The 2026 Gold Buckle Campdraft Championship at Willinga Park marks a special moment for the Comiskey family. For the first time, Peter, the son of Pryde’s sponsored rider Pete Comiskey, will compete in the juvenile class.
For a family already woven deeply into the sport’s history, it’s an exciting milestone.
“My son Peter is now 13 and he’s going to have a run in the juvenile. He’s very excited to be doing that,” Pete explains.
“With the change around to the calendar this year, with fuel prices the way they were, Willinga was pushed back.
“it’s thrown it into the school holidays so he’s very excited about that… he’s very keen, he’ll be a help with the horses (on the road) and just to see different parts of the country it will be a change of culture for him but it’s all experience that’ll do him a heap of good,” he said.
Pete has spent decades at the top of Australian campdrafting. This year, both he and his wife Bryony have been selected to represent the Australian Campdraft Association in the Pryde’s EasiFeed NCCA National Champion Rider Title at Willinga Park. It’s an honour Pete values deeply.
He and his team arrive at Willinga Park via Clarke Creek in Queensland, where he and Bungarby Elegant Spin won the Open Campdraft at the 2026 Wagyu Crown.
The 2026 Gold Buckle Campdraft Championship incorporating the Pryde’s EasiFeed NCCA Champion Rider title is the second of three major stops, with the Keeroongooloo Cup Campdraft to follow.
“We’ve got three weeks of really good drafting, and we’re really excited about it all,” Pete said prior to their departure.
“We’re right in the middle of our draft here in central Queensland right now,” he explained.
“We had the national finals a couple of weeks ago at Paradise Lagoons.
From Paradise Lagoons to Longreach, Bowen River, Mount Coolon and Nebo, the horses have been working in tough, hot country.
Then comes the shift to New South Wales.
“You go from very warm up here to the very cold down there and the very wet as well.”
The team travelling to Willinga Park is large and experienced. Pete and Bryony each bring five horses, with Jordan McDowell adding three more.
For campdraft fans, the significance of Willinga Park needs little explanation.
“I think it will be a fantastic stage, there’s no better place to ride than Willinga Park,” Pete said.
“It’s a stadium that is nowhere equal to it in Australia. It’s a magnificent stage to ride on.
“The cattle come down from the properties in the Braidwood area, the stock are beautiful cattle and by far (it offers) the biggest prizemoney event.
“There’s nowhere else equal to that in Australia,” he said.
Through all the travel and changing conditions, Pryde’s EasiFeed remains central to Pete’s program.
“The EasiResponse and the EasiOil is a major part of the diet,” he says.
“A lot of the feeds have got the goods in them to help the horses travel and help them recover, to rehydrate… to have that good balanced feed and to keep their system very good.
“We’re proud that Pryde’s continue to keep this national rider title alive. It’s something we find exciting every year to have the best of the best from each association ride. To have an opportunity to ride for your association is a great honour.”
Pryde’s EasiFeed is proud to support the Comiskey’s and all riders striving for excellence at the Pryde’s EasiFeed NCCA National Champion Rider event.
The 2026 Gold Buckle Campdraft Championship begins on 8 July at Willinga Park. More details are available on the event website. Round 1 of the Pryde’s EasiFeed NCCA National Champion Rider begins Thursday at 5pm. Round 2 follows on Friday at 2pm followed by the Final at 4pm on Saturday.