Sask. chuckwagon driver delivers a family dream at Calgary Stampede

“It means a lot to me, but also for my family,” Laboucane expressed.

Laboucane — who has been a chuckwagon driver since 2006 and lives in St. Walburg with his wife Dana and two kids, Oilver and Ella — said the championship carried extra meaning because of his father Brian.

Brian Laboucane spent 45 years chasing the same goal but never got the chance to win it himself, Laboucane explained.

“To finally pull it off feels like a real victory for the whole family, it’s a pretty special feeling. (There’s) a lot of emotion involved,” he said.

Laboucane said the journey to get to this point was a culmination of patience and perseverance which was built upon losses and overcoming challenges.

He said success in chuckwagon racing is about more than having talented horses or a fast outfit, it’s about putting everything together at the right time.

“It’s not just about me. It’s about everybody that contributes. Whether it’s in the barns or making decisions on outfits, I have a lot of good people backing me,” Laboucane said.

For Laboucane, this included his horses, his crew, and the people who supported him throughout the journey.

He credited his outriders, Kale Lajeunesse and Hayden Motowylo, for providing the consistency and experience needed during the pressure of Stampede week.

“They know my horses, my outfits, and they don’t make mistakes,” Laboucane said.

“When you have two guys that you don’t even have to look behind to see if they’re there, it takes another level of pressure off you.”

When the championship race arrived, Laboucane said the focus inside the barn was calm, but once the horses hit the track, everything changed.

“As soon as they hit that infield, it’s just like a switch flipped,” he explained. “When that horn went, everything just exploded and turned and (the horses) ran their hearts out.”

See a video of the race on Facebook. (Warning: Video contains coarse language.)

When he finally finished the race Laboucane said it brought a feeling he dreamt of as a child but one he could never fully predict.

“When I finally crossed that finish line and realized I had won the Calgary Stampede, it was like years of tension and Calgary Stampedes built up in me (was) finally released,” he said.

For young drivers hoping to embark upon the same journey, Laboucane’s advice comes from years of experience: success is built one detail at a time.

“It’s all the little details that you put into the sport and your driving and your care taking and your feeding and your training that really make the difference in the end,” he said.

Now, after years of chasing the championship, Jamie Laboucane can finally call himself a Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby champion — a title that belongs not only to him, but to everyone who helped build the dream.

And when asked what word sums up his path to this moment, his answer was simple: “That’s family.”

“It has been a dream of our entire family — the Laboucanes — and everybody involved for decades. (So), to finally see that pillar of success come to fruition just makes all those years of blood, sweat, and tears that much sweeter,” he said.

The Rangeland Derby is a racing event held at Calgary Stampede every year.

Each night, nine races run – each just over a minute long – with three sets of teams competing per heat. A total of 27 chuckwagon teams compete in the stampede event. Each driver is supported with an outrider, who competes alongside the main driver, to run their team of horses.

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by Joshua Potter/CKOM

Sask. chuckwagon driver delivers a family dream at Calgary Stampede

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