Ticketsmarter Morning Line – Little Rock Round 1

By: Slade Long

The first round is another ABBI Classic round – just like the one in Kansas City a week ago, with a lot of the same bulls involved. They only rode 10 bulls there. Jess Lockwood won that round, and of course, he’s out with an injury. The other best rider on tour right now, Jose Vitor Leme, is also out this week, but despite missing some stars, the riders should do better against this set of bulls. There are no monsters here. These bulls are just relatively unknown, and some of them may be a little uncivilized. The late season ABBI Classics will feature a higher level of bull power than we will see tonight, simply because these younger bulls will have had more time to develop.

Brady Sims on 60 Midnight Rock:

Aaron Kleier was 87.25 on Midnight Rock in Kansas City last week to place fourth in the opening round. This is one of the better draws in the round. In his short career he’s looked rider-friendly. Eduardo Aparecido won a round on him in New York. He should go to the left, and Sims is a lefty.

Jake Lockwood on 39D Top Shelf:

Lockwood has a great draw here. Top Shelf is a fitting name for this bull. He’s been a consistent money winner in ABBI competition since he was just a year old. He was a strong contender for the ABBI futurity title in 2018, finishing second, he was the top points earner at the Derby (3-year-old) level last season, and he’s been solid as a Classic bull this year, winning money at every event he’s been to. In all, he has won over a quarter of a million dollars in ABBI competition. He’s not a bad draw for a rider, either. He tends to go to the left, and he’s fast, but he has good timing. He’s good enough to deliver Lockwood a round win here if Lockwood is good enough to stay with him for 8 seconds.

Aaron Kleier on 606D Crap Shoot:

This is a Page bull who hasn’t been to many PBR events, but he spent 2019 on the rodeo trail getting seasoned. He’s a really good bull who can deliver big bull scores on occasion. He was ridden once last year at the Oklahoma City pro rodeo for 90 points. Kleier probably won’t be 90 on him here, but he could be 87-88 on a quality bull that should go into his hand.

Matt Triplett on D17 Suns Up:

Jess Lockwood was 90.5 on this bull to win the first round in Kansas City last week. Suns Up is likely to go to the left here, away from Triplett’s hand. This bull is a half brother to the Page’s D18 Coal Train, who may be the best ABBI Classic-eligible bull going right now, but Coal Train hasn’t entered any of the UTB-level ABBI Classic events so far. The two bulls look and buck similar – both have a lot of speed and solid timing. Triplett is probably pretty happy with his draw here, and this matchup has round win potential.

Joao Henrique Lucas on 681 Dirty Sancho:

We didn’t know much about this bull at all last week, but he turned out to be one of the better draws in the round. Brennon Eldred rode him for 88 points, and he looked like the kind of bull every rider wants to draw. He had enough up and down to give the rider a little help getting in time with him, and there was nothing tricky about him. Lucas is 0-6 at the UTB level, but he’s 6-3 at lower level events this year. He’s good enough to compete at this level, and having a good draw may be what he needs to break the ice.

Derek Kolbaba on 518 Bad Decisions:

Kolbaba bucked off this bull a little over a year ago in Oklahoma City, but the numbers say this is a bull he should ride. Bad Decisions is 6-4 against left-handed riders, and he’s been ridden in his last three outs. Cole Melancon was 88.25 on him en route to winning the Iron Cowboy in Los Angeles. Kolbaba has flirted with a world title run in the past, and to get back to that level he needs to ride this type of bull almost every time.

Cole Melancon on 625 Got it Handled:

Joao Ricardo Vieira rode this bull in Kansas City for 84.5 points. Melancon should get an easy score here. Got it Handled doesn’t have a long history, but he went to the right with Vieira and was pretty nice to ride. He’s well within Melancon’s comfort zone.

Daylon Swearingen on 13D Kitty Hawk:

This should be an interesting matchup. This is exactly the kind of bull Swearingen tends to excel on, except that he goes to the right. For Swearingen to grow into a serious contender, he has to be as good on bulls that go away from his hand as he is on bulls that go into his hand, and this bull will probably be a test of that. Swearingen has plenty of talent, but he’s been a little easy to shake on bulls that aren’t a perfect fit for him. If you look at the very top of the standings, Lockwood and Leme are a threat to every kind of bull because they are more resilient. It’s hard for any bull to rattle them loose. That’s where Swearingen needs to go, and learning to win against bulls that aren’t in his wheelhouse is the way to get there.

Joao Ricardo Vieira on 698 Crossover:

Vieira has the most to gain from Leme and Lockwood being out. He’s not quite the rider either of the top two guys are, but he’s the tortoise in this three-man race as he’s steadily ridden his career best since the beginning of last season. He’s been a consistent force. If he goes head to head with Leme and Lockwood for a full season he’s likely to lose, but anytime those two guys get sidetracked he has a chance to make up ground by just being himself. He has a good bull here. Crossover has been one of the better draws in this group of Classic bulls this season. He’s likely to go to the right, but that’s not much of an issue for the new, juggernaut version of Vieira. Over the past year and change he’s ridden a lot of high-end bulls that go away from his hand.

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