Fort St. John star bull rider settles for fifth at PBR finals in Australia

SANDSTONE POINT, AUSTRALIA — While it wasn’t quite the ending he had planned, a bull rider with Peace region roots is remembering his appearance in a bull riding finals event in Australia quite fondly. 

Jake Gardner, a Fort St. John native who now lives in Alberta, was invited to the Professional Bull Riders Australia (PBR Australia) Monster Energy Tour Grand Finals in Queensland, Australia at the end of October.

While he had strong rides in the first and third rounds, earning  86.50 and 83.25 points respectively, a failure to ride for eight seconds in the championship round proved his undoing. 

Gardner ultimately finished in fifth place, with a combined event score of 169.75 points. He collected $12,000 Australian dollars ($11,021 Canadian) from the event.

The 29-year-old Gardner is currently ranked third in the PBR Canada standings for the 2025 season, and said he was able to head down under based on his ranking.

Both PBR Australia and PBR Canada send invitations for spots at each country’s touring finals.

“Normally, they invite two guys from [Australia] to our finals, and we send two of our guys over there,” said Gardner in an interview with Energeticcity.ca on October 22nd.

He posted to his Facebook after the event, commending the hosts for “making it feel like home” and he “can’t wait to come back.”

The PBR Australia Monster Energy Tour Grand Finals took place on Friday, October 31st and Saturday, November 1st in Sandstone Point, Queensland, Australia.