Cosgrave photo courtesy Shellie Scott Photography
Hand Hills chuckwagon driver Colt Cosgrave is set to head off to the 78th Annual Ponoka Stampede.
The chuckwagon championship runs June 26 to July 1 at the Ponoka Stampede, where the top eight chuckwagons qualifying after the first four days of racing move on to the semi-final round, and the top four times from the semi-final round compete in the Tommy Dorchester $50,000 Winner-Take-All Championship final heat to try and win the Ponoka Stampede Championship.
Cosgrave was scheduled to race during Guy Weadick Days in High River, but the event was postponed from June 19 - 22 to July 17 - 20.
Before that, Cosgrave was competing in Grande Prairie, where he figures he came out 13th.
After that, he was off to Saskatoon, where he had a bit of a tough time.
“Just took a barrel. I think we were bottom ten there - nothing went right,” he said.
That race aside, Cosgrave, who has been racing chuckwagons professionally for 18 years now, said the season is shaping up, including the latest equine additions to the team.
“(It) Looks good. There are a lot of new horses that are really coming around, so we should do all right," he said.
In the last three years, Cosgrave estimates they’ve brought in 30 new head, including a bunch of new horses this year.
After the Ponoka Stampede, it’s off to the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” to race in the GMC Rangeland Derby at the Calgary Stampede, July 4 to 13, where 36 chuckwagon drivers qualified to race this year.
During the 2013 Rangeland Derby, Cosgrave placed in the top ten three times.
High River Autoplex and RV purchased the Cosgrave canvas for the Calgary Stampede for $100,000, and also won the bid for the Ponoka Stampede for $18,000.
“I know a lot of guys have a different one every show,” said Cosgrave, “but he’s been with me for 13 years now.”
Cosgrave said other than the ten days spent at the Calgary Stampede, he’ll be racing in a different show every week. He said it’s about ten years now that he’s competed at the Calgary Stampede.
