General News
7 August, 2024
Bee stings rivals with big scores to claim Cloncurry's riches
Eli Bee won a swag of cash at the Curry Merry Muster Festival.
Sunday lunch at the Leichhardt Hotel should have been Eli Bee’s shout after a massive couple of days at the Curry Merry Muster.
The Darwin product, who now calls Townsville home, cleaned up most of the prizemoney in the two open bull ride events, winning the Xtreme Bulls in town on Friday night before a second placing at the equestrian centre on Saturday.
“They did say it was my shout,” the 23-year-old said from the pub.
“To be honest, mate, I didn’t even know how much money was up when I competed.
“People were giving me all these different figures last night and the night before, but I couldn’t work it out.
“Some people were saying 10 grand and some people were saying it was a lot more than that.”
The official results were not published by the Australian Professional Rodeo Association at the time of print, but it’s fair to say that Bee had a memorable weekend.
“It definitely feels good, especially after all the miles you do to get to these places.
“When you do well, it makes it worthwhile.”
A career best score of 88 in the short round at the Xtreme Bulls on Friday night gave Bee the victory.
He produced a score of 79 to get into the final five and came up with the goods on Preacher’s Pet in a nail-biting ride.
Bee was bucked off right on the eight-second mark, leaving him and the crowd in suspense to see if the judges would pass his ride.
“I was cursing myself when I was running away from it, thinking I might have missed out,” he said.
“I knew if I rode time I would have been a good chance of winning it, so when I got ‘cowboy up’ I was like ‘f--k yeah’ ... it was all so surreal to be honest.
“It might not have been the best bull I’ve ever ridden but it was definitely the best score I’ve had.”
Bee is hoping his form holds out this weekend when he competes in the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo.
The electrician missed out by a proverbial bee’s you-know-what at Buchanan Park in 2022, when he finished second to Jackson Gray by just half a point.
While he was disappointed not to win, he was rapt that his good mates Gray and Jack Keats were on the podium with him.
“It was all of the young fellas,” he said with a grin.
Bee missed out on the chance to make amends last year as he sat out the 2023 rodeo season with a busted shoulder.
“I ended up having the next 10 months off and I’ve just had a heap of time off because I broke my arm in a PBR event, so I’m sort of just coming back from that injury,” he told North West Weekly.
“It would be great to do well in Mount Isa because it’s the best of the best competing.
“It’s a bit like Cloncurry – being at a big event with all of the ranked bull riders there just brings out the best in you.
“I’m just so pumped up because of the all the fellas who are around me, really.”
Bee is hoping to spend less time on the tools and more time in the arena going forward.
“I want to go over to America and sort of get my feet wet and then eventually try to rodeo full-time over there,” he said.
Currently ranked fourth in the APRA bull ride rankings, Bee can climb his way to second place with a good weekend at Buchanan Park, while the North Queensland Elite Rodeo awaits him in Townsville the following week.