Luke Mackey made the most of the saying, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’ Read More
Colorado kid gets a couple of re-rides to pocket the entire Day 8 purse in the high-profile event at the Calgary Stampede.
Colorado kid gets a couple of re-rides to pocket the entire Day 8 purse in the high-profile event at the Calgary Stampede.
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Luke Mackey made the most of the saying, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’
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Only in his case Friday at the Calgary Stampede rodeo, it was, ‘Re-ride, re-ride again.’
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And hot damn, did it ever pay off for the Colorado bull rider.
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As in a payday of $23,250 for being the only cowboy to complete the requisite eight-second ride on the day’s pen of bulls.
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“After bucking off the two first ones, I was thinking third time’s gotta be a charm,” said an awestruck Mackey, a Stampede rookie.
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“It happened.”
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Indeed, the young American — just 19 — originally got on feisty bull Karaoke Night but was bucked off, just like the other nine riders in the event.
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But a re-ride put Mackey on Backhand for another shot at the entire purse.
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That trip didn’t go well either, with the bull going down to the ground, prompting another re-ride.
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And Mackey finally found a suitable dance partner in Tactical Error, as the cowboy skilfully manoeuvred his way to a full ride — and a sensational one at that.
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“Everyone told me he’s a really good one, and he was really good,” explained Mackey. “He started jumping really high in the air, and everyone liked it. I heard about six or seven seconds in everyone really liking it when he started getting really high, so I knew he was bucking pretty good.
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“He was probably the rank one of all three bulls, but I was warmed up for him on those first two,” continued Mackey. So it was really good I got to get on the third one.
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“I didn’t even know I won that ($23,000), but now that you’re telling me, that helps out a lot.”
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Mackey’s 89.5 points was the Stampede’s second-best bull riding score of the week only to Grady Young’s 91 on Monday. Young, of Leader, Sask., is just 19, too.
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And also 19, Wade Tuni — Mackey’s travelling partner — nearly pulled off a money ride Friday but was agonizingly bucked off Little Evil Jacket at the 7.99-second mark.
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“We’ll be definitely be talking about it, but I bet it’s definitely pumped I got it since he came up a little short,” added Mackey. “He’ll be back.”
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“Me and (Wade) have been chasing the dream together, and it’s pretty cool that I won a round.
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“Having a lot of fun out here.”
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