New horse helps Glass get the job done

By Laurence Heinen

The Devil made him do it.

Or rather, a horse named Devil helped Jason Glass win his third Strathmore Stampede title on Monday afternoon.

The 54-year-old reinsman from High River had a feeling that inserting a new grey horse into his lineup in Strathmore would pay big dividends.

“That was only his fourth race,” said Glass after he guided his Birchcliff Energy Inc. outfit around the Strathmore Stampede Grounds track on Monday in a speedy time of 1:13.94. “He’s going to be something special.”

Glass also used Devil as his left wheeler on Saturday night when he locked down a spot in Monday’s Championship Final Heat by finishing second in the aggregate standings behind Chanse Vigen’s Blackstone Drilling Fluids Ltd. outfit.

With his veteran lead team of Legit and Chaska up front and Indian joining Devil on the wheel, Glass crossed the finish line in the final just 91/100ths of a second ahead of Vigen, the defending Strathmore champion who was riding a hot streak of epic proportions having earned victories at both the Calgary Stampede’s Rangeland Derby and the Battle of the Foothills in High River.

“I have faith that he knows what he’s doing,” said Glass of Devil, who fit in just fine with his fellow equine athletes. “He likes what he’s doing. He’s comfortable. He’s only a four-year-old horse, so I really don’t even know what kind of run he has, but something told me he was ready and I drove him twice in High River. Sometimes you’ve got to gamble to outrun these other guys and I did.”

Glass also put trust in outriders Trey MacGillivray, who rode Calm in the final, and Tyson Whitehead, who hopped atop Ed. “Hats off to those guys, they’re great cowboys,” said Glass, who also gave a shoutout to Birchcliff Energy for their continued support.

Currently sitting in first spot in the World Professional Chuckwagon Association driver standings with 992 points, Glass has had consistent performances from his veteran horses this season, but that hasn’t stopped him from tinkering with his lineup.

“(Saturday) I drove two new horses that have only been in a couple of races,” he said. “It’s just what you have to do. You can’t rely on the same older horses night after night. They feed off each other and if they’re a little bit tired or one turns a little too soon in the top barrel, they’re very smart. In my mind, you’ve got to keep shuffling it up and keep it fresh. When they start and they go straight, I drive better and I think it makes it easier, so they just need to go forward and fast.”

Speaking of someone who’s consistently going fast this season, Glass commended Vigen for reigniting his passion for racing.

“He’s been flying for several years now and driving amazing,” Glass said. “He’s got some really talented horses that can really fly out there and I love that. That has woke me up and it changed the way I buy horses … everything. It always takes someone like that to step up, to make myself work even harder. I don’t know if that’s possible.”

After a slow start to the 2025 WPCA Pro Tour season, Vigen has moved up into second spot in the World standings, just 21.5 points behind Glass, while a host of other drivers are within striking distance.

“It’s tight,” said Glass, who’s in search of his fifth World title to add to the ones he won in 2000, 2008, 2009 and 2012. “I would say there’s probably eight guys still that have a chance at winning the World. It’s a very hard thing to do and it makes it fun for all the sponsors and all the workers around here, just everybody. I think everyone gets along pretty good around here, so it makes it interesting and it makes it fun. I’ve been doing this a long time and it never comes easy and I don’t ever expect it to.”

With only two shows left – the Battle of the North in Dawson Creek, B.C., from Wednesday through Sunday and the WPCA World Finals at the Battle of the Rockies in Rocky Mountain House from Aug. 13-17 – Glass knows he still has work left to do.

“We only have 10 racing days left,” he said. “It’s a lot of points still up for grabs and a lot can happen as fans see from night to night. I always just think of my horses and put trust in them and try to drive the right ones off the right barrels (on) the right nights and just try to keep them ready. I don’t worry about other guys too much. I respect everybody and I respect all the horses around here, so I just try to do my own thing.”

Fans can listen to live action every night from the Battle of the North on WPCA Radio starting at 7:30 p.m. MT on 96.5 The Ranch, or streaming options are available through the WPCA website at wpca.com, iHeart Radio website/app or the Radioplayer Canada website/app.