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Dakota Buttar wins Red Deer Classic

Red Deer's Ashton Sahli finished fifth
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Dakota Buttar, of Eatonia, Sask., won the PBR's Red Deer Classic on Saturday, Feb. 1 at the Peavey Mart Centrium. (Photo via Covy Moore/CovyMoore.com)

Dakota Buttar won the first event of the 2025 Professional Bull Riders Canada Cup Series in front of a sold-out crowd in Red Deer this past weekend.

The Eatonia, Sask. native went a perfect two-for-two to win the Red Deer Classic at the Peavey Mart Centrium on Saturday, Feb. 1. With the win, Buttar earned 126 national points to overtake the No. 1 rank in the 2025 PBR Canada Championship, as well as an accompanying $100,000 bonus.

Buttar is now No. 1 in the Canadian standings, sitting 43 points ahead of No. 2 Jordan Hansen, of Amisk, Alta. Hansen was the only other rider to be a flawless two-for-two in Red Deer, collecting 83 national points with his second-place finish.

A two-time PBR Canada Champion, Buttar is seeking history this season. Should he win the 2025 PBR Canada Championship, he would tie Aaron Roy for most national titles won by one rider with three.

Riding outside of his home nation of Brazil for the first time, Jerson Arantes dos Santos excelled on Canadian soil, logging a third-place finish at the PBR Red Deer Classic. Garrett Green, of Meeting Creek, Alta. finished fourth in Red Deer. 

Red Deer's Ashton Sahli rounded out the Top 5. The hometown cowboy earned 33 national points for his 85-point ride in Round 1. Marking his 2025 season debut in Canada, Sahli is now ranked No. 11 in the national standings, 93 points behind top-ranked Buttar.

In the bull pen, 2024 PBR Canada Bull of the Year Grand Funk (Kinky Buckers) and Moonwalk bucked a cut above the rest, crowned the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bulls of the Event for their 43.5-point bull scores in the championship round.

Grand Funk earned the marks for his 6.18 seconds of work against two-time and reigning PBR Canada Champion Nick Tetz (Calgary), while Moonwalk lit up the scoreboard when he upended Round 1 winner Santos.

The 2025 PBR Canada Sup Series will next travel to Lethbridge for the PBR South Country Co-op Showdown on Feb. 28 and March 1.



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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