Big Valley Saddlebronc rider Zeke Thurston literally had the spoils of victory in his hand, before there was a slight recalculation.
Thurston led the way through Pool A at the Calgary Stampede Rodeo, looking for his fourth title, having claimed a three-peat in 2015 through 2017. On his heels was Kade Bruno of Idaho qualified second from Pool C.
On Sunday, July 14 Thurston scored a 91 on Erotic Tango, and Bruno scored an 88 on Business Girl. with three points dividing the two.
In the showdown round, each scored a 92. In the final ride, Thurston scored a 90.5 on Yesterday’s Delivery and Bruno scored a 92 on Mary Lou. It appeared Bruno had won, the crowd was informed that Bruno would be docked two points and Thurston was declared the winner.
Thurston accepted the $50,000 prize for his ride, but that wasn’t the end of it. Bruno was then informed he had, in fact, won.
According to Stampede president and chief executive officer Joel Cowley, the error was quickly detected and then corrected, stated a Canada Press report.
"So, we unfortunately had a recording error in the short-go," Cowley said. "Apparently there was some confusion. Zeke was unfortunately named the winner, but we backed up and did it right and gave Kade his proper recognition."
Had Thurston won, not only would he have won his fourth, but he also would have been the only Canadian to win at this year’s Stampede.
