North west Queensland rolled out the barrels for a home town winner in the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo on the weekend.
Ladies barrels winner Chantel Huddy may now live in Roma but she's from Mount Isa and her family were on hand to cheer her on to victory in the ladies barrel race.
Huddy and her horse Mick led the standings after the first round on Friday and a second placed time on Sunday earned her the victory.
Huddy was understandably delighted to win a home town buckle.
"It was amazing especially because Mount Isa is pretty much the granddaddy of them all in Australia" Huddy said.
"It's the thing you dream of as a kid winning it one day and finally it happened."
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Huddy said Mick was a really good horse to ride.
"Where he really goes around the rest is he is so consistent," she said.
"He's a really honest horse, if I can hold up my end of the deal, he'll do his job."
Huddy rides on the APRA and the NRA circuits and is in a rich vein of form having finished second in the Merry Muster and now ranks among the top barrel racers as we approach the Warwick national finals in October.
"We've had a cracker of a couple of weeks, this would have catapulted me into the top three" she said.
We've had a cracker of a couple of weeks, this would have catapulted me into the top three. You work long and hard aiming for these big shows
- Chantel Huddy
"You work long and hard aiming for these big shows."
And Huddy was inspired by plenty of family support at Buchanan Park.
"I've lived in Roma for five years but I was born and raised in Mount Isa, My mum and dad are still here and my sister and brother-in-law live in Cloncurry," Huddy said.
"They were all there to cheer me on."
Huddy will have a well-earned weekend this week before heading to the Springsure Rodeo the following weekend in the countdown to Warwick.
"We'll also do Comet and maybe Yeppoon, not really sure I need to sit down and make another plan," she said
The final standings in the ladies barrel race at Mount Isa Mines Rodeo 2019:
- 1st - Chantel Huddy, 35.114 seconds
- 2nd - Kerrie Holder, 35.438 seconds
- 3rd - Amber Patterson, 35.497 seconds
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
