The Morning Line: Springfield, Day 2

Morning Line – Springfield, Day 2

Round 2:

Mason Lowe on 017 Crazy Horse:

Lowe posted a score last night, and he’s got a really good chance to get a second one here. This bull is a statistical anomaly because he tends to go to the left, but he’s allowed right-handed riders to get to the whistle far more often than lefties. For a bull to really fit guys going away from their riding hand, he needs to have great timing, and this one does.

Kaique Pacheco on Y4 Wired Child:

Pacheco has been trading blows with Cooper Davis atop the world standings since Nashville. He lost last night, but he really outdrew Davis in this round. In the 15/15 Bucking Battle immediately following Round 2, Davis has the edge again at least on paper. Wired Child is a good bull, and one that Pacheco can probably get good score on.

Guilherme Marchi on 60X No Regrets:

This is the bull that carried Joao Ricardo Vieira to a 15/15 Bucking Battle win in Tulsa last weekend. He had an off day there, and Vieira really kind of won the round by default after no one else stayed on. No Regrets is usually a solid bull who has shown flashes of short-round quality. He normally goes to the right. Marchi rode him early in the 2015 season for 87.5 points and a round win in Oklahoma City.

Shane Proctor on C12 Rebel Yell:

Proctor did not look sharp last night, but he should fare better on this bull. Rebel Yell is one of the easier bulls in the PBR for right-handed riders. They are 6-4 against him in his career. He’s a good scoring bull too, the average ride score on him is a little over 86 points, but we’ve seen an 89 point ride on him before.

Lachlan Richardson on 00 Set ‘em Up Joe:

This is a good draw for a right-handed rider, and he was good for Richardson when they met last month at a Eureka, Montana, Touring Pro Division event. Richardson came out on top there for an 85.5 point score.

Jess Lockwood on 161 Firehouse:

Silvano Alves handled this bull easily in Round 2 last week, and Lockwood should not have too much trouble with him. The problem is that Lockwood didn’t get a score in Round 1, and he really needs a big score here, and Alves was only 83.25 points on Firehouse.

Tanner Byrne on 104 Tequila Sunrise:

Tequila Sunrise has been ridden just twice in his 15 out career, but Byrne was responsible for one of those. They met in Anaheim, California, earlier this season, and Byrne was only 81.5 points. Cody Nance rode the bull for an 86 point score in Nashville a few weeks back.

Valdiron de Oliveira on 040 Missouri Boat Ride:

Oliveira was disqualified last night, and didn’t get a score. He’s not been having a great year to say the least. This bull however, would make anyone a favorite in the matchup. Missouri Boat Ride may be the easiest to ride bull you will ever see competing at this level. He’s not weak, but he has great timing and he’s very rider-friendly. He’s been ridden eight times in 10 BFTS outs, usually for a mid-80’s type score.

Wallace de Oliveira on 567 Lester Gillis:

We last saw this bull in Billings, Montana, back in April where he threw off Derek Kolbaba and scored 44.25 points doing it. That’s an impressive score in any long round. Lester Gillis is unridden in 17 outs, and he shows a lot of promise. Oliveira will have his hands full here.

15/15 Bucking Battle

Lachlan Richardson on 58X Sweet Pro’s Long John:

Richardson made a career-best ride last week to win the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Thackerville, and this is another bull he could be at least as many points on. That said, he’s a bull with a very different style. Long John is all about power, he’s not particularly fast but he can have as much drop as any bull. Long John has a history of foot problems, and a hoof issue is what has kept him out of action since July. This bull isn’t the best fit for Richardson, who tends to ride loose and relies on balance and recoveries.

Tanner Byrne on -147 Big Cat:

Big Cat is still unridden at 24-0, but he likes to go to the right, and it’s been a while since he’s faced a right-handed rider. Byrne may be a better fit for this bull than most of the other riders here. Big Cat is a really big bull, and that makes Byrne’s height somewhat less of a disadvantage. Since the beginning of this season, eleven riders have attempted him and only one made it past the 3 second mark. I’d give Byrne a good chance of improving on that at least.

Ryan Dirteater on 12 Crossfire:

These two met once before, but it was two and a half years ago. Jess Lockwood rode Crossfire early this summer at J.W. Hart’s event in Decatur, Texas. He’s the only left-handed rider who has ever ridden Crossfire, and even with that ride in the equation, the odds are heavily against any lefty getting to the whistle on this bull. There is cause for some optimism here, though. As left-handed riders go, Dirteater is one of the best at riding bulls that go away from his hand.

Derek Kolbaba on 02 Beaver Creek Beau:

Whatever can be said for Crossfire’s ability to turf left-handed riders, Beaver Creek Beau is better at the same game. Crossfire is 26-1 in his career against lefties, and Beau is 29-1. This is a very strong bull who goes to the right, and he isn’t fast. When a bull has a lot of speed it can sometimes help a rider’s mistake less costly. They can get off balance, but ride through it and land back in the right spot, where a slower and stronger bull like this one prolongs the effect of their mistake. Basically, for a lefty to ride this bull he must be perfect. Kolbaba has already tried him twice before with no luck.

Wallace de Oliveira on E5 Big Cat:

Yes, there are two bulls in this round named Big Cat. This one was recently acquired by Chad Berger, and he made his BFTS debut just a couple of weeks ago in Tulsa. He faced Rubens Barbosa in Round 2 there. He was outstanding there, and the judges didn’t miss it. He was the highest marked bull in the round, and in the Top 10 of the whole Tulsa event. This is a bull worth keeping an eye on, and based on what we’ve seen of him, he fits in with the rest of the bulls in this round. Oliveira will have his hands full here.

Mike Lee on 44W Stone Sober:

Lee has been on Stone Sober twice this season, with no luck. This is a very hard bull to ride, he’s 70-2 in his career, and he’s statistically one of the most difficult high performance bulls in BFTS history. He’s neck and neck with Air Time and Asteroid. He would be a favorite against every rider here, but Lee will approach this the right way. He won’t be intimidated.

Jess Lockwood on 122 Cooper Tires Semper Fi:

I think this is a good draw for Lockwood. This bull can be intimidating because he has great big horns, and he likes to throw riders right over the top of his head. Other than that he’s a good draw for a lefty, especially if you had to pick one from his peers in this round. Lockwood should be less intimidated by him because he lives on Cody Lambert’s ranch, and Lambert knows this bull very well.

Shane Proctor on 841 Wicked:

Proctor faced this bull at the National Finals Rodeo back in 2013 and bucked off. Wicked can be pretty tricky to ride and he’s thrown Cooper Davis and Mike Lee over the last couple of weeks. He’s 34-3 in his career against right-handed riders. I’d consider Wicked the favorite in this match. He rarely has an off day that makes him more rideable, and his average trip is difficult enough to get the best of any rider.

Paulo Lima on 66-1 Midnight Train:

Lima had a really good bull in Round 1, and didn’t even warm him up. This bull will be considerably harder to ride. Midnight Train is unridden in 15 career outs, mainly because he’s really strong and he can have some forward movement. He does like to go to the left, and Lima is better on bulls that go into his hand.

Eduardo Aparecido on 978 Little Red Jacket:

Little Red Jacket is a little bit like Cooper Tires Semper Fi, in that he can have some backup and likes to get the rider down on his head. His glaring weakness is right-handed riders, and that’s why Aparecido has a really good chance here. This bull is 11-2 against lefties, but 12-12 against right-handed guys. Aparecido has been on him twice, bucked off the first time, and posted 88.5 points the second time.

Joao Ricardo Vieira on 045 Seven Dust:

If we assume Seven Dust will have the same trip he had last week with Lachlan Richardson, he won’t be the best fit for Vieira mostly because he goes to the right. Vieira is perfectly capable of riding bulls away from his hand, but this one is far from average. He is going to go to the right about as hard and fast as a bull can go, making this an uphill climb for Vieira.

Fabiano Vieira on 32Y Sweet Pro’s Bruiser:

It’s well known that Vieira is dealing with shoulder problems. It didn’t bother him in Round 1. He got a score there, but that bull was a couple of orders of magnitude easier than this one is going to be. Every rider here would be tickled to have this bull, but it requires a fantastic ride just to get a score. If Vieira can get started well he definitely has a chance to ride this bull for a likely round win, but if he makes any kind of mistake he may not be able to recover.

J.B. Mauney on 1149 Pearl Harbor:

This is obviously the marquee matchup of the weekend. The last time these two met Mauney posted the highest score of the season. While Mauney missed the event in Thackerville last week with an injury, He returned last night with a near perfect effort, and made his bull look ridiculously easy. The last time he faced Pearl Harbor, he had injured his elbow in the previous round, and it was questionable whether he would even be able to compete. He’s coming into this matchup looking much healthier. I’d give Mauney the edge here, but this is enough bull to throw anyone off.

Kaique Pacheco on 001 Smooth Operator:

Pacheco has been on this bull twice, and doesn’t have anything to show for it. Smooth Operator typically goes to the right, but he answered any questions about how easy he is for right-handed riders by yard darting J.W. Harris two days in a row in Seattle last year. This is a bull that had a really bad day with Guilherme Marchi and was ridden, other than that is 39-0 against the best riders in the world, 19 of those being right-handed. Pacheco is riding well and is a legitimate contender for a World Championship, but unless he gets a lucky break from this bull he’s an underdog in this round.

Cooper Davis on 135 Hey Jack

Hey Jack is unridden in his career, but compared to a lot of the bulls in this group he’s untested. He hasn’t faced a lot of top-tier riders and has spent most of his career in Canada. He can be pretty difficult because he can spin either way, doesn’t always have perfect timing and can move forward in the spin at times. That said, he’s had a lot of rideable trips, especially when you narrow this down to looking at Pacheco’s matchup versus this one. Of the two guys atop the world standings, Davis definitely has the better draw in this round, but he’s got to make it pay off. If they both ride, Pacheco will win. If they both buck off, it’s a tie. But, all things considered, Davis has a far better chance of getting a score here.