event to go with an extra $1,179.52 in his bank account.

Jhett Wheeler posted a score of 69.75 points to win the boys steer-riding competition and a payday of $1,272.64, while there were no qualified rides in the novice saddle-bronc event.