Saturday, July 4, turned into one of the standout days of the young 2026 Calgary Stampede, with rainbow boots taking over Nashville North, standings shaking up across nearly every rodeo event, and a bareback rider proving he’s simply figured out his horse.
At GMC Stadium, Cole Franks delivered the highlight of Pool A’s second performance, spurring to a 90-point ride aboard the Calgary Stampede’s Bucking Knight. It’s become something of a signature matchup for him.
“I’ve been on this horse, I’m pretty sure, today was the fourth time I’ve been on it,” Franks said afterward, via Stampede news release.
“I knew pretty much exactly what to expect. I’ve always done well on it. I think my lowest score was 85 points. I just get along with that horse really well.”
The ride pushed Franks into third place in the Pool A bareback aggregate — but it wasn’t enough to catch the pace-setter. Garrett Shadbolt now holds a commanding lead after backing up his opening 86.50 with an 88.00, good for $14,000 in total winnings so far.
Saddle bronc saw Stettler, Alberta’s Kolby Wanchuk ride to an 86 aboard Glory Days to pick up the Saturday day money along with Allen Boore (Axtell, Utah). In bull riding, only three cowboys have managed to cover both of their bulls through two performances. T Parker from Winnie, Texas rode to an 88.5 aboard Purple People Eater.
Haven Meged from Miles City, Montana, continues to dominate tie-down roping, firing off a blazing 7.0-second run in performance two to build a commanding aggregate lead worth $13,250.
Steer wrestling saw Jesse Brown (Baker City, Oregon) pull off a quick 4.2 to win day two. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged (Langdon, Alberta) rebounded from an opening no-time with a winning 2.5-second run to get back into contention in breakaway roping. In barrel racing, Sydney Graham turned in the fastest time of the rodeo so far at 16.87 seconds — enough to jump to third overall.
The night session brought its own drama at the chuckwagon track. Rae Croteau Jr. posted the fastest lap of the evening at 1:11.58, but the top nightly time wasn’t enough to shake up the standings — Chanse Vigen still led the two-day aggregate at 2:22.11. Over at the ENMAX Relay Races, Crazy Cree turned in the fastest time across the first two nights, crossing in 3:04.43 and finishing more than five seconds clear of second-place Mountain River (3:09.50), with Big Tobacco rounding out the top three.
Elsewhere on the grounds, the Team Cattle Penning Championships crowned their Open Class champions, as Tom Thorlakson, Graham Armstrong and Justin Armstrong penned 12 head of cattle in 126.73 seconds.
“We got super lucky. We couldn’t have had better draws,” said Thorlakson, who’s competed alongside the Armstrong twins for roughly 20 years.
Meanwhile, Nashville North hosted its 13th annual Pride Day, with drag performances from local favorites Karla Marx, Birthday Girl, Misty Meadows, Dayna Hart, Smokey Waters, Nearah Nuff and Carly York Jones, plus a line dancing lesson led by World Champion Instructor Sean Buckley.
The 2026 Western Trailblazer Award, presented by BMO, went to Domingo Lumanog for advocacy work strengthening ties between civic, cultural and public media organizations across southern Alberta.
It all added up to a big Saturday: 139,914 guests came through the gates, pushing the 2026 Stampede’s cumulative attendance to 327,456.
Looking ahead to Sunday, July 5
Sunday is Tim Hortons Family Day, with free admission until 11 a.m., a free pancake breakfast in the GMC Stadium Courtyard from 8-10 a.m., and a free variety show in the stadium during that same window.
Beyond the free morning festivities, the grounds keep the energy going with the Big Four Roadhouse, Dueling Piano Kings at the Stampede Cellar, the Heavy Horse Show and World Champion Six-Horse Hitch at the Nutrien Western Event Centre, and live music from Russell Dickerson and Our Lady Peace at Nashville North — alongside Day 3 of both the rodeo and Rangeland Derby at GMC Stadium.
