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Fairfax Draw: Gloria ready for Bubble Race; Marchi Returning

By: Justin Felisko
September 19, 2018

Marcos Gloria sustained a shoulder injury at the Atlantic City Invitational when he was bucked off by Shameless, but X-rays show no serious damage. Photo: Andy Watson/BullStockMedia.com.

PUEBLO, Colo. – Marcos Gloria avoided a scare this past weekend in Atlantic City, New Jersey, after X-rays and a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday showed no serious damage to his left shoulder following his 5.8-second buckoff against Shameless.

Gloria’s agent, Andre Portes, said the No. 35 rider in the world is competing at the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational this weekend in Fairfax, Virginia, and that he is focusing on making a push to stay within the Top 35 of the world standings.

Gloria has a five-point lead on No. 36 Brock Radford in the world standings, and is only 87.5 points back of No. 28 Joao Ricardo Vieira.

“Riding on the premier series is definitely a dream come true,” Gloria said with the help of Portes translating. “Riding along the best bull riders in the world, guys that I’ve only seen on TV back in Brazil, is amazing.”

Gloria is 2-for-9 in four premier series events after his impressive 2018 summer run, which included him becoming the first Brazilian since Adriano Moraes (1994) to win the Calgary Stampede, allowed him to make his career-debut at the PBR’s top level last month.

“I’m really struggling to adapt with the bulls here,” Gloria said. “It is being difficult, especially because I was riding really good at the top of my game back home in Canada. So I’m still in the fight, giving all I got to make this Finals. Definitely a big step and my main focus right now is to accomplish that.”

Gloria will look to make up ground in the standings when he faces Blue Boy (2-0, PBR UTB) in Round 1 on Saturday night. Fans can watch all of the action from Eaglebank Arena on RidePass beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The 28-year-old is fifth in the Rookie of the Year race, 350.83 points behind Keyshawn Whitehorse.

Radford remains out of competition with his torn left ACL/MCL. He is hopeful for a return to competition in Greensboro, North Carolina, next month.

Meanwhile, No. 37 Emilio Resende is also still out following reconstructive shoulder surgery.

No. 39 Cliff Richardson is also not competing in Virginia as he heads back home to Australia to tend to some personal business.

No. 21 Tanner Byrne remains out with a right ankle injury.

Therefore, No. 38 Alisson de Souza, No. 40 Lucas Divino, No. 41 Cody Campbell and No. 42 Fraser Babbington are in the draw.

This will be Babbington’s season debut on the Unleash The Beast and his first regular-season event since March 10, 2017.

The 31-year-old turned down an alternate position last week for Atlantic City after finding out too late he had a spot in the draw as an alternate. Instead, Babbington stayed in Portland, Maine, and went 0-for-2 at the Velocity event.

Babbington explained to RidePass host Colby Yates in Portland that he simply found out too late about Atlantic City.

“I flown over here and had just booked my motel in Portland, Maine, and was waiting for my Uber at the airport looking at my emails asking me if I could make it to Atlantic City,” Babbington said. “I would have if I had known probably six hours earlier when I had a stopover in Atlanta. Then I wouldn’t got on the plane and booked a motel. It is what it is.”

No. 66 Cody Jesus is this weekend’s Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour invite.

Jesus earned the invite following his victory in his hometown of Window Rock, Arizona, on Sept. 4. The 20-year-old used two 90-point rides to earn his first RVT win.

He takes on Red Fury (1-6, PBR UTB) in Round 1. Jesus is 6-for-11 at all levels of PBR competition this season.

Divino is now sitting in 40th place in the world standings because of his RVT victory last weekend in Portland, Maine.

The win was also his first Velocity Tour victory. Divino is 24-for-48 (50 percent) at all levels and will square off against Freakin Wicked (0-2, PBR UTB).

2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi will be returning to competition from his two-week hiatus. He takes on Hy Test (24-23, PBR UTB). Hy Test has bucked off Marchi in two of three previous matchups, but the 36-year-old won the last showdown with 83.75 points in Kansas City, Missouri.

World leader Kaique Pacheco will try to extend his 761.67-point lead on No. 2 Claudio Montanha Jr. when he faces Dang It (1-0, PBR UTB).

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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