Santos’s Career-Best Ride Nets him First 15/15 Bucking Battle Victory
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – This time, it was not a slap for Rafael Henrique dos Santos.
This past weekend in Louisville, Kentucky, was almost déjà vu for Santos when the 25-year-old glanced up at the scoreboard inside the KFC Yum! Center to see that judges had stopped the clock during his emphatic ride aboard Blue Crush.
Instead of thinking, ‘Here we go again,’ Santos instead hit the challenge button and was able to get the call overturned for a 91.75-point ride and his first career 15/15 Bucking Battle victory.
Santos had been flirting with a big-time ride or win a few times this season; he first bucked off Smooth Operator in 6.67 seconds with a chance at the Del Rio, Texas, event victory, and then he would have likely won the Cowtown Classic in Fort Worth with a major ride on 2019 ABBI Classic champion Chiseled if not for a slap at 2.52 seconds.
Instead, it was payday for Santos in Kentucky.
“I thought this was an awesome ride on big Blue Crush,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride said during the CBS national broadcast this Sunday. “This is a huge bull, and look at the athleticism, and dos Santos, he didn’t have a problem at all with it. That was a great ride.”
Santos was the only rider without a gold buckle on his waist to post a qualified ride in the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Louisville. He was able to edge out 2020 World Champion Jose Vitor Leme (90.5 points on Apper’s Mind Freak), 2018 World Champion Kaique Pacheco (89.5 points on Homegrown), 2016 World Champion Cooper Davis (88.5 points on Preacher’s Kid) and three-time World Champion Silvano Alves (87 points on Speed Demon).
2021 is Santos’s second full season in the United States.
He moved to North America following a second-place finish in the 2019 PBR Brazil title race, and he made his debut on the Unleash The Beast last year at the April 25 Guthrie, Oklahoma event.
Santos went on to finish 2020 ranked 41st in the world standings after going 7-for-28 (25%) in 11 premier series events. However, Santos was unable to compete at the 2020 PBR World Finals because of the PBR’s COVID-19 protocols.
The Sebastianópolis do Sul, Brazil native already has matched his 2020 total by beginning this year 7-for-20 (35%) and looks well on his way to riding at his first World Finals later this season. The No. 7-ranked rider trails world leader Pacheco by 339.5 points in the world rankings heading into the UTB off-weekend.
After a weekend off, the Unleash The Beast next heads to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the PBR First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard Invitational on April 9-11 (RidePass on April 9 at 8:45 p.m. ET, April 10 at 7:45 p.m. ET and April 11 at 2:45 p.m. ET).
PBR LUCAS OIL INVITATIONAL 15/15 BUCKING BATTLE
Louisville, KY, 2021 – Event Leaders (Round 1-Event Aggregate-Event Points)
1. Rafael Henrique dos Santos, 91.75-91.75-59 Points.
2. Jose Vitor Leme, 90.5-90.50-49 Points.
3. Kaique Pacheco, 89.5-89.50-43 Points.
4. Cooper Davis, 88.5-88.50-38 Points.
5. Silvano Alves, 87-87.00-28 Points.
Cole Melancon, 0-0.00
Keyshawn Whitehorse, 0-0.00
Junior Patrik Souza, 0-0.00
João Ricardo Vieira, 0-0.00
Dener Barbosa, 0-0.00
Derek Kolbaba, 0-0.00
Mauricio Gulla Moreira, 0-0.00
Colten Fritzlan, 0-0.00
Boudreaux Campbell, 0-0.00
Taylor Toves, 0-0.00
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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