PUEBLO, Colo. (June 8, 2010) - Because the Built Ford Tough World Finals has been trimmed from eight rounds to six this year, PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert won’t be selecting as many bulls to compete. Last year he took about 180 animals, including 40 ABBI Classic bulls. This October he expects to have about 150 available.
“It will be tougher for a bull to qualify for the Finals, and that’s one thing that’s really going to be tough,” Lambert said. “It’s going to take less bulls to [stage the Finals].”
Bulls chosen to compete under the glare of the Las Vegas neon earned $1,500 for their owners in a long round last year. Short-round bulls, including the three re-ride bulls, brought in $4,000. Both figures will be increasing in 2010.
In addition, the downshift to six rounds means the competition for World Champion Bull will be trimmed. In the past three seasons, title contenders had three outs to impress the judges. This year, bulls will only have two. The Built Ford Tough Championship Round will be one of those opportunities.
“I’m not sure what the other round will be,” Lambert said.
Eight bulls competed for the title last year: five the riders selected, two that tied in a fan balloting and one that Lambert chose. No hard-and-fast rule governs how many can vie for the crown.
Code Blue (Walton & Wagoner, Berger & Struve) closed it out a year ago in grand fashion and won his first World Champion Bull title. The 6-year-old scored 47.5 bull points in the Built Ford Tough World Finals short go to edge Voodoo Child by 1.25 points. The champ also scored the most points among all Finals bulls to win the Mikel Moreno Bull of the PBR World Finals award.
News & Notes
Mo-bull: Don’t miss PBR action when you’re on the go. Follow the PBR on your mobile phone by texting “PBR” to 47201 (standard texting rates apply), or browse to mobull.pbrnow.com.
The best of 2010: PBR.TV is counting down the top rides of the year. This week, check out rides No. 21-30, including three 90-point efforts by Renato Nunes, and then vote for your favorite here.
