The Morning Line: Billings, Day 2

Morning Line – Billings Round 2:

Mike Lee on 0114 Tahonta’s Magic:

Lee should pick up ride number 500 here. This bull is ridden pretty often. He’s strong, but he telegraphs every move, and he doesn’t have a lot of speed. He tries to work riders out of position, and he gets a few of them, but a rider who keeps hustling will beat him most of the time.

Jess Lockwood on 976 Slick Rick:

Lockwood dominated his bull last night, but he may have a tougher time with this one. Slick Rick threw off Matt Triplett and Mason Lowe in Sioux Falls, and Stormy Wing in Duluth. He should go to the right, and he’s got both speed and power.

Joao Ricardo Vieira on 157 Legacy:

Vieira didn’t get a score last night, but he should get one here. This bull is as good a fit for him as there is in this round. Legacy will fall right into a left-hand spin with great timing, and if he can shake Vieira doing that it will surprise everyone on the back of the chutes.

Justin Paton on 104 Moto Moto:

Moto Moto was the best long round bull in Sioux Falls. He went twice there, and his average bull score was better than some of the long round and 15/15 Bucking Battle round bulls. He’s a wild bull with a lot of action right out of the gate. Once he goes into a spin he’s a little better to ride, but he can throw a lot at a rider before he ever spins. Paton is a little bit of an underdog in this match, but if he can hang in he will get a big score.

Mason Lowe on 81X American Hustle:

This is one of the best bulls in the round, but he’s also one of the most difficult to ride. We see him in short rounds sometimes, and he’s been in several this year. He’s similar to another bull in this round – DaNutso – in that he’s erratic and unpredictable and his performance suffers for it at times. His difficulty level is always high, though.

Stetson Lawrence on 214 Jailbreaker:

Lawrence won the round last night with a gutsy ride, but to repeat here he will have to do what no one else has yet, stay on this bull. Jailbreaker doesn’t have a lot of wow factor, but he’s very good at getting out from under riders. If they are in good shape on him he will change things up, move forward, or go the other way. He’s beaten several very good riders this season.

Silvano Alves on 138 Crackerjack:

Alves had a bull that fit him last night, and didn’t get it done, and he’s got another one here. Tanner Byrne rode Crackerjack to clinch the win in Duluth, and Valdiron de Oliveira was 87.25 points on him in Sioux Falls. He should go to the right with Alves and have a little backup, and Alves should be a big favorite here, except that it’s hard to know what to expect out of the three time World Champion lately. He’s struggling with every bull.

Eduardo Aparecido on 95X DaNutso:

Aparecido has been on this bull three times. He made the whistle on him in 2014, but he’s come down twice this season. DaNutso is the big variable in this matchup. He seldom gets ridden when he’s at his best, but he’s also seldom at his best. He can be really off his game at times, but most of the time he’s something in between. Aparecido is a pretty consistent rider, and we know what to expect from him here, but not so with the bull.

15/15 Bucking Battle:

Derek Kolbaba on Y16 Brutus:

Brutus is one of the strongest bulls in the PBR, but he’s been ridden in three of his last four outs. That said, he still may not be the best fit for Kolbaba. Kolbaba has done well on racy, high performance type bulls but not as much on the more powerful types. Brutus is a stronger than a Mack truck, and that’s about the only trick he has. If he can’t yank the rider’s arm off on the first jump, he’ll try again and again until the whistle blows.

Cooper Davis on 841 Wicked:

This is a rematch from Sioux Falls where Wicked had about the best trip we’ve ever seen him have. Davis has actually bucked off of him four times, twice last season, and once at a rodeo in 2013 before Gene Owen bought him. Wicked is another unpredictable type bull. He can be ridden, but it largely depends on what he brings to the table on a given day.

Mason Lowe on 12 Crossfire:

Lowe is right-handed, and that is an advantage on this bull, but Crossfire is so good that it’s not much of an advantage. Crossfire isn’t unpredictable at all, everyone knows he’s going to spin to the right, but that knowledge hasn’t really helped anyone be successful on him. Cooper Davis is the only man who has made the whistle on him, and he had to work pretty hard to do it. Lowe is up against the same situation here. He’s capable of getting a score here, but it’s not going to be easy.

Robson Palermo/Gage Gay on 58X Long John:

Palermo was injured last night, and it’s unclear whether he will be able to go here. If he can’t I believe Gage Gay would fall into this spot. Long John isn’t a great fit for either rider’s style. Over the past two years, Long John has only been ridden by J.B. Mauney, J.W. Harris, and Nathan Schaper. He’s also thrown those three off at least once. Long John is like Brutus in that his style is all about power and strength, but there’s a little more to him than there is with Brutus.

Kaique Pacheco on 02 Beaver Creek Beau:

Beaver Creek Beau goes to the right, and Pacheco is right-handed, but Beau is unridden this season, and he’s been thoroughly tested. The difficulty with Beau is that he’s hard to get in time with. Riders expect him to be faster than he is, and a lot of guys over ride him. They get ahead of him just a little, and when they slack off he gets them.

Eduardo Aparecido on -147 Big Cat:

Big Cat is unridden in 21 career outs, but in Little Rock last week he didn’t look that difficult. He’s a big, strong bull, and he went to the right with Justin Paton there. If he has the same trip here, Aparecido has a chance.

Mike Lee on 045 Seven Dust:

Lee may get to 500 rides in round two, but if he does, we may not see ride 501 until tomorrow. Seven Dust is a handful. He’s unpredictable, and really wild, and he gets a lot of riders off in under three seconds. Frankly, he can do a lot in just three seconds.

Ryan Dirteater on 44W Stone Sober:

Cody Lambert doesn’t really like this bull because he’s untrustworthy. He has a lot of misfires and occasionally he just doesn’t buck very well at all. The rest of the time, though, he’ll spin to the left and he’s all but un-rideable. Emilio Resende was 88 points on him in 2013, and Joao Ricardo Vieira rode him in 2014 but earned a re-ride. No one else has done it. He has a big first move, and he can roll to the right and spin to the left all in one jump. Dirteater will have his hands full here.

Tanner Byrne on 954 Machinery Auctioneer’s Little Joe:

This is a good matchup for Byrne. Little Joe has given up a couple of rides this season, and he likes to go to the right. Of all the riders in this round, Byrne, Lima and Aparecido really have the closest thing to a bull that fits their style, and Aparecido has a tougher draw than this.

Wallace de Oliveira on RK101 Slinger Jr.:

With one qualified ride in 38 career outs, Slinger Jr is pretty high on the difficulty chart. He’s thrown J.B. Mauney twice this season, and Stetson Lawrence is the only man who has made the whistle on him. Oliveira is the underdog in this matchup, and just about any other rider would be as well.

Shane Proctor on 32Y Sweet Pro’s Bruiser:

Proctor may be struggling of late, but he’s one of the best riders around on honest bulls, and Bruiser is very honest. The World Champion Bull race this year may well come down to whether or not Air Time can have two great outs at PBR World Finals, because it’s a given that Bruiser will. He will be away from Proctor’s hand here, and Proctor is certainly the underdog in this match, but Bruiser is the kind of bull that any rider here can ride, so long as they don’t make a mistake, and he’s good for a 90+ point score every single time.

Joao Ricardo Vieira on 654 Stanley FatMax:

These two have met twice, and Vieira has come down twice. FatMax is not only unridden this season, he hasn’t even really been challenged. He’s been around since 2008, he’s got 70 buckoffs at the BFTS level, and 118 overall, and he’s been making it look easy lately. Vieira has little chance of success here, but mentally that is more of a help than a hindrance. Having nothing to lose is a good situation to be in when it comes to riding bulls.

Paulo Lima on 978 Little Red Jacket:

This is certainly the bull to have in this group. Little Red Jacket has been ridden in his last five outs going back to New York. He will probably spin away from Lima’s hand, but even with that he’s an easier bull than most in this round. This bull can have a little backup, but if Lima can stay off his head he will come away with a score and some points.

Fabiano Vieira on W37 Cochise:

These two met in St. Louis, and the bull won decisively. Paulo Lima rode Cochise for 90 points in New York, but since then no one has really warmed him up. Look for a big long jump right out of the gate. That’s what makes Cochise so difficult, he can cover a lot of ground with his first jump.

Lachlan Richardson on 781 Asteroid:

Asteroid has had three trips this season, and two of them have been noticeably less impressive than his career average bull score. Richardson has been on him before, and came down quickly. Whether we get the best Asteroid or the one from Arlington and Phoenix, he won’t fit Richardson’s style very well, and the odds are heavily in the bull’s favor here.