PUEBLO, Colo. (May 13, 2010) - As the PBR continues to evolve, so too does the bucking bull business.
One such development has been the increasing importance placed on ABBI Classic competitions, one of which will highlight Round 2 of this weekend’s Pueblo Invitational.
“We can’t showcase the greatest bull riders in the world without having great bulls for them to get on,” said PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert, “and that’s where they come from nowadays—the ABBI Classics.
“They come up through the ranks. If they can’t compete and do well in the ABBI, they’re probably never going to make it to the Built Ford Tough Series anymore. It’s that way.”
Lambert talked about the Classic bulls in his weekly Podcast posted at www.pbr.tv. He records “In the Bull Pen” every Thursday prior to a BFTS event.
In the past, bulls like Voodoo Child, Big Tex, Code Blue, Super Duty and Black Pearl (last year’s Classic champion) have competed in various ABBI Classic competitions.
And while notable contractors like Jeff Robinson, H.D. Page and Chad Berger are known for having short-round quality bulls, others focus on the younger ABBI bulls.
“That’s what they want to do,” said Lambert, adding that different contractors have different interests within the industry. “They want to develop the young bulls, and then when they’ve gotten past that age where they can compete (in Classic competitions), they sell them.”
This weekend’s Pueblo event is a three-day affair. Round 2 will feature a bull draft made up entirely of Classic bulls, which are ages three and four.
According to Lambert, 20 of the bulls in the draft have earned points at previous Classic events, and the other 20 will be unknown to the riders.
“We’ll see some who have really shown us something great so far this year, like Bushwhacker and those type of bulls,” said Lambert. “I had the ABBI find video on those 20 [other] bulls, so the guys will get a chance to look at them on Friday night.”
Riders will have a chance to scan through the video clips Friday night and Saturday morning, prior to the bull draft. Lambert said each of the 40 bulls selected for Round 2 “is supposed to score in the 80s and 90s.”
In a Classic competition, even the bulls are competing against one another for prize money awarded based on high scores.
“There are so many bulls that have come up through the ranks and then went on to be great…and occasionally there’s a bull that’s not ready as a 3 or 4-year-old, and he comes to us as a 5 or 6-year-old and does well,” Lambert said. “But a lot of the best ones – the ones we see in the short go on Sunday – were ABBI Classic bulls last year, two years ago, three years ago.”
Lambert’s entire interview is available by logging on to www.pbr.tv and selecting the “Podcast” tab on the left-hand column.
NEWS and NOTES
PBR NOW on RFD-TV: Hosted by J.W. Hart and Justin McBride, “PBR NOW” is a weekly live one-hour TV series that airs every Thursday on RFD-TV at 10 p.m. ET. Fans are encouraged to call a new number – 877-731-6733 – or send questions to a new email address: pbrnowshow@pbrnow.com.
Event Center: Follow all the action from this week’s BFTS event in Pueblo, Colo., by logging on to www.pbr.com and entering the “Event Center,” which is accessible from the tab located at the top of the main Web page. The Event Center provides live scoring, live blogging and event-related Podcasts and interviews.
