Ben Robinson Punches Ticket to Grass Roots Final

Ben Robinson loves Oldstoberfest.

For the second year in a row, the third generation Innisfail roper topped the field with an 8.2 second run for $1783.65. What makes this win even more significant is that the 23 year old clinched a berth at the Grass Roots Tour Final September 27-28 in Calgary. Robinson jumped from 15th to 6th (unofficially) in the Grass Roots standings by virtue of his Olds success.

“I thought if I could tie one down in a short eight, I’d have a shot at the Grass Roots, and that was my goal.” Robinson commented. As well, the Olds win pulls the central Alberta roper to within a thousand dollars of the final qualifying berth for his first CFR. (It’s been almost 20 years since a Robinson – Hall of Fame, Dad, Larry – has appeared at the Canadian Finals Rodeo.) Ben would like to change that statistic.

“It was about one degree (celcius) and kind of misting when I roped in slack, but the ground was fine and I had lots of clothes on so I was warm enough,” Robinson noted. “It’s really nice roping that close to home because I can take my horse home after the rodeo and it’s just like a regular day for him.” Robinson has been riding Caesar, a 14 year old gelding, for the last few years. “He’s been really good and he’s the same everywhere – indoors or outdoors so we should be fine at the Grass Roots.” Robinson is hoping that he can repeat what several competitors have done at the last few years at the Grass Roots Final – and parlay a solid performance there into a CFR qualification.

2014 Canadian saddle bronc riding champion, Tyler Corrington, split the win at Oldstoberfest (with Tyrel Larsen) but does not qualify for the Grass Roots as he has fewer than the required number of rodeos and not quite enough money won to make the cut. However, his win this past weekend vaulted him past Dawson Dahm and Kolby Wanchuk in the race for the final couple of CFR qualifying berths. The problem for Corrington is that, while he is not on the Grass Roots roster, both Dahm and Wanchuk are. And Oldstoberfest was the last Grass Roots qualifier for the 2018 CPRA season.

One Canadian cowboy who was not at Oldstoberfest was Manitoba product Orin Larsen. Larsen was busy making money south of the border with wins at the Pendleton Round-up (in Oregon) and St George, Utah, and a fifth place cheque at Albuquerque, NM. The $12,000 haul moved the three-time WNFR bareback qualifier to third place in the World standings, less than $50,000 behind season leader and two time world champion, Tim O’Connell.

For complete unofficial Oldstoberfest results, go to www.rodeocanada.com.

There are only two remaining regular season rodeos on the CPRA roster, the Dallas Sunstrum Memorial Pro Rodeo September 21-22 and the Hanna Indoor Pro Rodeo September 28-30.

And make plans to attend the 5th annual Grass Roots Final September 27-28 at the Nutrien Western Event Centre at Stampede Park in Calgary. Tickets are on sale now at TicketMaster.com

Complete list of 2018 Grass Roots Final competitors posted at rodeocanada.com.

About the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) with headquarters in Airdrie, Alberta is the sanctioning body for professional rodeo in Canada. The CPRA approves over 50 events annually with a total payout exceeding $5.1 million. The organization holds the Grass Roots Final September 27-28 at Stampede Park in Calgary, Alberta and their premiere event – the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) – at the ENMAX Centrium, Westerner Park in Red Deer, Alberta, October 30 – November 4. Follow the CPRA on Twitter and Instagram @prorodeocanada, ‘Like’ Canadian Professional Rodeo Association on Facebook or online at RodeoCanada.com.

Courtesy of CPRA