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Whitehorse Wins Round 1 in Billings; Round 2 Draw Set

By: Justin Felisko
April 21, 2018

Keyshawn Whitehorse is leading in Billings, Mont. Photo: Andy Watson/BullStockMedia.com.

BILLINGS, Mont. – Here are three things we learned from Round 1 and the 15/15 Bucking Battle Saturday night at the Stanley Performance In Action Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires.

Whitehorse wins Round 1 in Billings; Round 2 draw set

Keyshawn Whitehorse had the night off on Saturday seeing as he was part of the Group A riders that rode in Round 1 on Friday night.

However, Whitehorse’s 87.75-point ride on Blue Stone wound up holding up to be his first career Unleash The Beast round win as only three additional riders rode their bulls in Saturday’s Group B of Round 1.

“It’s an achievement, and I am really happy that I have it, but I look forward to much more,” Whitehorse said. “I will take this moment, appreciate it and know that this is just a stepping stone.”

Whitehorse earned 120 world points for the victory and moved up to 19th in the world standings.

The 20-year-old agreed that there were pros and cons to having Saturday night off. He and Lonnie West were the only two riders that posted qualified rides on Friday night that were not competing on Saturday night.

“If you are hurt and sore – I am pretty sore myself – then it does feel good to take a night off, but then again there is the momentum,” Whitehorse said. “With that being said, you keep the same mindset going into tomorrow and you should be fine. Keep that same mindset and keep pushing more. No matter how tomorrow goes, I know I did my best. But we are going to keep going and keep pushing and keep moving forward.”

Whitehorse has drawn Embers for Round 2. Embers has been ridden in all three of his career outs.

There were 11 riders that advanced to Round 2 with a qualified ride – Whitehorse, Claudio Montanha Jr. (87 points on Hammer Down; 100 world points), Dakota Buttar (86 points on Grey Ghost; 80 world points), Lonnie West (85.5 points on Big Slick; 70 world points), Jess Lockwood (85 points on Blackberry Smoke; 60 world points), Kaique Pacheco (84.25 points on Devour; 50 world points), Joao Ricardo Vieira (84 points on Yesterday’s Wine; 35 world points), Tye Chandler (84 points on Smoke Wagon; 35 world points), Ramon de Lima (83.25 points on Money Talks; 20 world points), Junio Quaresima (80.75 points on Carbon Copy; 10 world points) and Alisson Souza (76 points on Rooster Tail; 5 world points).

Souza actually placed third at the Real Time Pain Relief Velccity Tour event in Des Moines on Saturday night and was making the 14-hour drive back to Billings throughout the night.

Seeing as there were only 11 qualified rides in Round 1 over the two days of competition, the top 19 highest-ranking riders in the world standings at the start of the event also advanced to Round 2, according to the official ground rules for the event.

Those riders are: No. 2 Cody Nance, No. 3 Luciano de Castro, No. 6 Eduardo Aparecido, No. 11 Cooper Davis, No. 12 Brennon Eldred, No. 13 Ryan Dirteater, No. 14 Derek Kolbaba, No. 16 Valdiron de Oliveira, No. 17 Stetson Lawrence, No. 21 Tanner Byrne, No. 24 Fabiano Vieira, No. 26 Marco Eguchi, No. 27 Alex Marcilio, No. 32 Sean Willingham, No. 34 Lucas Divino, No. 36 Cody Heffernan, No. 40 Cody Campbell, No. 41 Brock Radford and No. 42 Colten Jesse.

Bruiser closes the gap on Pearl Harbor

Two-time World Champion SweetPro’s Bruiser didn’t have to use any tricks to dispatch Claudio Montanha Jr. in 4.69 seconds during the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

Instead, Bruiser’s natural strength came to the forefront as he left the bucking chute to the left and sent Montanha to the dirt after a few spins.

Bruiser was marked 46.25 points to close the gap on world No. 1 Pearl Harbor, who was pulled out of the 15/15 Bucking Battle because of a neck strain, to a mere .03 points.

“He is a great bull,” Montanha said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “If I get another chance to pick him, I will because he is just perfect. I had been dreaming of getting on him. I got him into the spin too much. I was trying to prepare for him to jump out of it. But he didn’t jump out as soon as I thought he would, maybe because he felt me outside and that got me.”

It was the second-fastest buckoff for Bruiser this season, and his six consecutive.

Pacheco wins PBR-record fifth 15/15 Bucking Battle of his career; Lima extends world lead

Kaique Pacheco won’t go as far as saying Jack Shot is his favorite bull in the PBR, but he sure had a hard time trying to think of a different one following his 87-point ride in the 15/15 Bucking Battle.

Pacheco tied with world leader Ramon de Lima (87 points on Big Dutch) for the event victory and 120 world points.

The No. 8 rider in the world standings has a PBR-record five career 15/15 Bucking Battle victories in his four-year career.

Saturday was the seventh time Pacheco has matched up against Jack Shot, and he now has four qualified rides aboard the D&H Cattle Company bull.

Pacheco won the Sacramento, California, 15/15 Bucking Battle with 88.5 points on the 6-year-old bovine athlete.

“He is a really good bull, but he is hard,” Pacheco said. “I don’t know, but the Brazilians ride better on this bull. He bucks like a Brazilian bull. He is strong. I have to use good timing to ride him.”

Meanwhile, Lima tied for the victory aboard Big Dutch, who sustained a leg injury during the ride.

Lima originally had matched up with Desperado in the 15/15 Bucking Battle and was awarded Big Dutch as a re-ride.

The 27-year-old leads No. 2 Cody Nance by 284.17 points in the world standings heading into Championship Sunday.

Behind the Chutes: Billings, Night 1 (4-21-18)

BILLINGS, Mont. – Here are three things we learned from Round 1 of the Stanley Performance In Action Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, on Friday night at Rimrock Auto Arena.

Lockwood does morning chores before riding in home state

Jess Lockwood may be the 2017 and reigning PBR World Champion with over $1.8 million in career earnings, but the 20-year-old still has to make sure he does his chores at home before heading to the arena.

Lockwood’s dad, Ed, woke him up at 7:30 in the morning Friday and Jess had to get to work at feeding 70 to 80 of the family’s 2-year-old heifers at their ranch in Volborg, Montana.

“I had to feed all the cows before I came here,” Lockwood said. “Me and Weston (Hartman) had to do some ranch work then. No days off at home. I may have to drive home tonight. I get to live in the house for free, so I have to work to pay for it.”

Volborg is about a little under three hours from Billings.

Lockwood is the only Montana cowboy riding this weekend, and he brought Rimrock Auto Arena to life on a night where there were only eight rides.

The 2016 Rookie of the Year rode Blackberry Smoke for 85 points and is sitting in fifth place in Round 1.

Round 1 concludes on Saturday night when 25 additional riders will get on their first bull of the weekend.

“He usually goes left and he tricked me and got around there and I really had to make some moves,” Lockwood said. “He felt good. He made me ride really correct seeing as I don’t feel 100 (percent).

Lockwood said that he is not sick or necessarily tired, but that he was more drained and dehydrated from working in the morning and then spending some time in his sauna.

He also didn’t eat much before heading to the arena for his home state event.

“I am pretty tired, honestly,” Lockwood said. “I felt weak, but whenever I feel weak I ride really correct and ride really good.”

Lockwood did make a beeline dive to the PBR Sports Medicine room to get his injured riding hand from the Tacoma Invitational looked at, but he said he was fine and will be good to go for Saturday night’s 15/15 Bucking Battle.

Lockwood has drawn Milky Jones (20-5, PBR UTB) for the 15/15 Bucking Battle, which airs Sunday on CBS national television at 2 p.m. ET.

“That hematoma blew up again,” Lockwood said. “Tandy told me it was going to be sore, but during the ride it feels good. Afterwards, I can feel something.”

Lockwood may have some chores to do at home, but he is perfectly ok with that seeing as it means he gets to ride in front of some of the closest people in his life.

The third-year pro’s dad was in attendance, while Jess’s mom, Angie, is in Iowa for Saturday night’s Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event in Des Moines where Jake Lockwood is set to compete.

“Heck, I get to ride in front of my family and friends,” Jess said. “What more motivation do you need? What else do you need to use to make a bull ride?”

Whitehorse converts on re-ride to take the lead in night 1

Keyshawn Whitehorse pushed his poker chips all in on Friday night and it paid off big time.

Whitehorse originally rode Sarah’s Terror for 78 points, and he could have kept the score and likely guaranteed himself a spot in Sunday’s Round 2.

Instead, just getting to Round 2 wasn’t going to be good enough for the No. 1 rookie in the world right now.

Whitehorse came to win.

Therefore, Whitehorse accepted his re-ride option and converted aboard Blue Stone with an 87.75-point ride to finish night one atop the event leaderboard.

“I got off the first bull and confidence was an issue since the past weekend. I took it mainly because I knew it was the right decision to make,” Whitehorse said. “I am here to stay, so I need to get points. Me not taking a re-ride is not going to get me any points. That is the reason. I was like might as well try to go for the win. I need the points. I need the money. That is why I am here. I am here to win.”

Whitehorse entered the weekend having ridden only two of his past 10 bulls on the premier series. Now he is in a strong position to go after his first career victory on Championship Sunday.

It was an opposite approach from Alisson Souza.

Souza – another potential Rookie of the Year contender – decided to turn down his re-ride option and keep his 76 points on Rooster Tail for the first ride of his career.

The gamble may pay off in his favor seeing as there were only eight qualified rides on Friday night, but he likely will not earn any world points for his round finish if six riders post higher scores than him on Saturday night in the conclusion of Round 1.

Souza will now have to get another qualified ride in Round 2 if he is going to qualify for the championship round on Sunday afternoon and try and pursue his own first career victory.

Montanha Jr. hot on Lima’s heels in title race

World leader Ramon de Lima got the job done on Friday night with a mellow 83.25 points on Money Talks, but No. 6 Claudio Montanha Jr is in a strong position heading into Round 2 on Sunday at possibly moving into the world No. 1 ranking.

Montanha finished night 1 in second place with an 87-point ride on Hammer Down.

The 28-year-old had been mired in a 4-for-15 slump since winning the Duluth Invitational last month until cashing in aboard Hammer Down.

“It is two things,” Montanha said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “He bucked me off once and I rode him tonight. I studied how to ride him so I don’t make the same mistake again. It worked out great and I am looking forward to being in the No. 1 position soon.”

Three other riders picked up a qualified ride on Friday night – Dakota Buttar (86 points on Grey Ghost), Lonnie West (85.5 points on Big Slick) and Kaique Pacheco (84.25 points on Devour).

West is making his PBR debut, while Buttar had missed last weekend’s event because of a sinus infection.

Pacheco has now ridden 11 of his last 13 bulls on the 25th PBR: Unleash The Beast.

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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