By Laurence Heinen
Layne MacGillivray was at a loss for words after winning his first Cowboys Rangeland Derby title on Sunday.
“I’ll tell you, it’s been an amazing day,” said MacGillivray after guiding his Spray Lakes Sawmills outfit to victory in the championship final heat of the Calgary Stampede.
One thing that the 48-year-old reinsman from Halkirk, Alta., didn’t have trouble doing was crediting his amazing horses for their part in making it possible for him to accept a cheque for $50,000 on the GMC Stadium grandstand stage.
Running off of barrel No. 2 in the Dash For Cash, MacGillivray decided to go with his team of Willy (right leader), Mer (left leader), Smoke (right wheeler) and Joe (left wheeler).
“Definitely the barrel plays a little bit of a factor, for sure,” said MacGillivray, while further explaining that the outfit he chose typically runs off the first and second barrels. “Some horses can go off any barrel, but some like the longer ones, for sure, or maybe the shorter ones.”
Earlier that Sunday morning, MacGillivray and his barn crew were diligently trying to make a decision as to which of their main outfits would race that night.
“We had about eight heads tied,” he explained. “We didn’t know for sure. The vets come and checked everything. I had settled on the four by then and just made sure that they would pass the vet checks and they passed with flying colours, so away we went.”
The rest, as they say, was history.
His equine athletes had a great start and made the figure-eight pattern turn quickly enough to outrace Ross Knight’s MobSquad outfit – running off of barrel No. 1 – to secure his spot along the rail.
His trusty horses then sped their way around the Stampede Park track to cross the finish line just 34/100ths of a second ahead of Kurt Bensmiller’s Grey Eagle Resort and Casino outfit.
“They’re both tough competitors,” said MacGillivray of Bensmiller and Knight, who earned $20,000 and $10,000 for finishing second and third respectively in the thrilling final.
In addition, MacGillivray’s son Trey served as one of his outriders, while Brendan Nolin was his other. Out of his outriding pen of horses, MacGillivray selected Fly for his son to ride in the final heat, while Nolin sat atop Mark for his last gallop around the Stampede Park track.
For Nolin, it was his third straight Rangeland Derby title as he won last year with Kris Molle and in 2019 with Logan Gorst.
Earlier on Sunday, MacGillivray also won the Guy Weadick Memorial Award, given annually to the one chuckwagon or rodeo competitor who best represents what a cowboy stands for and embodies the spirit of the Calgary Stampede. It is based upon ability, appearance, showmanship, character, sportsmanship and cooperation with other cowboys, the arena crew, the media and the public.
“One hundred years ago he had a vision,” said MacGillivray of Weadick, who teamed up with Calgary Exhibition manger Eddie Richardson to bring chuckwagon racing to the Stampede in 1923. “I don’t know if he had this vision. I’m liking it, I know that. I’m liking his vision that he started this.”
While current World Professional Chuckwagon Association drivers Jason Glass (2010), Troy Dorchester (2018) and Kirk Sutherland (2022) also earned the prestigious honour, MacGillivray became the first driver to take home the Guy Weadick Award and the Rangeland Derby title in the same year.
“July 16, 2023, I’ll be a long time forgetting this (day), I’ll tell you that,” MacGillivray said. “It’s been amazing. I don’t even know how to put it into words.”
Meanwhile, Bensmiller also received a big honour when he stepped onto the grandstand stage to accept the Richard Cosgrave Memorial Award for being the least penalized driver with the best aggregate time over 10 nights of racing action in Calgary.
Bensmiller’s total penalty-free time of 12:01.80, was 2.17 seconds faster than MacGillivray, who won the award last year before finishing second behind Molle in the Stampede’s 2021 Dash For Cash.
Had it not been for the agility of outrider Dayton Sutherland on Night 4 of Rangeland Derby racing action, Bensmiller wouldn’t have been in position to win the aggregate/safety award.
When the horn sounded, Sutherland wasn’t able to throw the stove into the stove box of Bensmiller’s wagon right away. On the fly, Sutherland flung the rubber stove and it found its appropriate landing spot before Bensmiller guided his outfit through the figure-eight pattern and around the track in a time of 1:11.83, which was third best that night behind Codey McCurrach (Flynn Canada – Building Envelope) and Rae Croteau Jr. (Cinch Oilfield Hauling).
“(Sutherland) messed up and was supposed to load it off the start, so he fixed his problem, but you need that luck at any show,” said Bensmiller, who secured his fourth Richard Cosgrave Memorial Award due to his consistent driving. “There’s probably only a select few outriders that could have done that, for sure. There’s a lot of good young outriders here right now, which is nice.”
Fellow outrider Rory Gervais, who won a pair of Rangeland Derby titles with Bensmiller in 2017 and 2018, praised Sutherland for his quick thinking and agility to avoid taking a penalty.
Since he was holding Bensmiller’s leaders at the time, Gervais didn’t actually see Sutherland’s toss at the time.
“I had to watch the tapes on that,” said Gervais, won his seventh straight Outstanding Outrider Award at the Stampede. “He did good. It looked like he did it before because he had patience to wait for that wagon to stall and then set it in there instead of just panicking.”
Bensmiller was pleased as punch with how Sutherland and Gervais performed for him throughout the 10-day show.
“I trust them guys completely,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how they get it done, I don’t really care, as long as they’re getting it done. They’ve done an excellent job. That’s why I hire guys like that.”
