The Morning Line: St. Louis, Day 3

ST. LOUIS – The three guys at the top have drawn well through the first two rounds, and they drew well today too. A number of guys who haven’t done anything so far did draw really good bulls in Round 3, including J.B. Mauney, Matt Triplett, Ryan Dirteater and Shane Proctor.

Chase Outlaw on 288 Mr. Big Stuff:

Outlaw has won both rounds here so far, and don’t look for the good times to end here. He probably won’t win a third round on this bull, but this is the easiest of the three he’s drawn. Mr. Big Stuff was out twice last season, and gave up a score both times. He goes to the left and has a style that fits every rider. Outlaw should score 86 points or so here and hang on to the event lead.

Mason Lowe on 804 Hustle Man:

Lowe is right with Outlaw at the top of the event leaderboard, and he should pick up a third straight qualified ride in this round as well. This bull will go away from his hand, and statistically he hasn’t been nice to right-handed riders, but the rest of the story is that he got lucky a couple of times. This bull is too nice to throw guys off at this level.

Luciano de Castro on 177 Time Bomb:

De Castro did well in Round 1 on a very nice bull, but the bull he had in Round 2 was a beast that could have won 99% of the riders in Built Ford Tough Series history. Time Bomb will be somewhere in between the two extremes. He can be a little tricky, but he’s rideable. He’s much more rideable than Speed Demon – the bull de Castro had last night.

Silvano Alves on A6 Church Bells:

Alves has won three world titles, solely because he stayed on a lot of bulls. His riding percentage in 2011 was 68%, and in 2012 it was 60%.  2014 was a down year for riders in general, and he won it riding 56%. In 2015 and 2016 he didn’t go over 50%, but that is where he is sitting currently. More importantly he’s at 62% over the past five events. He’s essentially returned to form. Church Bells is the bull Jake Gowdy rode for 87.75 points last night, and he’s a very good draw. He went to the left with Gowdy, but Alves should be able to deal with him going away from his hand.

Claudio Montanha Jr. on 34 Gypsy Joe:

Here’s the bull Chase Outlaw split the first round on, and a guy who can really ride. This will be away from his hand, but he hasn’t shown any weakness going that way. If Gypsy Joe has the same trip he did Friday, Montanha will be fine.

Shane Proctor on 264 Ram It:

Proctor should pick up a good score here. Gage Gay scored 86.75 points on this bull in the first round. Proctor hasn’t drawn that well here so far, but this bull is a good fit for him. He’s really a good fit for almost everyone.

Matt Triplett on -127 Cooper’s Comet:

Triplett isn’t having a great weekend, but he could salvage the whole thing with a ride here. Cooper’s Comet may be the best draw in this round, and he’s especially good for right-handed riders. Shane Proctor won the Kansas City short go on him just a couple of weeks ago.

Kaique Pacheco on 104 Moto Moto:

We’ve seen this before. Specifically, just a couple of weeks ago in Kansas City where Pacheco won the 15/15 Bucking Battle on Moto Moto. This is a borderline short round quality bull who is 8-6 against right-handed riders. That’s as good a draw as Pacheco could hope for here. He’s ridden his first two bulls, and this one has more round win potential than either of those.

Luis Blanco on 219 Tractor Tippin’

This bull should fit Blanco really well, and allow him to pick up his second score of the weekend. Tractor Tippin bucked off Sonny Schafferius last night, but he’s he’s been ridden four times in seven BFTS outs overall. He’s one of the more rider-friendly bulls in this round, and as an added bonus, he should spin into Blanco’s hand.

J.B. Mauney on -935 Texicali:

Luck of the draw at the BFTS level can change quickly. No one has drawn worse than Mauney at this event, and in round three very few guys drew better. This is a solid bull with good timing who is ridden a lot at this level, including by Mauney who scored 90.25 points on him in Nashville last year.