Riding one bull in a competition is tough enough.
Having five rides in one night seems completely crazy to those that aren鈥檛 competing in the sport.
However, for DeWinton, Alta. native Brock Radford, it was all part of the job Wednesday night as he competed in the fourth annual Gold Eagle Casino Professional Bull Riders Classic at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
鈥淚鈥檝e done that once before and I wasn鈥檛 supposed to have that many rides tonight, but I ended up getting a re-ride in the long go round,鈥� Radford said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the way things go sometimes. There are a lot of points up for grabs at these events and when guys don鈥檛 show up it gives us another chance to get on a bull. It鈥檚 like doubling down in cards. You just give yourself a better chance of winning.鈥�
The 22-year-old was able to use one of those extra opportunities to his advantage in the PBR Canadian Touring Pro event.
He had the best ride of the night by scoring 85.5 points after riding Big Shot for a full eight seconds in the long go round.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a bull that I鈥檝e seen a lot as a number of my buddies have rode him,鈥� Radford said. 鈥淚 did my part when it came to going the distance and I was pretty lucky to have that being the high score.鈥�
Radford had a chance to increase his score in the final ride of the short go round as he went on Minion Stuart, which he rode to 88 points at a PBR Canada event in London, Ont. last year.
This time around, he wasn鈥檛 quite as fortunate as he ended up getting bucked off.
鈥淗e kind of tricked me today a little bit,鈥� Radford said.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 thrown me to the dirt more times than I鈥檝e rode him. He鈥檚 bucked me off three times and I鈥檝e only rode him once, so I鈥檝e got some catching up to do.鈥�
As it turned out, Radford had already clinched the event title by the time he got on Minion Stuart, as eight of the nine riders that went ahead of him in the short go round were all bucked off.
鈥淭hese short round bulls are the best in the world and North Battleford got to see bulls that will be in the World Finals or at the Calgary Stampede,鈥� Radford said.
鈥淪ome days they get the best of us and there are times where the cowboys will feed off of each other and will all snap off a good ride.鈥�
Tisdale鈥檚 Justin Lloyd had an 84-point ride on Booster Juice in the short go to finish third in the final standings.
The runner-up spot went to Coy Robbins of Bawlf, Alta., as he scored 84.5 points on Snake Eyes in the long go round.
