Paint your wagons
Sports
Posted By Mark Melnychuk
Posted 1 month ago
Meadow Lake's own cowboy, Gary Gorst, came away with an impressive win at the Canadian Professional Chuck Wagon races held last weekend at the city's stampede grounds.
Gorst finished first out of 30 other drivers with a three day aggregate time of 3:12:06. He was followed by Layne Bremner and Vern Nolin. The local driver currently sits at the top of the CPCA's standings with a score of 524 points, with Roger Moore coming after him at 469.5.
The three day event saw some stellar runs and a new track record by Ray Mitsuing, who achieved a time of 101:13, putting him in first place for the second day of racing.
However, a record breaking run wasn't what made the difference in Meadow Lake. Instead, it was an overall clean and controlled performance by Gary Gorst, who was able to capitalize on the mistakes of other drivers.
"What lost it for the other guys is they took penalties," said Bryan Hebson, marketing manager and broadcast commentator for the CPCA.
Infractions such as knocking over barrels (adding 5 seconds to a driver's time), were enough to topple Ray Mitsuing's day two lead, and help Gorst ascend from fourth to first place on the last day of racing.
Although he had to replace his right lead horse after the second day, Gorst thought his horses performed well on a track he was worried about.
Meadow Lake's dirt track had just been resurfaced, and not every horse was able to get a good foothold on the fresh sand.
Winning the event was also a personal triumph for Gorst, who was happy to claim victory once again in the city where he used to dream of racing professionally.
"You walk down the street and everybody can tell you what day you run and what day you race, so that's a nice thing," said Gorst.
In a Saskatchewan summer filled with extreme rainfall, some CPCA races such as the season opener in North Battleford were completely washed out. Meadow Lake on the other hand was treated well weather-wise, aside from a thunderstorm on Saturday night.
"We're more than satisfied as a host committee," said Lion's Club member Bill McDougal.
The club was tasked with organizing the event which saw an average of 2,000 people attend over the course of the weekend.
In addition to the province's fickle weather, planners had some concern over the midway amusement rides taking up too much parking space and visitor dollars.
In the end, McDougal says the two attractions were able to coexist.
The CPCA's next race will be held in North Battleford.
Topic guidelines: We welcome your thoughts, stories and information related to this article.
Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers.
