PBR | In the bull pen: Ontario

In his weekly Podcast, PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert discussed Code Blue and Troubadour, and the ending of two great careers. Listen to the Podcast here.

Code Blue was injured last week following an appearance in the short round in Memphis, Tenn. Two days later it was announced on Facebook that Troubadour would be retired at this year’s PBR World Finals.

Though Lambert thought Code Blue’s 89.5-point trip with J. B. Mauney in Memphis was a “decent out,” he qualified his praise. “He wasn’t the old Code Blue that we had seen before, and then after J.B. got off of him he jumped one more time in the air and his rear end slipped out from under him. He’s obviously hurt.”

The reigning World Champion Bull was returned to competition in Nashville, Tenn., after being held out at a Touring Pro event in Bismarck, N.D., in June.

“The vet in North Carolina [who examined Code Blue] has actually called me and told me the problem,” said Lambert. “He’s a great bull, had a great career, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”

“Now he can start his second career as a breeder, because as far as being an athlete in the PBR, that’s to over, to me.”

While Code Blue’s co-owners Rick Wagoner and Jimmy Walton hope for a miracle, Julio Moreno used a fan page on Facebook to announce the retirement of Troubadour.

On Monday, a tribute page for the bull posted the following status update: “Today is the official announcement of my retirement – I will be retired at this year’s PBR World Finals in Las Vegas.”

Lambert said, “It’s strange we’re talking about them on the same day, but both careers were ended by back injuries. Those do happen from time to time, but they’re really rare.”

Code Blue was a World Champion last year – the same year he made his BFTS debut. He was ridden only twice in 27 career outs. While Troubadour was never a world title holder, he had a four-year career on tour, and accumulated an impressive collection of outs.

For years he was one of the most sought-after bulls in the short round. He posted 13 qualified rides in 48 BFTS outs, and had a career average bull score of 45.87 points.

On a lighter note, Lambert pointed out that both stories have been told through Facebook and Twitter.

“There are still a few of out there that are unplugged,” he said.

Live Event Center: Follow all the action from this week’s BFTS event in Ontario by logging on to the Event Center at www.pbr.com/live. The multimedia center provides live scoring, live blogging and event-related interviews.

— by Keith Ryan Cartwright

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