The Morning Line: Springfield, Day 3

Morning Line – Springfield Round 3

In case you haven’t looked at the bottom line yet, the bulls are winning this event big time. There were only 14 qualified rides in the first two rounds and two more in the 15/15 Bucking Battle. Ryan Dirteater is the only guy with two scores so far. So, on the last day, this is still wide open. Anyone could step up and ride two bulls and have a chance to win the event here. Mike Lee’s Round 1 winning ride on Organized Crime is really the only exceptional ride we’ve seen so far. Most of the qualified rides have come on pretty average bulls by Built Ford Tough Series standards.

Round 3:

Kaique Pacheco on A1 Rise & Shine:

We don’t know too much about this bull other than Aaron Roy had him in Round 1, and bucked off in under three seconds. He’ll have to be pretty good to get Pacheco on the ground, though. Pacheco is in a good spot here, with Davis out, and Mauney questionable due to injuries, he’s free to capitalize by gathering up whatever points he can. He’s riding well this year, but not well enough that he doesn’t need to capitalize on this situation.

Cody Nance on -935 Texicali:

Nance picked up an 83.75 point score in Round 1, and that may turn out to be valuable, because he’s got a very good draw here, and is likely to pick up a second score to add to it. Texicali is a reliable pattern bucker that typically spins to the right with great timing and he’s well within the capability of every rider here.

Mason Lowe on 1202 Mr. Deeds. Jr.

Not sure if Lowe will be able to compete today, but if he answers the bell he’s got a good draw waiting for him. Eduardo Aparecido was 84 on this bull in Round 1, which shouldn’t be enough to do well in the round, but like Nance, Lowe also had a Round 1 score.

Silvano Alves on 204 Deep Water:

Deep Water is one of the better bulls in this round. He’s still unridden, but in Round 1 with Joao Ricardo Vieira, he looked more rideable than he usually does. Over the past few events we’ve seen flashes of the old Alves at times, and the old Alves ended the unridden streaks of a lot of bulls. This will be a real challenge, but a top-tier bull matched with a top-tier rider always carries the potential for a big score.

Eduardo Aparecido on 56Z Lifting Lives:

Aparecido is one of the guys who has a score here. He also picked up the win in the 15/15 Bucking Battle last night. But, in the first round he rode one of the easier bulls and still took a hard shot because he was looking to check out two jumps too early. He had one of the better bulls to ride in the 15/15 Bucking Battle as well. Lifting Lives is not going to be very forgiving. He’s unridden, he’s a little wild, and he can have a lot of forward movement. Aparecido won’t be able to coast on this bull or take it easy in any way. This will be a fight, and he’ll have to fight until after the whistle blows to get a score here.

J.B. Mauney on 2117 Paradise City Slinger:

Mauney is questionable for today, but he’s had a lot of great moments and big rides one day after being declared questionable. If Mauney can compete today there’s no question that he can pick up a second score here. Paradise City Slinger doesn’t have much PBR experience, but he’s been around for about a year, and he has been ridden a couple of times. Tanner Byrne was 85 on him at a Denver, Colorado, Touring Pro Division event back in January.

Mike Lee on 2125 Wicked Stick:

Lee won the first round, and he’s got an opportunity to win this round as well. Wicked Stick is one of the best and most consistent bulls in this round, and the only down side for Lee is that he hasn’t been ridden at all this year. J.B. Mauney was 91 on him at last year’s Built Ford Tough World Finals, and since then he’s 13-0.

Wallace Vieira de Oliveira on 2013 Cool Hand Luke:

Oliveira made some waves at the beginning of the season, but they washed up around April, which is the last time he made a qualified ride at the BFTS level. He’s got an opportunity to break out of his slump here. This is the bull Cooper Davis rode in Round 1 here, and in Thackerville. He’s one of the least difficult to ride bulls at the BFTS level, and every guy here has a chance at him.

Stetson Lawrence on B60 Handsome Jeff:

Lawrence is 0-for-2 here so far, but with this bull he’s got a chance to step up and win this round. This is a rematch from Thackerville where Lawrence came down in 5 seconds, but he should have a feel for the bull now, and he’s due for a payday. Lawrence has been known to hit the home run right when you least expect it.

Ryan Dirteater on 632Z Double Doze:

Dirteater is in the driver’s seat as the only rider who is 2-for-2 so far. He just needs one qualified ride in two outs today to end up sitting pretty at the end of this event. The bull he has here is relatively unknown, he threw Nevada Newman in the first round, and he got Stetson Lawrence in Little Rock, Arkansas, earlier this season.