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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chuckwagon horse injured Saturday at Calgary Stampede races
A horse was injured Saturday night at the Calgary Stampede's Rangeland Derby chuckwagon races. No immediate report was available regarding the horse's condition, but it was loaded onto a trailer as announcer Les McIntyre told the crowd that the horse would get the best care and would hopefully be able to return to racing. The horse was part of the rig of Chad Fike, a fourth-generation driver who has been coming to the Stampede for more than 10 years. The Saturday night injury occurred in Heat 8 of the chuckwagon races. A time-delayed television broadcast of the race showed Fike's rig starting the race with two other competitors, but didn't make mention of why the race ended with only those two other competitors crossing the finish line. Later in the broadcast, it was announced Fike had received 'no time' in the race and had 'pulled up' in the back part of the track. Earlier this week, Fike talked to Postmedia Calgary about how important his horses are, saying he puts countless hours into their care. 'It's about a 16-hour day in the summer — getting up early, making sure they always have food in front of them, they're staying cool and hydrated,' said Fike. 'They are professional athletes, and they have to be treated like that.' The Calgary Stampede is known as a leader when it comes to rodeo and chuckwagon safety, and earlier this month held a news conference to share new research and safety protocols. Items are installed in barns including misters — to keep animals cool when the temperature rises — as well as a salt water spa to help reduce swelling of horses' joints and muscles. Importantly, the Stampede has a fitness-to-compete program, which makes sure that before any chuckwagon horses are put on the track they are in good shape. At the start of the day, veterinarians check every horse that will be used in the races, which includes a check of their temperature, heart rate and overall wellness. Vets do another check around 5 p.m. daily, before the horses get final clearance to race. 'Our goal is to create the very safest conditions possible,' Kristina Barnes, the Stampede's director of agriculture and western events, said shortly before this year's Stampede. The Stampede has a team of veterinarians on site 24 hours a day, as well as an animal behaviour specialist and a third-party auditor who works to identify improvements that can be made. 'If any animal at the rodeo is showing any signs of distress, it does not compete,' Barnes said. Beginning in April of each year, the Stampede's venue maintenance teams begin preparing the track and infield for the rodeo. The conditions of the track play a major role in the safety of rodeo events. 'About 1,800 hours have been put into this area to this point,' Barnes said in late June. 'They will continue to work moving up to Stampede, and they'll go overnight if they need to, to make sure the track conditions are safe.' Additionally, the Stampede's continued partnership with the University of Calgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is leading industry research on animal welfare and safety.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Chad Fike quick off the mark again in Rangeland Derby, credits 'beautiful' outfit of horses
It was déjà vu all over again for Chad Fike. Just like at last year's Calgary Stampede, Fike posted the fastest time on the opening night of the Rangeland Derby presented by Play Alberta. 'I don't know what it is about the first night here for us, but we've had good luck,' said Fike, who won the top day-money prize of $6,000 aboard his Steelhaus Tryton wagon. 'I think that's our third day money on the first night here, so I'm pretty happy.' Racing in Heat 8 off barrel No. 3, Fike knew he had to have a strong showing after watching Chanse Vigen set a quick standard of 1:12.25 aboard his rig two heats earlier. 'Vigen's always tough and there's a lot of beautiful outfits here,' said Fike, who traversed the GMC Stadium track in the night's quickest clocking of 1:11.73. 'This is not an easy thing to do to win the top time of the night because there's some amazing horses.' To start the 10-day show, Fike went with his lead team of Blacktop on the right and Blue on the left with Rider as his right wheeler and Bro on the left wheel. 'That outfit's been pretty beautiful for me all year,' said the 37-year-old reinsman from Cremona, Alta. 'They come in, they stand like soldiers. When the horn goes, they really start and make a nice smooth turn. And then if I don't outturn them guys, they can really run, too, so I'm just pretty blessed to own those four horses. 'They start, they turn and they run. You need to do all three things to be tough and they do it.' As for his outriders, Kale Lajeunesse rode Oscar on opening night, while Ryan McAleney galloped around the track behind Fike on Voodoo. In need of an outrider to work for him at the 2024 Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals in Ponoka, Alta., Fike persuaded McAleney to come out of retirement. 'At the finals last year, we were short of guys and I convinced him to come back and he caught the bug again,' said Fike, who used to outride with McAleney back in the day before switching to being a full-time driver. 'He used to drive chuckwagons on the Western Chuckwagon Association circuit until his dad (Bruce) passed away and then he was out of the sport and always wanted to get back into it.' Fike has confidence that he and his team can build upon their strong start to the Rangeland Derby. 'I've got really two solid outfits here,' said Fike, who's currently sitting in fourth spot in the World Professional Chuckwagon Association driver standings behind Rae Croteau Jr., Obrey Motowylo and Jamie Laboucane. 'All I've got to do is do my job and stay clean and they're going to do their job and run me tough in there. 'That's the name in the game at this one — just keep clean, because a lot of guys will stub their toe and, yeah, see where it shakes out.' Fike mixed things up for the second night of racing action on Saturday by going with his lead team of Mohawk and Cowboy followed by wheelers Rocco and Mud, while choosing to get Lajeunesse and McAleney to hop atop Launch and Knox, respectively. Whichever horses he decides to use, Fike knows that staying penalty-free will help him in his quest to finish as one of the three top drivers after nine nights of racing who will qualify to compete in the final heat on Championship Sunday on July 13. 'I'm always motivated coming into Stampede,' Fike said. 'I know we were tough all year. We had about at least two seconds in penalties every show but Ponoka and we're still sitting pretty high in the worlds, so it just goes to show how tough the horses are. I know if we stay clean, we'll be right there.' At the Ponoka Stampede, Fike finished second in the aggregate standings behind Vigen. Even though Fike won his semifinal heat last Monday night, that still didn't qualify him to compete in the $75,000 Tommy Dorchester Championship Final Heat on Canada Day. 'Usually at least one guy from each heat gets there, so I figured if I just won that race, I'd be in for sure, so I was pretty surprised,' said Fike who finished just 22/100ths of a second away from securing his berth in the final. Instead, all four drivers from the other semifinal — Vigen, Evan Salmond, Laboucane and Logan Gorst — qualified to compete in the event's dash for cash, which Gorst ultimately won. It's the first time since the Ponoka Stampede introduced the semifinal format in 2012 that all four wagons came out of the same semifinal heat. 'That's how she goes,' Fike said. 'There's no sense in getting upset about it. You just do all you can do.' Which is exactly what the two-time winner of the WPCA Most Improved Driver Award intends to do for the rest of his time in Calgary.
CTV News
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Chad Fike takes lead on opening night of 2025 Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby
Chad Fike of Cremona had the best time on opening night of the 2025 Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby. For the second straight year at the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races, Chad Fike was a frontrunner. Fike, from Cremona, Alberta, had the top time of the night, 1:11.73, besting Chanse Vigen by 52 one-hundredths of a second. Jamie Laboucaine was third, Preston Faithful fourth and defending champ Jason Glass rounded out the top five. Fike also took the top time on opening night of the 2024 event. The grandstand was full for opening night, and possibly included Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, who was spotted on the grounds earlier in the evening saying hello to Stampede goers, eating fudge, crawling into a tank and posing for selfies with opening night Stampede patrons. 'We gotta see some chuckwagons, huh,' Carney said as he strolled down the Midway with an entourage of security and cameras, sampling mini doughnuts and pretzels as he made his way to the grandstand stadium for the chuckwagon races. Prime Minister Mark Carney, centre, samples mini doughnuts as he walks through the Calgary Stampede grounds in Calgary, Alta., Friday, July 4, CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh Prime Minister Mark Carney, centre, samples mini doughnuts as he walks through the Calgary Stampede grounds in Calgary, Alta., Friday, July 4, CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh It was Carney's first visit to Stampede as the Canadian prime minister. Chuckwagon racing continues nightly throughout the Stampede, with the cumulative Top 3 after next Saturday's races advancing to the championship final of the 2025 Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby. Fike took home a winner's payout of $6,000 for having the best time, while Vigen won $5,200 and Laboucane $4,600. The Rangeland Derby is on nightly at 7:30 p.m. It airs on Sportsnet. With files from The Canadian Press
