The Morning Line: Kansas City, Round 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Round 1 in Kansas City is an ABBI Classic Round – the second one of the year. Oklahoma City was the first. The riders rode 13 of 35 bulls there, and it took an 88-point score to win the round.

The ABBI Classic bulls are all 3 or 4 years old, and early in the season most of them lack experience. As a result, we often know little about them. There are only five bulls in Saturday night’s round who have recorded five or more career outs. We will know a lot more about these young bulls by the end of the year, but they are wild cards for the most part for now.

Dakota Buttar on 423 War Cloud:

This is one of the more experienced bulls out tonight. He was the 2016 ABBI Futurity Champion as a 2-year-old, and he won the ABBI’s lifetime derby last fall in Las Vegas. He is unridden in six outs with a rider aboard, but War Cloud has timing and is a strong but predictable bull. He likes to spin to the left. War Cloud has not faced a lot of strong left-handed riders yet, but he’s up against one here. War Cloud turned in a 44.5-point bull score in Oklahoma City, and that would almost certainly translate into a round win for Buttar if he can get the job done in Kansas City.

Fabiano Vieira on 432 Barn Cat:

Barn Cat has just one recorded out on his record, and he was ridden by Joao Ricardo Vieira in Las Vegas during the Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour Finals last fall. His bull competition history indicates he may not be enough bull to win the round on here, but Vieira has a great chance at a qualified ride.

Silvano Alves on 417 Urban Cowboy:

There’s a very good chance Alves will get a qualified ride here. There’s also an above average chance he could end up with a re-ride option and have a chance at Fire Rock or Finding Jesus who are both better draws than most of the bulls out tonight. Urban Cowboy has two outs at the lower levels. He was ridden for 86 points in one, and had a sub-par in the other just last month. Alves has a chance at a respectable score in this round either way.

J.B. Mauney on 413 Little Texas:

Little Texas is unridden in three career outs, but he goes to the left and he has yet to face a high-level, left-handed rider. Mauney should be able to handle him easily, and he could end up with a big score. This bull turned in 43.25 points in Oklahoma City, and if he has the same kind of day here that would open the door for Mauney to be 88-89 points.

Stetson Lawrence on 3314 Mr. Majestic:

Kaique Pacheco rode this bull at the World Finals for 87.5 points. Majestic goes to the right, and with Pacheco he was no day off. He has a serious degree of difficulty. Lawrence will have to deal with uneven timing and forward movement in the spin, in addition to a bull that normally goes away from his hand. But if he can overcome all that, he should be in line for a solid score and could place in the round.

Juan Carlos Contreras on 444 Big Black:

Contreras won the ABBI Classic Round in Oklahoma City with 88 points, and he’s positioned to repeat here with this draw. Big Black is one of the highest profile Classic bulls this season. He won the Classic competition in Oklahoma City and threw Cooper Davis off there. He’s the complete package – he has exceptional size, speed and power for a Classic age bull, but he’s not a bad draw for a left-handed rider. He has good timing, and he’s given up a couple of big rides to lefties.

Stormy Wing on 027 Concealed Carry:

This is the PBR debut for this bull, but outside of the PBR he’s been ridden in 2-of-3 outs. This is a showy bull with more flash than real power, and he likes to go to the left. Wing is 0-for-5 on the season, but he could step up and post a big score here. Look for him to go to town on this bull.

Dener Barbosa on B433 Night Sweats:

Jess Lockwood rode this bull for 91 points during the Velocity Finals in Las Vegas last fall, but it wasn’t an easy victory for Lockwood. This bull is fast, and he throws a lot at the rider in 8 seconds with subtle movement in the spin and lots of drifting across the arena.

Barbosa is riding 84.2 percent this season, and you can’t ask for more than that. He’s 16-for-19 on the year. Three of those 16 scores were low scores where he declined a reride, but so long as he continues to score on 8-of-10 bulls those are inconsequential. He will run away with a World Championship. If he eventually falls back to last season’s pace where he rode 47 percent of his bulls, then every declined re-ride option becomes a critical missed opportunity. What happens on re-rides doesn’t matter so long as you outride everyone by a significant margin. If you don’t accomplish that, then all of a sudden they matter a lot.