NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Friday night’s opening round in Little Rock is an ABBI Classic competition for the bulls, like the opening rounds in Oklahoma City and Kansas City, and many of the same bulls are here. There are a number of 3- and 4-year-old bulls that have already posted five or six outs on the season, and we are starting to see some of them emerge as bulls to keep an eye on this year.

The riders covered around 35 percent of this group of bulls in the Kansas City, Missouri, and Oklahoma City Classic rounds, which is about average. From the rider’s perspective, they usually know less about these younger bulls, but there’s a big opportunity in this kind of round because there’s a greater chance of winning the draw. Some of the bulls we will see are easily championship-round quality, and if a rider rides one of them, he will be hard to beat. The overall pen is less even than a normal long round at this level because if this were not a Classic, then several of these bulls would be held back for the championship round.

Round One Matchups

Claudio Montanha on 23B Fearless:

Fearless won the Kansas City Classic and picked up over $10,000 for his efforts there. He turned in a 45.25-point bull score, and that made him the highest-marked bull not only in the Classic round, but the entire Kansas City event. Montanha will have his work cut out for him here, but there is potential for a 92- to 93-point score with this matchup if Montanha can stay on and the bull does his part.

Cooper Davis on 77B Medicine Man:

This bull debuted at the ABBI Derby in Las Vegas last fall by throwing off Fabiano Vieira and looking good doing it. Silvano Alves rode him in Round 4 of the World Finals for 88.75 points, and he has been consistent and unridden since. He may end up on the Cooper Davis Greatest Hits compilation after tonight though. He likes to go to the right, and he looks like a perfect fit for Davis who is coming off a near perfect performance at The American last week.

Dakota Buttar on 159 The King:

Buttar hasn’t been on his game lately, but he has a great draw here. The King has been one of the better bulls in ABBI Classic competition this year. He was solid at both Kansas City and Oklahoma City. He has speed and intensity, and he likes to go to the left – which will be into Buttar’s hand.

Wallace Vieira de Oliveira on 169 Sky Harbor:

This is a serious mismatch in favor of the bull. Sky Harbor is a son of Pearl Harbor, a grandson of 2009 ABBI Classic Champion Black Pearl, and a grandson of 2009 PBR World Champion Code Blue. From what we’ve seen of him he’s not a finished product, but he has the potential to be the best bull in this year’s ABBI Classic division. He bucked alongside Pearl Harbor and Bruiser last week in Arlington and he looked like that’s where he belonged.

Fabiano Vieira on 423 War Cloud:

This is one of the most consistent young bulls going. It’s a little surprising that he’s unridden to this point, but he faces the most serious test of his career with Vieira aboard. War Cloud hasn’t gone against many top-level lefty riders, and Vieira will be the best left-hander he’s faced so far.

Brady Oleson on B433 Night Sweats:

Night Sweats is a standout talent at this level. He’s been ridden three times in seven career outs, and two of those came in his last two appearances – Kansas City and Arlington. More importantly, riders tend to score big on him. They average above 89.5 points per ride. Oleson has a big opportunity here if he can ride this bull away from his hand.

J.B. Mauney on 202 Capone:

This bull was outstanding at the ABBI Derby in Las Vegas during the Finals, and he’s been solid since then. He doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he has looked electric at times, and with Mauney aboard this could turn into a big deal. From what we have seen of Capone, he can go either way, but he looks more comfortable to the left, and that would be into Mauney’s hand.

Stormy Wing on 412 AJ:

This could be a big matchup if Wing delivers like he did in the opening round of The American last Sunday. This bull has shown some promise, and he tends to go to the left. He’s unridden, but he hasn’t faced many high-level riders. Kaique Pacheco took him 7.97 seconds last fall.

Alex Marcilio on F41 Mo Money:

This is one of the lesser known bulls out, but he’s a good draw. Mo Money has spent most of his time on the rodeo circuit. He’s been ridden just once this year, but it was for a round win at the National Finals Rodeo in December. He should go to the left, and he may buck in a square pattern rather than a tight spin. He’s a grandson of Bodacious and a son of Bo’s Excuse – both notoriously hard to ride bulls – but his other grandsire is Fender Bender, and Mo Money definitely takes after that side of his family. He’s a showy bull that isn’t scary or overly difficult.

Silvano Alves on 444 Big Black:

A few years ago, Bruiser set the bar higher for all Classic bulls because of his maturity at that age. Big Black is the closest thing we’ve seen since. He is the total package. He came to the World Finals as a 3-year-old and looked like a solid veteran. It’s pretty rare for a bull to have it all figured out by the beginning of his 4-year-old season, but Big Black will be the bull to beat at every Classic this year because of his consistency and performance. He’s not quite at the performance level Bruiser was, and he’s not unbeatable here, but he’s strong and will give Alves a hard time. This will be a test for both bull and rider.

Keyshawn Whitehorse on 450 Lighting Before Thunder:

Eduardo Aparecido was 87 points on this bull in Oklahoma City, and if he has the same trip here, Whitehorse has a chance. Thunder likes to go to the right, he has a lot of action and not so much raw power, and he looks like a near perfect fit for Whitehorse’s style.