By the Numbers: Man Hater Opens the Record Books with Season-High Score
By: James Youness
PUEBLO, Colo. – Watching the No. 1 bovine, Man Hater, for the last few months, it’s not hard to believe that he captured his fourth Bull of the Event title on the year during his fourth appearance of the season last weekend inside Madison Square Garden.
A regular contributor of rank efforts, no doubt.
But when the revered animal athlete dispatched Boudreaux Campbell in a brief 3.2 seconds during the short round, he turned his game up another notch.
He’s been absolutely dominant lately, but the epic 47.75-point mark suggests the bull is still getting warmed up for the season!
Recording not only the highest bull score of the 2024 Unleash The Beast campaign, but the highest bull score since Woopaa and Jose Vitor Leme teamed up for their historic 98.75-point journey (48-point bull score) during the 2021 World Finals, it was a hell of a night for the world’s top-ranked bull.
Having thrown down a 47.25-point score the previous weekend in Albany, New York, by forcing Guilherme Valleiras into a slap just 3.08 seconds in, the bovine surpassed the 47-point mark in consecutive fashion as the only bull to meet the score once this season, let alone twice.
Continuing to defend his perfect 30-0 career record, his electric UTB season has consisted of four glorious showcases. Initially sending Dalton Kasel to the dirt in St. Louis, Missouri, (46.5 points) earlier this season, he followed up the out by beginning his dominant stretch in the northeast paired against Eli Vastbinder.
Making quick work of the 31-year-old just the same, he was scored 45.75 points. Not too bad for what remains the bull’s lowest score on the season.
With the 47.75-point score also marking the animal athlete’s career-best score, there’s plenty of reasons for stock contractors Jane Clark and Gene Owen to be proud of their guy!
“Jane and I have been partners for 14 years,” Owen shared with Kate Harrison on the CBS Sports Network broadcast moments before Man Hater got to work.
“We had had bulls for a few years and one day she tells me, ‘I don’t want to have “just bulls” anymore. I want to have a great bull.’”
Well, Jane, it seems like you may have found your match!
“She’s always ready to buy the best, she wants a winner and hopefully this year we have one,” Owen added.
“We’ve had Man Hater for over a year now and he’s just getting better and better. “
With two-time and current defending YETI World Champion Bull Ridin’ Solo making his 2024 premier series debut in New York City and a pair of talented competitors in No. 4 UTZ BesTex Smokestack and No. 3 UTZ BesTex Legend, Man Hater isn’t going to run away with the title just nine days into the new year.
But if he continues to ascend, breaking his own records and earning attention at each and every stop he competes at, we could be watching history in the making as the skilled bucking professional continues to light the tour on fire!
With Unleash The Beast gearing to invade Chicago for its seventh event of the 2024 season, we’re taking a quick look back at some of the numerical takeaways from last weekend’s action inside Madison Square Garden in this week’s By the Numbers!
Back-2-Back x2: Eerily similar to the beginning of last year’s 2023 season, which saw Andrew Alvidrez pick up a pair of wins before seeing two-time World Champion Jose Vitor Leme go back-to-back himself, Unleash The Beast has crowned just four different winners despite hosting six events so far. Enter Cassio Dias and most recently, Austin Richardson, who have combined to win four of six said events. With Dias earning consecutive wins in St. Louis, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the talented Brazilian was the No. 1-ranked rider for the past four weeks and even heading into New York City. But after turning in a valiant 3-for-4 effort inside Madison Square Garden, it’s Richardson who now owns the title, sitting 28 points ahead of Dias.
263 Points: With 17 regular season events remaining in the 2024 Unleash The Beast slate, there’s plenty of time for guys like Jose Vitor Leme, Sage Steele Kimzey and company to make their respective runs up the standings. But with the first PBR Major of the year in the books, the standings are already beginning to become a bit lopsided, with Dias and Richardson further separating themselves from the pack after taking home 218 (Richardson) and 117 (Dias) points, respectively.
7-for-8: Now 7-for-8 through his last two events, Richardson has been riding everything in sight lately. Pairing up with Moonlight Party during the opening round, the Dallas, Texas, native brought every bit of momentum with him from Albany, as he continued to dominate in the Empire State. Scored a solid 88 points, he then accepted a showdown against Bangarang during Round 2. Exiting the matchup with his fifth-consecutive qualified ride, Richardson accepted his 86.75-point score and remained perfect. Bumping into a little bit of trouble to start Championship Sunday, the 23-year-old was disqualified in 2.33 seconds during his dance with The Undertaker. Turning things around with the buckle on the line, he doubled down aboard Moonlight Party in the short go, marked 83.5 points to win it all!
Round No. 1, Score No. 1: Soarin, flying … to the top of the Round 1 leaderboard, that is! Starting the opening round off with a very spicy ride, Conner Halverson teamed up with UTZ BesTex Smokestack for quite the ride!
Capturing the opening round honors thanks to the duo’s 90-point score, the mark also qualified as Halverson’s best-ever showcase. Making it two-straight in Round 2 after lasting the requisite 8 while paired against Wilson, he eventually turned in a fifth-place finish overall, taking home 89.5 UTB points and a check for $10,400 en route to skyrocketing to the No. 12 rank. Tying his best premier series finish to date while picking up his first round win? Not too shabby of a weekend for the Troy Bolton look-alike!
Mr. 90 Points: Better late than never, right? After seeing Dalton Kasel endure a rough past couple of months as he got healthy and back into the swing of things, he put the world on notice inside MSG last weekend, springing back into typical form. Turning in a second-place finish, just 1.25 aggregate score behind Richardson, Kasel went 3-for-4 overall.
Most importantly, he looked like himself again. Teaming up with The Undertaker in Round 1, he moved onto Round 2 with 85.5 points on his favor. Keeping his ride streak alive, he bested Wooderson for 87.25 points before making it three in a row on Championship Sunday (84.25 points with Black Squirrel). Eventually dispatched in 5.31 seconds, courtesy of a showdown with UTZ BesTex Legend, he took home 155.5 UTB points and a flashy check for $41,750 en route to earning the No. 4 rank.
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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