Well, its good to be back at the Stampede for another year.  This will be my 18th Stampede as a competitor and the butterflies never leave.  I have some strong contenders this week, most notably Rae Croteau, Luke Tournier, and Neal Walgenbach.  Hopefully we can get a little luck.  Last night went pretty good, the track was suprisingly good considering the downpour we got at about 6:30.  Buddy Bensmiller flew last night, and there are a lot of good outfits here.  I think this will be one of the most competitive Stampede’s in a while.  I guess time will tell.  Enjoy the week.

One Day of the greatest ten days of my life is over.  For outrider there is no bigger stage.  The excitement of the crowd, gives me chiles down my spine.  Yesterday morning I woke up at five thirty, just excited about the day.

My night of outriding went really good.  I went through the night penalty free, I was getting on good and every thing seemed to go pretty smooth.  Last night they redrew the heats and barrels, so all of the outriders where running around hoping to get hired for the next four nights.  It seemed like it was a bad draw for me because I lost Rick F., Neal W., and Mike V..  But I was lucky enough to pick up Sean D., Tim H. and Grant P..  So for the next four nights I will be riding all nine heats.

I would like to say good job to the race track crew for doing great work on the the race track.  The races where fair and exciting.     

Dustin Gorst

What would summer be without the big Mardi Gras we call the Calgary Stampede. 

Starting off in the parade this morning, I must have waved to 10,000 people (thanks for waving back).  I guess everyone else in Calgary was ready to start this show off right too.  The parade was great, just a nice overcast so it didn’t get too hot.  I saw loads of people funneling down to the grounds to hit the midway and everyone seemed to be loving the beautiful weather.  The rodeo sounded good, we never went over but I could here the crowd from the barns.  There was a beautiful BBQ back at the barns with my Friends of SAIT chuckwagon sponsors and then it hit.  Welcome to Calgary in July, a 15 minute flash flood.  Right before the races, must have been an inch and a half of rain.  Soon the wind blew and the sun came back out, craziest thing you ever seen.  That is unless you have spent the month of July in Calgary, then it was just another flash flood rainstorm during the Stampede.

 There is nothing more exciting that the first day of the Rangeland Derby.  Every driver, outrider and barn crew member  have dreamed  a hundred times over about winning this years derby.  Every race day and training day before this has been a build up of today.  But the most important thing to remember is that the stampede is not a stampede is not a sprint it is a marathon.  No matter what happens today there is still nine more days of racing. 

As for the Gorst barn, the horses are feeling good and the hopes are high.  We feel with a little luck that we can have a real good showing.  Dad ( Gary Gorst ) has two real nice lead teams and three bone headed pole horses that don’t know the meaning of whoa.  The outriding horses are a little soar but i think we should be alright.  The main thing for us is to stay focused, what ever happens just take it in stride and act nothing bothers us.

Tonight I will be riding all nine heats. I have worked hard all winter to be in top shape this year and i think i am ready for this years derby.  The season this far has gone really good, i have three show championships under my belt this year.  But there is not much i can do but do my best to help the driver and stay penalty free!

Good Luck to all the participants at this years Calgary Stampede.  

After months of preparation, thousands of dollars, a dozen hired hands, five separate race meets and one burning desire that only seems to get stronger as the days pass, here we go again.

The Calgary Stampede is just around the corner and we are coming to town.  It has always been an exciting time for me, this time of year.  Even when I was not driving or outriding, I loved coming into Calgary and turning into the Stampede grounds for the first time of the year.  There is nothing like the smell of the river and the sounds of the Stampede equipment moving everything around feverishly to get ready.  That is something I will never forget, and something I love to do every year.  Even more so now that I am racing, when I pull through that gate for the first time, I get excited and giddy.  I know it sounds a little less manly than a chuckwagon driver should be, but this is our Disneyland.  When we roll in it’s the start of something great for us, it’s the realization of one of our greatest dreams.

The dirt on the Stampede track has a distinct taste, the grounds have a specific noisy murmur, the river has an unmistakable continuous bubble that you can almost feel rather than hear and the Calgary Stampede has no equal.

I can’t wait to see you there.

Mark

www.sutherlandracing.ca