2079 Cowtown Cartel
It is not in name only that we feature the great bucking bull 2079 Cowtown Cartel this week on the fifteenth tour stop of the CBR’s Road to Cheyenne, the Fort Worth Tuff Hedeman Championship Bull Riding at the Cowtown Coliseum on Saturday night at 8 pm.
Cowtown Cartel has been at the heart of great performances on the CBR tour since he arrived with William Barnett in the fall of 2015 in Huron, South Dakota. He earned three high marked bull awards during the 20-16 campaign putting up 45 point plus bull scores in each effort. But while bull scores are important to the team competition, five time World Champ Sage Kimzey might argue that it is a sound business decision to select 2079 if given the opportunity. Kimzey rode Cowtown Cartel for 93 points at the CBR World Finals in Cheyenne to clinch the 2016 CBR World Championship that came with a $100,000 bonus check. While Kimzey rode well, the bull performed as well and was awarded a 46 point bull score from the judges.
2079, 2016 #CBRBull Bull of the Year, is once again at the heart of the 2017 season’s greatest rides. Each and every rider that made the whistle on him earned a 90 point plus score with the highest being the number two cowboy in CBR, Eli Vastbinder who was 92.5 on him in Jackson, Tennessee in January. Left handers have zero chance of riding him if you believe in statistics, right handers ride him 44.4 percent of the time according to Probullstats. But one rider who has not drawn him that Barnett would like to see try him is eighteen year old rookie sensation, Boudreaux Campbell.
“I have known Boudreaux since he was a young kid and I think it would be a great match…for both,” said Barnett from his ranch in Cypress, Texas.
Cartel is in the words of William Barnett “the undisputed anchor” to the Barnett-Burleson bull team program. Referring to him as his “wild child” Barnett acknowledges something other bull team owners are painfully aware of, “he is the secret to the success of our teams,” said Barnett whose bull has earned one third, or $16,000, towards their team’s number one ranking in the CBR Bull Team competition standings.
Cowtown Cartel has been to six CBR events this season including Huron, Conroe, Mercedes, Jackson, Bossier and Lufkin. He bucks in the semifinal round position for Barnett and Burleson and boasts an average ride score of 92 points with an average ride time of 6.5 seconds.
During the 2016-17 season Corey Atwell has drawn him twice riding him both times, Vastbinder once riding him for 92.5 with Chandler Bownds, Corey Bailey, and Cody Rostockyj bucking off the bull Barnett refers to as having a “caty” personality.
“He can be elusive, keeps to himself and you need to be careful around him,” said Barnett. “He won’t try and hurt you, but one time he got out where we were keeping him at a friend’s place and we had to just drive off and just leave him alone and he eventually came back to the other bulls.”
Cartel was purchased by William Barnett and Scott Burleson as a six month old calf at the Exclusive Genetics Sale at the NFR in 2012. The calf was consigned by Gilbert Carrillo, a former winner of the Fort Worth Tuff Hedeman Championship and owner of his sire, Cowtown Cartel. 20179 is the winner of the 2014 Second Chance EG MDBBC. He was bucked minimally as a three year old and suffered a slight injury that same year. Using aquatic conditioning for rehabilitation, Barnett credits Mary Foutch, owner of the Bull Pool for his astounding recovery. “Marty swam him for six months and I believe that is why he recovered,” continued Barnett.
While it is a mystery who will draw Cowtown Cartel this evening, he can be seen at Cowtown Coliseum at the Fort Worth Tuff Hedeman CBR tonight at 8 pm.
Courtesy of CBR