Campdrafting battle heads to Warwick

The event, which will be staged as a curtain-raiser to the Warwick Gold Cup from October 20 to 26, will crown a new national campdrafting champion.

The top five open riders representing four campdraft associations – the Australian Campdraft Association, the

Australian Bushman’s Campdraft and Rodeo Association, the Southern Campdrafting Association, and the Gippsland Campdraft Association – will battle it out over three finals.

In the event that a rider from the top five is unavailable, then the next highest ranked available competitor will be eligible.

The national championship competition began in 2004 at Paradise Lagoons Campdraft, and the inaugural winner was Queensland’s own Pete Comiskey from Nebo.

Since then it has been held every second year at national venues including Paradise Lagoons, NSW and Victoria.

The vice-president of the Australian Campdrafting Association, Sean Dillon, Surbiton, Alpha, said this latest event will now take the sport to a new level.

“It will be our version of a national title, as they do in other sports,” Mr Dillon said.

“Previously, the running of the national campdraft event

was held at any event, and there wasn’t an eligibility criteria.”

President of the National Campdraft Council of Australia

Evan Acton, Millungera, Julia Creek, said it was wonderful to see the revised event be embraced by the Warwick committee.

“To be able to crown a national champion after a three-round final with all the organisation’s leading riders in attendance will provide a spectacle the likes of which campdrafting has probably never seen,” he said.

At the end of the three rounds, there will be $19,000

in prizemoney, $4000 in Pryde’s EasiFeed, a $3000 bronze trophy and two service fees to One Moore Playboy to be won.

Round money will be paid to fifth place in all three rounds, and the highest aggregate over the three rounds will be the winner, with aggregate placings also to fifth place.