The Morning Line: Anaheim, Day 3

Morning Line – Anaheim Round 3

There are 34 riders in this round, and 24 of them have a chance to have at least two scores on the board after this round. Seven riders already have two scores. If anyone manages to make the short round on one bull, it will take at least 87 points to do so, and that is if the riders fail miserably as a group in Round 3. That’s not likely to happen. Quite a few riders are drawn up favorably, and we could easily see 15 rides in the round. Everyone here still has a shot at making the Built Ford Tough Championship Round, but the guys who do not have a score on the board yet will need a big one.

Another aspect of today’s action is that we will see a new leader in the World Champion Bull race when the day is done. The rules changed on how the bulls are selected this year. Their best eight regular season outs will be totaled, and the top seven totals will automatically qualify for the chance to win the title at the World Finals. It’s early in the season, and obviously this race will change week to week. Chad Berger will own the top spot after today’s action with either Cooper Tires Brown Sugar or Smooth Sailing. Obviously no bulls have eight outs yet. One bull has four, and after today’s short round Brown Sugar and Smooth Sailing will also have four, and both of them should easily surpass the bull that’s on top right now. One of them will be the new leader until next week at least.

Cooper Davis on 2-1 Mortimer:

Davis is one of the riders who has one score, and he’s in the 10th spot right now. His position isn’t safe, and he needs to pick up a second score. He has a good bull to do that on here. Mortimer has proven to be very rideable when he faces the better riders, and he should go to the right — into Davis’ hand. Paulo Lima rode him in Ontario, California, in November, and he was around to the right with Lima.

Fabiano Vieira on 915 Houla Hoop:

Vieira is another one score guy, and he’s on the bubble right now. He has to have another ride. Houla Hoop is a rock solid bull that is usually pretty honest. He does go to the right and he can reverse the spin, but he’s well within Vieira’s capabilities. He’s been ridden a number of times by left-handed riders.

Gage Gay on 058 American Sniper:

This is a good bull to have in any long round if you need to place high or win the round. Gay has a total of 86 points here, which has him tied with Vieira and others on the bubble and needing another score. Sniper isn’t an easy bull, but he’s got enough juice to produce high score. Gay definitely has a chance on him, but it will be work.

Wallace Vieira de Oliveira on 91 Hair Trigger:

Oliveira finds himself leading the event. He won the event in Chicago, and is third in the standings at the moment. He isn’t the dominant rider that the perennial Top-5-type guys are, and he needs a little help from the draw. He got it last night with his re-ride bull Chin Music — one of the easier bulls at this level. He’s got another good draw here. Hair Trigger is 6-8 against right- handed riders, and he’s been ridden nine times in 16 Built Ford Tough Series outs. He can go either way or both ways, but he has even timing and he’s very rider-friendly. Sean Willingham won the second round here in Anaheim on him last year.

Emilio Resende on 01 Cash Ya Out:

Wallace Oliveira won the first round on this bull with 89.25 points, and he should fit Resende better than he fit Oliveira. Resende is on the outside looking in right now with 83.25 points total, but he could get back in in a big way with this bull.

Kasey Hayes on 807 Cowtown Slinger:

Hayes has been on this bull twice before. He was 7.29 seconds the first time, and 89 points the second. Cowtown Slinger is a fantastic long round draw. He has near-perfect timing, and the only thing that’s really hard about him is his speed. He can be relentless. Hayes is one of the guys with 86 points, but this bull will carry him to the short round.

Robson Palermo on T05 El Capitan:

Palermo has the highest score among guys who have just one ride, and he will probably pick up another one here. El Capitan will probably spin away from his hand, but even with that he’s not enough bull to beat Palermo.

Tanner Byrne on 00 Set ‘em Up Joe:

Byrne has looked good this weekend so far. He’s 2-for-2, and this bull could earn him some points in the round. Brady Sims had Joe in Round 1 and didn’t get a score, but this is a bull that fits right-handed riders much better than lefties. Byrne has a chance to move near the top going into the short round.

Valdiron de Oliveira on 078 Grandpa Joe:

Oliveira has the lowest total score at the event that isn’t zero. He must have another ride to have any chance at points here. Grandpa Joe threw Cooper Davis in Round 1, but he is consistently a good long round draw for anyone. He plays fair, and he’s the kind of bull that riders love. He’s hard to ride, but not too hard. He doesn’t rely on one aspect of his style, he just does everything pretty well.

Derek Kolbaba on 40 Preacher:

Not much history on this bull, but he has three outs on record and has given up three rides. It’s safe to say that Kolbaba has a pretty good chance in this match, and that means he has a pretty good chance at being 3-for-3 going into the short round.

Joao Ricardo Vieira on 821 Super Kool Kat:

Vieira has had to face a couple of bulls here already that go away from his hand, and even though he catches a lot of flack about his lack of success on them, he has looked great here so far. He rode his bull in round one to the right and looked good. he bucked off last night, but he was riding the bull near perfectly up to that point. There have been times when he’s looked clueless against bulls that go away from his hand, but not for the past two days. This particular bull is far from a good fit for him for a number of reasons. He goes to the right, he’s tricky, he’s mean, and there’s very little margin for error on him. He wants the rider down on the inside of the spin, and he shifts around in the spin and moves away from the rider trying to do this. There’s a fine line on this bull, and the guys who have ridden him have done it by not crossing that line. If you were taking tests on bulls that spin opposite your riding hand, this would be an expert level test.

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