James Murphy
A BUMPER crowd gathered at the Dartmoor Football Club on Saturday night for the 21st annual Chute Out Rodeo.
Bucking bulls, broncos and barrel racing provided a full night of action inside the arena, while a band kept spectators entertained late into the night.
The feature of these events is the Open bullride and the category was won by Lane Hanush Bowen on the night.
He was the only cowboy in a field of eight to last the eight seconds, scoring a 78 to take home the $2800 prizemoney.
The second division bullride boasted a record-breaking field for the Dartmoor event, with 33 cowboys testing their mettle.
Of those, only three went the distance with Gus Eckerman’s 74 points earning him the top prize.
Dylan Richardson scored 70 to finish second, while Layne Hetherton slotted into third with his 65-point ride.
Mount Gambier cowboy James Keatley was unable to hold on and his ride ended in the dirt.
The Open bronco events were dominated by Cody Tyrell.
In a tight finish, he claimed the win in the Open Saddlebronc event with his 78-point ride edging out Dean Oliver by a single point.
Brad Meagher was the only other cowboy to score, with his 75 points securing third place.
Tyrell also took out the Open bareback category.
Despite being the only entrant, he still had to last the eight seconds to take home the prize pool.
He did so with a 71-point ride, banking a total of $1780 across the two events.
Corbin Mundy was the best of the second division saddlebronc riders.
His 66-point ride was enough to account for Steve Mitchell, who posted a score of 60.
The women’s barrel race was fiercely contested with less than half a second separating the top four.
In the end it was Emma Hamblin who claimed first place with a time of 13.125 seconds, followed closely by Alanah Solinski, Sarah O’Keefe and Chris Woodall.
Mount Gambier’s Morgan McClean was unlucky to miss out on a winning time, after she knocked a barrel over during her run.
In the junior barrel race, Abbey Llewellyn put her body on the line to secure a winning time of 13.403 seconds, taking a tumble from her steed after its abrupt stop at the end of the run.
Stacey Edwards finished second with a time of 15.058, followed by Ebony Steele and Mia Ritchie.
The other junior event on offer was the bullride, with six youngsters taking on the challenge.
Unfortunately no rider was able to post a score, with the prize money distributed evenly between the football club, Ron Woodall and Rodeo Services Australia’s Col McTaggart.
Many competitors will now hit the road for this weekend’s Branxholme Rodeo.
