Kasey Hayes loves New York

By Mary Rudloff
Posted Friday, January 4, 2008

NEW YORK CITY – If PBR bull rider Kasey Hayes had to pick a theme song, for this weekend at least, it would probably be “New York, New York.”

The 22 year old, who finished the 2007 PBR season in 12th place overall, took round one of the Versus Invitational in New York City Friday night.

Hayes put up an 88.5 score near the end of the evening Friday night aboard Showdown (Frontier Rodeo Company) to take the round lead away from Canada’s Tyler Pankewitz. Pankewitz showed good form on Bad Action (Chad Berger/Larry Ryken) for 87.25 points.

Two time world champion Chris Shivers continued to show the riding style that won him the two world titles, as he finished third with 87.0 points aboard Mataska (Frontier-Teague).

Not everyone had a smooth trip through round one, as there was an overload of re-ride options. Seven of the 45 riders were offered re-rides after their bulls either fell down or failed to perform to PBR standards. Five of the seven accepted the rerides, with Tony Mendes and Brian Canter turning them down and keeping their scores of 76.75 and 73 respectively.

By the time the dust in Madison Square Garden settled, more than half the riders had put up qualifying scores. There were 28 qualified rides at the end of the round, and that count would have been higher, except a few of the riders failed to capitalize on their re-ride options.

The number of rides will play an important role on Saturday morning, when the PBR test-drives one of its rule changes for the season. In three-round events, including this weekend, and next weekend’s event in Worcester, Mass., the riders choose their bulls for Round Two.

The riders are slated to begin making their picks at 11 a.m. Saturday morning. As the winner of the round, Hayes will get to make the first choice.

Although not ready to commit to a particular bull, after round one Hayes said he had seen the bulls slated for round two but had not studied it. He said his choices, at least Friday night, would be to take either Nervous Waters or Texas, two bulls he has covered and scored high on at previous events.

Hayes said he thinks choosing first is a definite advantage, rather than adding more pressure.

“You can get the bull you want. You have your pick of every bull out there that night,” Hayes said. “I’m looking forward to getting to be the first one to try the new system.”

Following Hayes, the riders will choose their bulls in order of their finish Friday night in round one. That means Pankewitz and then Shivers will follow Hayes. The order will continue through all qualified rides, and then through the length of time the rider rode before bucking off (for those who didn’t make qualified rides).

The last rider to choose will get whatever bull has not yet been chosen. In this weekend’s selection, that means the last man will be Davey Dyke, who got hung up on Big Iron (Frontier Rodeo Co.) Friday night, stopping the clock at 1.5 seconds. Going right before him will be three-time world champion Adriano Moraes. Lone Star (Frontier Rodeo Co.) unceremoniously threw Moraes back into the chute-post at 1.6 seconds.

Following Hayes, Pankewitz and Shivers as the first riders to choose will be Valdiron deOliveira (86.75 points on Scentloc); and then Luke Snyder, Travis Briscoe and Silvanei Dias, each of whom posted an 86.25 score. LJ Jenkins, Dustin Elliott and JB Mauney all tied with 85.75 points, to round out the top ten.

The process for determining the order for tied scores was not explained. Each rider is given one minute to make their choice. During that time, they can also ask questions to the stock contractors, who will be present, about the bulls.

With the new rules, the top 15 riders who qualify for the short-go championship round at three-day events will also choose their bulls for that round. It will be done in the center of the arena, following the end of round three. The rider with the highest point total entering the championship round will choose first, and the picking will continue in order of points, from the list of 15 bulls slated for the short go.

Mike Lee, the winner of the Atlanta event last weekend, picked up an additional $5,000 Enterprise “Ride with the Best” bonus when he covered Mufasa in round one. Lee’s score was not announced in the arena. As the winner of Atlanta, the first event of the new season, Lee entered the New York City event in first place in the points standings.

The PBR’s New York City Versus Invitational will continue with round two on Saturday night at 8 p.m. (Eastern) and round three and the championship round on Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m. Versus is slated to air two of the rounds on Saturday and Sunday night, and NBC will air one round on Sunday afternoon. Local times may vary.