FORT WORTH, Texas ― It's not surprising to learn thatBushwacker's owner Julio Moreno, who was not inTulsa, Okla., on Saturday night, would call and reach out toJ.B. Mauney a day after the North Carolina cowboyrode the World Champion Bull for 95.25 points.
Moreno said he was excited for Mauney, who attempted Bushwackernine times before finally making the 8-second whistle.
Mauney and his wife Lexi were en route to their Mooresville homeand missed the initial call, but, according to Moreno, the26-year-old fan-favorite "was pretty tickled" with Moreno's messageand returned the call Sunday evening.
Again, an expected move by a veteran rider and a respected bullman showing one another the mutual respect they have for whatMoreno referred to as "the best bull and the best rider."
RELATED: J.B.Mauney ends Bushwacker's record buckoff streak
However, what may come as a bit of a surprise to some is whatMoreno said before ending the call with Mauney, "This week, drawhim again and be 97."
Mauney laughed, and replied, "OK. We'll do it."
Moreno wasn't in Tulsa in part because Kent Cox hauls Bushwackerfor him, which he's done his entire career, and in part because hehauled his other bulls to a Touring Pro Division event in Prescott,Ariz.
Moreno was actually flanking a bull when in-arena announcer MattWest told the Prescott crowd that he had just received word ofMauney's qualified ride on Bushwacker.
"I thought, 'Wow,'" recalled Moreno, "and then Kent was tryingto call me at the same time. I went, 'Son of a buck, maybe that'strue.'"
Joking aside, Moreno said it was only a matter of time beforeone of the top riders earned a score.
Bushwacker, who won the bull title in 2011 and is thefrontrunner to do so again this year, had bucked off 42 consecutiveriders at Built Ford Tough Series events and 56 in a rowoverall.
Moreno readily admits he wanted a rider like Mauney, who isamong his favorites, or someone like DouglasDuncan or Kody Lostroh to end the streakif it was ever to come to an end.
He said riders like that would make it look good and score a lotof points.
In the past two days, social media avenues and online messageboards have been ablaze with debate regarding the score and whetheror not Mauney held on the whole 8-seconds. And some have wonderedwhether he slapped Bushwacker.
Others have offered up the notion that the ground wasn't as goodas it could have been and that's the only reason the streak came toan end.
Moreno said he doesn't want to make excuses.
"This was the right time to do it," Moreno said, "on the bestbull and the best rider."
That said, it had been 70 days since Bushwacker competed at aTPD event in Decatur, Texas, which is almost as long as the7-year-old bull went during the offseason.
According to Moreno, Dr. Gary Warner told him beforehand that abull like Bushwacker needs to stay busy. Moreno didn't want to usewords like "rusty or stale," but said Bushwacker had spent thesummer in pen eating.
Cox exercises Bushwacker twice a day, but Moreno added, "It'snot like getting on him, so, I think, this coming week they betterbe ready for him."
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