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A look in from the chucks action in Poundmaker over the weekend. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)
Chuckwagon racing

Laboucane big winner at CPCA show in Poundmaker

Aug 8, 2022 | 1:59 PM

It was another remarkable performance on the track for St. Walburg’s Jamie Laboucane over the weekend in Poundmaker Cree Nation.

Laboucane won Sunday’s Dash for Cash with a time of 1:14.92, just ahead of Meadow Lake’s Logan Gorst (1:16.74) and Red Pheasant’s Ryan Baptiste (1:17.77) who rounded out the top three.

He also took home the aggregate title, with a weekend time of 3:48.81, while Red Pheasant’s Todd Baptiste placed second with a time of 3:51.77, and Bonnyville, Alberta’s Danny Ringuette had a time of 3:51.91.

“It was a really good show; we had a great turnout, the stands were packed and the crowd was really into it,” Laboucane said, following the win.

“This is one of my hometown shows really, it’s close to St. Walburg, Turtleford and Paradise Hill, and a lot of my sponsors are from around here, so big shout out to every one of them. I’m lucky to have two of the best outriders in the business as well in Tyler McKenzie & Kale Lajeunesse as well as a great barn crew back there supporting me. I couldn’t go down the road without their support.”

Laboucane hit the ground running winning day money as well, with the fastest time on two of the first three days, all while overcoming a bit of an adjustment to his outfit of horses.

“It was a little unknown because my good left wheeler got hurt in the previous show, so I had to move my right wheeler to the left and brought my three-barrel right wheeler in, but he fit right in,” Laboucane said.

With the victory, Laboucane now leads the summer’s aggregate standings with 937.5 points.

Logan Gorst, who finished runner-up in the dash for cash, and sits second on the season with 917 points, has been going back and forth with Laboucane for the top spot overall in the aggregate throughout the summer.

(Twitter/MartyMartyPxP1)

A pair of good friends and veterans of the circuit, Gorst said performances like Laboucane’s from the weekend help push him to get better each time he goes out there to compete.

“I always tell him don’t slow down, go faster, it’ll make me figure out how to go faster too,” Gorst said. “You come across some really good outfits for how long I’ve been [racing] and Jamie really has an elite outfit. He can run with anybody.”

Gorst will be front and centre heading into the next leg of the schedule in his hometown of Meadow Lake this weekend. It is a stop he said is always circled on the calendar at the start of the year.

“It’s always special [to return home], and Meadow Lake is a huge chuckwagon community, so it’s exciting. They always have good crowds and we’ll have some fun with it,” he said.

With just two stops to go on the summer CPCA schedule, the next will be in Meadow Lake Aug. 12-14, followed by the Finals in Lloydminster, Aug. 17-21. The full CPCA schedule can be found here.

The full summer aggregate standings can be found here.

Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1