TULSA, Okla. (July 17, 2010) - With the draft taking place mid-day today, we’ll take a look at 15 of the bulls available in Round 2, since the matchups aren’t yet available.
In every draft round, there are several strategies that a rider might use. He may try to pick a bull he feels sure he can get a score on, because any score is important, especially in a four-round event like this one. He may try to pick one of the highest marked bulls available – as these tend to bring the highest scores, even if they are a little harder. The guys in the bottom of the draft face getting stuck with one of the hardest-to-ride bulls in a round. Some of these may also bring big scores, but most of them bring no scores most of the time, which is why they get passed over a lot.
We’ll look at five bulls from each of those three groups that will be in the Round 2 draft.
The Easy Road – most likely to be ridden in Round 2:
Circle T’s 518 Space Chimp:
This is the prototypical safe pick. Space Chimp is just the kind of bull that most riders will get along with. Lots of rhythm, spins, and gets ridden most of the time by the best riders. He may not quite be enough to win the round on here, but look for him to get picked fairly early and carry someone to a nice score.
Teague’s T18 Chance:
Chance is a little better for right-handed riders, and he is ridden more than half the time by them. He is a little better bull than Space Chimp, and can produce 90-point rides at times. With a lot of right-handed guys picking at the top of the draft, look for Chance to go early.
Teague’s 501 RFD-TV:
This bull is ridden often enough to call him rider-friendly, but he is also one of the highest marked bulls in this round, which may make him the most desirable pick. Like his traveling partner Chance, right-handed riders have a lot more success on him.
Circle T’s S40 Bad Moon:
Maybe the toughest “easy” bull out today, Bad Moon has carried riders to a string of high scores this season. He’s bucked off 64 percent of the best riders who have been on him, but he’s been ridden in six out of his past nine appearances.
Jeff Robinson’s 42 Bird Creek:
Bird Creek belongs in this group only if picked by a left-handed rider. He’s yet to be ridden by a right-handed rider, but lefties ride him almost 70 percent of the time – and for high scores.
The High Road – the highest marked bulls in Round 2:
Teague’s 41/5 Deja Blu:
Not unrideable, but not easy either. Deja Blu throws off the top riders 72 percent of the time, and does it with style. With an average bull score of nearly 45 points, he is the highest marked bull in Round 2.
Hyland Cattle’s 532 Paycheck:
This is a bull who hasn’t had a lot of hype, but he has quietly been one of the best bulls on tour this season. Last time he was ridden, Travis Briscoe earned 93.25 points on him at Billings. He’s harder to ride than his record from this season indicates. Briscoe has his number and has ridden him three times recently.
D&H Cattle’s D13 Ricky Bobby:
Ricky Bobby is one of those bulls who would probably get ridden a lot, but he’s tricky. He does the same thing every time – jumps out there and spins. But, he’s welly. He wants to throw the rider to the inside of the spin, and that means riders have to approach him differently than a normal fast-spinning bull. It takes a little more discipline to ride a welly bull, especially one this good.
Jeff Robinson’s 288 RMEF Bugle:
Bugle should be a safe bet to produce a 90-point score if ridden. To the casual observer, he may appear to buck a lot like Ricky Bobby, but he is very different. Bugle is a long-bodied bull who really creates a lot of centrifugal force in his spin. He tries to throw riders to the outside of the spin. He can be ridden, and can bring a round win here, but won’t be a pushover.
D&H Cattle’s 03 Black Smoke:
Black Smoke is certainly near the end of his career, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he bucks. He’s logged over 125 outs over six long years, has faced the best riders in the world more than 50 times, and bucked them off more than 70 percent of the time. He is honest, and I’m sure the riders like him – he just goes out there and bucks hard every time.
The Hard Road – the hardest-to-ride bulls in Round 2:
D&H Cattle’s 136 Silver Wings:
Silver Wings is the king of not getting picked with the next-to-last pick. Nobody loves him. He’s been ridden only once in 50 attempts, he’s not likely to produce a high score, and watching him buck makes bull riders nauseous.
Jeff Robinson’s 494 Mac-Nett’s Pinball Wizard:
This bull doesn’t really make riders physically ill like Silver Wings, but they don’t seem to know how to ride him for 8 seconds. He hasn’t been ridden in over a year, and has denied many of the best riders in the business.
Boyd & Floyd’s 224 Hot Pistol:
Guilherme Marchi is the only rider who’s been able to get a score on Hot Pistol since the 2008 World Finals. That doesn’t mean much, because Marchi can ride anything. Hot Pistol is just good at bucking guys off.
Sis & Stan Dandy’s 63 Airwolf:
This is a bull who doesn’t appear on tour very often, but he has yet to be ridden. His recent victims include Renato Nunes and Silvano Alves. Riders are probably less familiar with him than the other bulls in this group, but they have to know no one has gotten it done on him yet.
D&H Cattle’s 327 Commotion:
Maybe the easiest bull to ride in this group, Commotion is still very hard to twist. He’s fast, wild, and action-packed. Robson Palermo made an outstanding ride on him at the World Cup in Las Vegas, and if you watch that ride you really get a feel for how fast a rider has to move to get a score on this bull.
