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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Reigning Stock Contractor of the Year Chad Berger looks down and pulls at his brown leather belt.
“I’ve got a real good spot at home where I would put that gold buckle,” Berger says with a grin. “Right here on my belt.”
The top two bulls in the 2019 World Champion Bull race are Chad Berger Bucking Bull standouts – No. 1 Smooth Operator (World Champion Bull Average of 45.81 points) and No. 2 Smooth Wreck (45.66).
Both bulls are bucking in Saturday night’s 15/15 Bucking Battle at the PFIWestern.com Invitational. Fans can watch the event exclusively on CBS national television Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.
There are two months remaining until the 2019 PBR World Finals in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena, and Berger is once again in contention for a long-desired World Champion bull title.
Berger was part owner of 2009 World Champion Code Blue, but he still wants to finally have a bull under his full-time care win an illustrious PBR world title.
The Mandan, North Dakota, native sat down briefly with PBR.com on Friday night to talk about the World Champion Bull race.
JF: Do you think this year is your best shot in recent memory at winning a World Champion Bull title?
BERGER: No, I think I was closer with Pearl Harbor last year, but I feel real good with where we are at now with Smooth Operator. We will just kind of bounce around here a little bit and get to the Finals. If he has two good trips there, it will be good.
JF: You have yet to have one of your bulls under your sole control win a world title. You have said before you would trade a Stock Contractor of the Year title in a heartbeat for a World Champion Bull. How bad do you want to get over that championship hump?
BERGER: Yeah, I really want it bad. Not just for me, but for my partners. Especially with Smooth Operator being 9 years old, and I really had high hopes for him when he was 5 years old. Him or Smooth Wreck, but I am hoping Smooth Operator can do it because of that. Julie Rosen and Clay Struve have been partners of mine for years. We are talking 15 years or more. For them to be on that World Champion list would be awesome for me.
JF: You have hauled hundreds of talented bulls over the years, but you have yet to have THE bull come through at the end of the year. That’s just another example of how hard it is to win a World Championship, right?
BERGER: There is always something out there. Look at Bushwacker for so long. (SweetPro’s) Bruiser. There is always something in the way. This is no gimme, either. This is something you work all year for. You hope the bulls can stay healthy through it all and get to the end of the year. I know it is not the end of the world if they don’t win. I am going to get up the same I did the day before and try and get it again next year.
All you can do is take care of your bulls and hope you have one in contention. Just to have one in contention is a pretty big honor. I never set my expectations too high, and you don’t want to get let down. A guy can have a lot of great bulls, but they have to come and show up each time. All we can do is hope for the best.
JF: That is true, but I know last year was extremely hard for you following the World Finals. Part of you had to be wondering what if Pearl Harbor had not passed away during the 2018 season.
BERGER: Oh yeah, I wanted Pearl Harbor to win it real bad. It can be a little disheartening. You only lose if you quit, though. You just have to keep pounding away and hopefully we will get one.
JF: Did you expect to have a World Champion contender this year? Pearl Harbor was going to be the face and leader of your bullpen.
BERGER: Yeah. I actually thought it would be Smooth Wreck because I think a lot of that bull. And Smooth Operator coming out at 9 years old, I didn’t know. He never ceases to amaze me. He keeps coming and trying his heart out. It is all you can ask out of a bull. It is kind of a surprise to me. I am pretty happy with where we are now.
JF: Smooth Operator and Smooth Wreck head into Springfield No. 1 and No. 2 in the world standings. Who do you feel are their biggest challengers in the title race?
BERGER: I haven’t been looking at the deal, and I don’t know what is close to him. Bruiser, I don’t know if he has it in him. His last few outs were not his best by any means. Then there is Fearless, but they still mark him pretty good. I don’t know what else is up in there. If I can go into the Finals close to a point ahead, and Smooth Operator shows up… Last year I went in thinking I could catch Bruiser and in all reality I couldn’t.
JF: How many more times do you expect to buck Smooth Operator and Smooth Wreck before the World Finals?
BERGER: I plan to bring them to Minneapolis in three weeks. That is probably all. I am not going to haul them all the way to Nampa. They are going to have to shine here and try and bump their average up, and we will go in with what they have.
JF: Heartbreak Kid is fifth in the World Champion Bull race, and he is closing in on Bushwacker’s streak of 42 consecutive buckoffs on the premier series. Do you think Heartbreak Kid has what it takes to break the PBR record?
BERGER: He sure could, because he is a hard bull to ride. He is probably one of the most underestimated bulls. If he gets showed, he is a bucking son of a gun. He is a really good bull.
Smooth Wreck probably has two more trips. All we can do is hope for the best.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko