By Laurence Heinen
An untimely penalty wasn’t enough to stop Jamie Laboucane from winning his second World Professional Chuckwagon Association show title this season.
Adding to the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede title he won in late June, Laboucane captured the Battle of the Foothills crown in High River last Sunday.
Although he was assessed a one-second penalty for being outside the chalk line at the start of the race from his barrel No. 1 position, Laboucane still piloted his Davco Industrial Construction Services outfit across the finish line in second spot behind Chanse Vigen’s Crestview Group wagon.
After Vigen amassed three seconds in penalties for having an outrider knock over a barrel and for also having a late outrider, Laboucane’s clocking of 1:16.13 stood up as the winning time in the championship heat.
“I got a little lucky (Sunday) even with that one-second penalty,” admitted the 36-year-old reinsman, who hails from St. Walburg, Sask. “Chanse Vigen had some bad luck off that four (barrel) with some outriding penalties. I’ve lost big championship dashes to penalties, so I’ll take it when you win it even with one second in my own pocket.”
Try as he might, Laboucane wasn’t able to slow down his horses enough before the horn blew to start the race.
“We got darn close to hitting that chalk line, but I was just outside of it,” said Laboucane, while commending his lead team of Threescore and Acrobat along with wheelers Marshmallow and Sonoble for their composure under pressure. “The horn went and I knew I was outside, but there was nothing I could do about it, so I just threw it at ’em and made the best turn that I could. They made a nice turn and they ran hard for me. Lucky they’re as great of an outfit that they are and that they could outrun that one second.”
One interesting note is that Laboucane’s four-year-old daughter Ella was the one who named Marshmallow.
“He’s just a first-year horse, but he’s already won the top left wheeler at the Calgary Stampede this year,” Laboucane said.
Before he loaded the stove from behind the wagon, outrider Hayden Motowylo already knew that Laboucane was going to receive a penalty.
“I could see that he was outside of the chalk line there and that he was going to get one second,” said Motowylo, who won a show title with Laboucane in Medicine Hat and one with his dad Obrey at the Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship in early June. “The other guys happened to get some penalties, too, and it just so happened that he won.”
Meanwhile, Laboucane’s other outrider Trey MacGillivray also saw that one of Vigen’s outriders was lagging a bit behind the pack.
“I noticed on the backstretch that Chanse had some troubles with an outrider,” said MacGillivray, who won his second straight show title after also helping his dad Layne capture the prestigious 2023 Calgary Stampede Cowboys Rangeland Derby. “Coming across the finish line I saw the barrel laying down (that Vigen’s outrider hit) and figured we had a good shot.”
During their championship run, Motowylo and MacGillivray rode atop Kat and CH, respectively, out of Laboucane’s outriding pen of horses.
Laboucane commended both Motowylo and MacGillivray for their efforts throughout the six-day show that ran over two weekends in High River.
“I’ve got two of the best in the business,” Laboucane said. “They’ve been doing it for quite a few years now and I don’t have to worry about them. I don’t even look for them hardly anymore. I just turn my barrels and run my race and they haven’t caused me a penalty yet and I don’t expect them to in the future either.”
Another key to Laboucane’s success in High River was that he had two outfits that he could count on throughout the six nights of the show.
“Just everything came together,” said Laboucane, who bought a horse named House at the Calgary Stampede from retiring driver Codey McCurrach. “He’s a right leader and he worked with the rest of my horses off that three-four barrel outfit. Then I had two outfits that I could crack day monies with – and this other outfit, they’ve been winning for me all year.”
After spending 16 successful years competing on the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association circuit, Laboucane has become a fixture on the WPCA scene this year.
“You’re always hoping to win everything and do the best you can,” said the humble, yet confident, driver. “We set goals this year. The first and foremost was we wanted our horses and family to come home safely. Second was to have fun and the third was to kick some ass and take some names in that order … and we’re doing a bit of all three, so I’m having a great year and I can’t complain in the least.”
Heading into the Strathmore Stampede, which runs from Friday to Monday, Laboucane is sitting second in the WPCA World Standings with 936 points, which is just 14 behind Vigen and 18 ahead of Layne MacGillivray, who’s the defending champion.
“You don’t know how you’re going to shape up,” said Laboucane in regards to making the move from the CPCA to competing full-time on the WPCA this season. “I knew my outfits were strong. I’ve been running really well over there the last few years.
“I’ve got a lot of young horses and some strong outfits, but you just don’t really know how they stack up until you get in the mix of things with other guys. I’m more than happy with how they’re performing. I’ll just keep going and keep learning. I’ve still got a lot to learn. You’ve got to keep learning, otherwise you’re going to get left behind.”
