In the Bull Pen: Sacramento

The bull pen in Sacramento, California, will look a lot like the bull pen last week in Anaheim, California. That should be no surprise. With just two long rounds, and no 15/15 round, fewer bulls will be used in Sacramento overall. The lower-performing bulls in Anaheim won’t come back in Anaheim, and that’s normal, but some of the top-tier bulls are heading straight for St. Louis instead of staying in California for an extra week — Chad Berger’s Crossfire, Brown Sugar, and Smooth Sailing among them.

Cooper Tires Brown Sugar and Smooth Sailing are the top two bulls in the World Championship Bull race at the moment, and they won’t get to add to their total score this weekend. A number of bulls who will be in Sacramento have a good chance to take over the top spot by the end of the weekend.Walk Off, Beaver Creek Beau and Big Cat have the best chance. Each of those bulls can take the lead with less than a 43-point bull score in Sacramento, and all three are set to go in the Built Ford Tough Championship Round on Saturday. Stanley FatMax, Fire Rock, and Grandpa Joe can also do it, but they will need one big scoring out or multiple outs this weekend. This early in the year, the World Championship Bull race is essentially a race to eight total outs. Later in the season when many bulls have eight outs, lead changes will be more difficult to achieve.

Rob Smets’ bull Jeremiah was on trial in Anaheim last week. PBR Livestock director Cody Lambert had doubts about him after a weak out in Oklahoma City, but Jeremiah made up for it with two strong outs in Anaheim that put him in the Top 10 highest-marked bulls there. It also put him within reach of the lead in the World Champion Bull race, but he’ll need a 45-point bull score to get there.

We will see Bushwacker’s half brother and Julio Moreno’s current star Roy again. He was one of the top bulls in Anaheim, and he will pick up his second BFTS out of the season in the Sacramento short round. Roy is expected to be a real contender for World Champion bull this season.

The Page’s big three — SweetPro’s Long John, SweetPro’s Bruiser and Brutus will all be in Sacramento, along with Chad Berger’s After Party, and they are among the bulls Lambert was most impressed with in Anaheim.

“After Party looks like he’s still got some left in the tank,” Lambert said. “Long John, Bruiser and Brutus were all outstanding. Bandy’s Bad Boy was really, really good. He’s a young bull, and we bucked him twice last week, so I’ve got him as a re-ride in the short round this week. Walk Off was either the best we’ve seen him in a while, or Lachlan Richardson really made him look good.”

Other bulls featured in the Sacramento short round include DaNutso, Boot Jack, No Regrets, American Hustle, and Hou’s Jacket.

Because the pen is shallower overall, the long rounds in Sacramento won’t be lacking in bull power either. We will see Fire Rock, Shepherd Hills Trapper, and Fire & Smoke among others in a leaner, meaner set of bull talent this weekend.

Follow Slade Long on Twitter @Probullstats