In the Bull Pen: Little Rock

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The riders dominated in Jacksonville last week, but their reign is about to come to an end as the Built Ford Tough Series moves to Little Rock, Arkansas, this week. The Bad Boy Mowdown is a two day event just like Jacksonville, but the bull power will be significantly ramped up.

Round 1 in Little Rock will be an ABBI Classic competition for the third time this season. In Oklahoma City, the riders didn’t fare well against the three and four-year-olds, but they did better in Kansas City. Look for several of the Classic bulls to be short round quality performers, including Bezerk, the bull Eduardo Aparecido won the Jacksonville championship round on. Keep an eye out for Smooth Over, Call the Law, The Hard Stuff, and After Midnight.

Round 2 will be stacked from top to bottom with very good bulls including Lester Gillis, Cooper’s Comet, Wicked Stick, Little Red Jacket, and many more. We’ve seen all of those bulls in championship rounds before, and their presence in the second long round here is telling sign that the championship round in Little Rock will be a gauntlet.

2016 World Champion bull SweetPro’s Bruiser will get his sixth out of the season in Little Rock, and he heads up a cast of superstars set for Saturday’s championship round. Pearl Harbor has been the best bull so far this season, and he is out of action for the time being, but nearly every bull who can truly compete with him is scheduled to go Saturday night. Jared Allen’s Air Time, Seven Dust, Cochise, Stone Sober, Hey Jack and TLW’s Big Cat are all in. Those six bulls alone are a combined 149-10 at the Built Ford Tough Series level. The average buckoff percentage for the 15 Little Rock championship round bulls is 92%.

Chad Berger and Heald Pro Bulls have two bulls making their short round debut. Speed Demon and Molik were both outstanding in St. Louis, and earned a championship round slot this week. Jason Aduddel’s Cut the Cord is also making his championship round debut here. All three of these bulls are in a tough position, trying to look good in a pen of the PBR’s best animal athletes.

D&H Bucking Bulls have the most bulls here, but only by one. They are bringing 14, and Chad Berger has 13 on his truck. Jared Allen and Gene Owen both have a presence here. Because of the ABBI Classic competition, we will see 31 different stock contractors at a two day event.

The riders may be feeling good after last week’s event, but the bulls in Little Rock will be a challenge from beginning to end, and with Albuquerque on tap for next week, this is the start of two big weeks for the bulls.