Sport
16 October, 2023
Welby rides to number one
Australia’s top cowboys took on some of the rankest bulls and the blistering sun during the Mareeba round of the Great Northern Bullriding Series, hosted at Savannah in the Round.
The two days of action for the first time at 4pm felt different for the riders and bulls, being the first time an event in their circuit was held in daylight.
The hot sun didn’t hold them back with thousands of people lining the ring and more than 60 buck outs over two days, according to series president Peter Brown.
“There were people sitting there at 1pm, ringside, waiting in the boiling hot sun for three hours just so they got the best seats in the house,” he said.
“From an atmosphere point of view, there were just people everywhere no matter where you looked, and it was loud and noisy and from a cowboy’s point of view, to ride in front of that many people is a compliment.”
Some of the best cowboys took to the arena, with open cowboy Braydon Welby shooting up the ranking, becoming number one in the Australian Bushmen’s Campdraft and Rodeo Association (ABCRA) circuit over the two day event.
Riding four for four, he put his all into his rides including his final one on an unridden bull.
For the juniors, Cairns’ Tristan Pye stood out as the top rider of the event, taking on some of the top bulls to come out of the region.
Mr Brown said the two cowboys were set to “be famous”, making the event a huge success for all that watched.
“Tristan is a tough little cowboy that’s just going to be famous one day when he hits the opens,” he said.
“Welby was just super and was really just the best rider there.
“In the mini bull side of things, we had young Rex Walker who had just come back from the worlds in Texas and was seventh in the world.
“There really was just a good range of riders from the minis all the way to the opens.”
The series finals are set to kick off in Atherton on Saturday 4 November.
RESULTS:
Open – 1st Braydon Welby, 2nd Leith Malone
Novice – 1st Hayden Davis
Junior bull – 1st Tristan Pye, 2nd Shane Dyer, 3rd Ian Lamont, 4th Cooper Morley, 5th Jack Czygan
Mini bulls – 1st Josh Snell, 2nd Caleb Sheahan, 3rd Rex Walker, 4th Ryan Jaszczyszyn
