Alpha Bull to showcase Canada’s top bull riders during big December event
DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia – Zane Lambert has ridden bulls all across Canada.
He is one of the top men on the PBR Canada tour, and he will join other top cowboys competing at the PBR Dawson Creek Fueled by Lyons Production Services, set for Dec. 1 at the Encana Centre.
“It’s great up there,” said Lambert, 31, the reigning PBR Canada champion from Ponoka, Alberta. “They have a new building there, and it’s a good size for us. The last time I was up there, they filled it, and I would expect the same thing when we get there in December.”
That’s a big drawing card for the best Canadian cowboys in the game.
“This is going to be for the 2019 season, so it’s going to be a good one to go to,” said Dakota Buttar, the 13th-ranked cowboy in the PBR world standings from Kindersley, Saskatchewan. “It’s going to be my first event in BC, so I’m excited about it.”
The event is produced by Alpha Bull, which has a solid reputation for top events all across Canada. Chad Besplug, Alpha Bull’s founder and CEO, is a former bull rider who has extended his expertise in bull riding into developing top events.
“I think Chad will do well with this event,” Lambert said. “it will be top of the line with what Chad’s doing with his production crew. He has been at it for two years, and he’s got his unique stamp on what he does.”
Though he hasn’t been to many Alpha Bull events, Buttar said the word is out.
“The atmosphere he has going with pyro and lights is cool,” Buttar said. “He brings a different view to the production side of it, which is pretty awesome.
“I’m on the road a lot, so to compete in Canada is always home, and it’s fun coming back home and riding with your buddies.”
Buttar has focused his attention on the Unleash the Beast series, the PBR’s premier tour, which features dozens of events primarily in the United States. Those events feature the largest paydays in the business, but cowboys must earn their way onto the tour.
Lambert is riding a hot streak and hopes to be on tour by the end of the regular season. Until then, he plans to hit rodeos in Canada and the U.S. as well as PBR Canada stops.
“I think having the Dawson Creek event in December will be good for us,” said Lambert, the top bull rider in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association’s standings. “It will be good timing. If you look at the schedule now, they pack so much into June and July that it will be nice.”
He is scheduled to compete at the Calgary Stampede in July and has his sites set on qualifying for the Canadian Finals Rodeo and repeating as the PBR Canada champion.
“There haven’t been too many people back it up, so it would be cool to win it again this year,” he said. “I want to leave as much with the sport as I can before I’m done with it.”