Jacob Gardner put up the ride of his life at the third performance of the Ponoka Stampede.
Gardner, from Dawson Creek, B.C. put up a monster score of 88.75 on the back of Vold’s Rodeo Devour in the bull riding to take over top spot on day 3.
Nick Tetz of Calgary is now second best on the week after he cashed in an 86.25-point ride on Baja Midnight.
In the Bareback, Jesse Pope had the top score of the day with an 84.50-point ride on Sheer Ice. It was one of only two qualified rides on Thursday. Bowden’s Ky Marshall rode Sweet Nothing to an 84.25 and sits eighth. Spur Lacasse still leads with an 88.25 on Wednesday.
Texas cowgirl Stevi Hillman had the best barrel racing time on Thursday. She finished in 17.848 and fourth overall. Hailey Kinsel still holds down top spot with a 17.511 on Tuesday. Ponoka’s Shayna Weir had a solid ride Thursday, finishing in 18.149 and sits in 11th place.
Lane Cust had one of four qualified saddle bronc ride on Day 3. He put up an 83.00-point ride on Pedro and sits ninth. Chase Brooks still leads the way with an 86.50-point ride from Tuesday.
Ponoka’s Ben Ramey shot up the leaderboard with his showing in steer wrestling on Thursday. He sits fourth overall with an average of 15.4. Hunter Cure still leads the way with a 13.0-second average.
Shane Hanchey is the new leader in tie-down roping after the third performance. He’s in at 17.9 seconds, the only cowboy under 18 seconds in the aggregate so far this week. Red Deer County’s Virgil Poffenroth is 10th on the aggregate with a 21.2.
Tyce and Tuftin Mcleod leaped into contention in team roping on Thursday. Their 14.4 is third best on the week. Brett Buss and Klay Whyte of Ponoka are still in the top 10, holding down sixth place with a 20.0-second average.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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