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In the Bull Pen: Charlotte

With just three regular season events left, PBR livestock director Cody Lambert’s attention is on focused on selecting bulls for the World Finals. Because of this, bulls from as far away as North Dakota and Minnesota are on hand in Charlotte, North Carolina, trying to either win a spot on Lambert’s list, or make their case in the World Champion Bull race. For the rest of the regular season, a lot of bulls will be on the bubble to make it to the Finals, and this part of the season the pressure is on stock contractors just like it is on riders.

Jared Allen’s Air Time, one of the few World Champion contenders who wasn’t in Springfield, Missouri, last week will be on hand in Charlotte, aiming for a little more exposure and maybe a little practice before the Finals.

“Air Time really has a shot at it,” Lambert said. “It’s kind of out of the way for them to want to bring him all the way to the east coast, but I think last week was a wakeup call for World Champion Bull contenders. Bruiser was the high-marked bull in Springfield, and while he’s a Classic bull, I think he’s got to be in the running for World Champion as well. I would have never thought a bull could win the ABBI Classic division and the PBR in one year, but it’s looking like it might. Bruiser is consistent, and he can bring it for 8 seconds. Air Time can be a better bull, but he’s dependent on what the judges score him. There are a lot of times when he rolls the rider off so quick they don’t really get to see him at his best.”

This time of year is crunch time for the bulls. Most of the bulls we will see at Charlotte and next two events have a shot at making the World Finals, but they are all under the microscope. A bad trip this time of year is costly, and no bull has more pressure on him than Jeff Robinson’s Percolator.

“I’ve got Percolator in the short go,” Lambert said. “But, he ran off at Nashville. He had a really bad day. Charlotte will be an important event for Percolator, because it will decide whether he makes the finals or goes into retirement. He won’t come back as a long round caliber bull — he’s either one of the top short round bulls or he’s not good enough to be there.”

Chad Berger’s Apollo Stripes is another bull who has been boom or bust throughout his career. He’s coming to Charlotte after a year’s absence. Two weak trips last September sent him back to the lower levels, where he has been pretty consistent.

“I haven’t seen him in a year,” Lambert said. “Chad has sent me videos of him, so I know he’s been doing well, but he’s another bull who either belongs at the top of the short round or he isn’t good enough to be there. When he has an off day, he’s really off. Chad has another bull here – 991 Dead Calm – that is kind of in the same situation as Apollo Stripes and Percolator. He’s coming to Charlotte, and this is really his chance to make the Finals.

Because the ABBI Classic bulls fill up a couple of rounds at the World Finals, Lambert needs to select about 105 bulls to attend. He’s got a good number of those selected already.

“I think I have about 75 bulls locked in right now,” Lambert said. “We won’t see them again before the Finals. The rest of the spots are kind of wait and see. What happens is, a bad trip now is costly for a bull. They won’t get another chance because the season is winding down. It was lucky for Percolator that he had his bad trip in Nashville, and this will be his second chance here. Many bulls don’t ever get a second chance. Percolator deserves one because he’s been so good for so long.”

Charlotte will also feature bulls from east coast based contractors including Jerome Davis, Gold Spur Ranch and Torres Brothers.

Follow Slade Long on Twitter @Probullstats

© 2015 PBR Inc. All rights reserved.

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