It was all business for the guys who love to horse around.
Foothills area chuckwagon drivers Jason Glass, Mark Sutherland and Jordie Fike were on the block at the 38th Calgary Stampede tarp auction Thursday in Calgary.
The auction is considered an economic barometer for the Calgary area and with the price of a barrel of oil being knocked down harder than a chuckwagon barrel on a muddy track, some new strategies were used.
Jason Glass, the 2013 Calgary Stampede champion, took a different approach this year by having his own Glass Racing buy his tarp for $95,000 for the 10-day event.
“I’ve done my homework,” said Glass. “I’m covered, I didn’t do this blind. I bought myself, I have a game-plan and it will be taken care of.”
The auction has the sponsor paying 20 per cent to the Calgary Stampede, with the remaining going to the driver. Glass will write a cheque for $95,000 to the Stampede, but will receive the driver’s share of $76,000 from the Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth.
He said his potential sponsor(s) did not wish to be named at this point.
As for how far he would have bid on himself, Glass wouldn’t comment.
“That’s my call as to how far I was willing to go,” he said with a smile. “But I went to $95,000.”
Last year, Glass’ tarp sold for $90,000.
Okotoks chuckwagon driver Mark Sutherland’s tarp was sold for $85,000 to Cowboys Casino Posse.
Sutherland said he was pleased with the amount, it was up from $72,500 in 2015. The Cowboys group purchased Sutherland’s tarp in 2012 and Sutherland said it is a good organization to be with.
Although Sutherland was pleasantly surprised with the early part of the auction he was hoping prices wouldn’t drop off for drivers on the tail end of the sale.
He said drivers who ended up selling for $40,000 may have a tough time covering their expenses.
“What if they can’t make it?” Sutherland said. “Then they are out of the sport.”
He said money from the Stampede auction typically covers between 50 to 70 per cent of a driver’s season budget.
Sutherland said he is concerned for the future of chuckwagon racing if the economy doesn’t grow.
“If it doesn’t, were a small business and we’re not like any other business in western Canada – if our revenue doesn’t exceed our expense, we are going to go out of business,” Sutherland said. “It don’t mean us as a sport, but us as individuals.” He said all drivers will have to cut expenses, but there isn’t a lot of wiggle room.
“You can’t cut back on horse care, you can’t cut back on feed, you can’t cut back on safety and maintenance,” said Sutherland, who was laid off from a job in the oil industry in 2015. “You have to maintain your horses. You can’t cut corners in very many places in chuckwagon racing.”
Fike, from just outside of High River, had his tarp purchased for $55,000 by GMC Shaw, who also purchased the Fike’s tarp last year for $70,000.
“I’m happy, they (GMC Shaw) are great partnership, great guys,” Fike said. “We’re going to have to tighten up the purse-strings pretty hard. We have to. I want to be in this sport a long time.”
Glass said there was a different feel to the auction than when oil prices were high just a few short years ago.
“It’s different because the typical sponsors come from oil and gas and that trickles down to trucking and so many companies related to oil and gas,” Glass said. “Tonight there are a lot of companies that aren’t in oil and gas. Everyone had to work hard to create some interest outside that (oil and gas) bubble… Any new business that we can attract to our sport is great.”
High River Autoplex and RV purchased Colt Cosgrave for $70,000. The top bid went to two-time defending champion Kurt Bensmiller for $120,000 from Tsuu T’ina Nation.
The 36 tarps were sold for $2,299,500, down $482,500 from last year.
The record was the 2012 Calgary Stampede auction at $4.015-million.
This year’s Calgary Stampede runs from July 8 to 17.
The World Professional Chuckwagon Association, which includes a tour stop in High River, will hold its auction on March 22 at the Grey Eagle Casino.
