Travis Briscoe walked away from Fresno Friday night $105,000 richer after winning the first ever “Winner Take All” Table Mountain Casino Invitational held in Fresno, CA. This 20 year-old red-head has been on fire this season, winning the Worcester, MA. event and making a historic 95 point ride in the process. Friday night in Fresno, he drew Homestead Genetic’s Jack Rabbit for Round One and rode him to a score of 87.75, putting him in fifth place going into the Championship round. Briscoe drew Priest Creek Ranch’s 3 Spot in the Championship Round and proceeded to take this great bull on to a score of 89.5 points for the event win. Briscoe is now Number One in the world standings!
When questioned, Briscoe said of 3 Spot “He’s a great bull. He’s been around forever and I’ve been wanting him for a long time. It almost like cheating having him in the Short-Go, he’s such a good bull. I know everybody wants to get on that bull.” Obviously emotional over the event win, he added “The win means the world to me, but money’s here and gone. The memories that I’m making here on earth are just amazing. The money is just material stuff. I’m just living life and having fun.”
Briscoe was injured in a Copenhagen Challenger Tour Event in Denver just three days earlier when he strained his groin. He has decided to sit out the next two weeks so that he can heal up and come back strong for the rest of the season.
With several notable exceptions, overall, the bulls in Round One were disappointing; especially for a $100,000 Winner Take All event. There were many BFTS Debut bulls, some of which didn’t buck worth a darn! Mike Lee had to take 4 re-rides before finally getting a decent score. The best bulls were, of course, held for the Championship Round, where only six men made qualified rides.
Jason Bennett took the top honors in Round One with a 90.75 ride aboard Tim HopKins’ Rudolph (one of those notable exceptions!) Unfortunately he was unable to stay on Dr Proctor in the Championship Round and ended the event in seventh place. Three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes took 2nd place in the overall event during this, his final appearance in Fresno. Moraes went into the short-go tied for 9th with Matt Bohon. He drew Kaycee Simpson’s bull Tighty Whitey and rode him to a score of 89.25. While there was no money awarded to anything other than first place, those all-important points were awarded for the other riders.
A very pleasant surprise at this event was rookie Reese Cates of Carthage, Texas. Look out boys, here comes another young gun! Cates in his third out on the BFTS tour scored 88.5 points on Kaycee Simpson’s Blue Moon. He was unable to stay on Cory and Horst Rodeo’s Northern Chill in the Short-go though. This young man is one to watch!
In the World Standings, it’s Travis Briscoe in the top spot, followed by Kody Lostroh, Guilherme Marchi and Mike Lee. In fifth place is Valdiron de Oliveira, in sixth is Sean Willingham and in 7th is Chris Shivers. It’s too early in the season to speculate, but if the beginning of the season is any example, it should be a GREAT year.
Until next time…
Linda Peterson
