LAS VEGAS – Much of what was said yesterday about the bulls here also applies today. From the bulls’ perspective, Round 2 is just the second half of the Derby and Classic competitions that started last night. Cord and Sara McCoy’s Midnight Rock is leading the Derby (3-year olds) right now with an 89-point bull score against Lawson Nobbs last night. K Bar C and Ronnie Chism’s -508 Rocky is leading the Wild Card Classic group with 88 points against Brady Sims. There are bulls out today who can challenge both of those scores.
Most of the riders in Round 2, like Round 1, face bulls with little to no experience at this level. They rode 19 of 48 last night, and that’s a decent showing against an unpredictable and volatile set of bulls.
The back and forth battle between Jess Lockwood and Jose Vitor Leme continued in Round 1 with Lockwood finishing third and Leme in a tie for fourth. There wasn’t a bull out in Round 1 who looked capable of throwing either rider off, and we are likely to see the same situation in Round 2. Lockwood has a bull who has been ridden twice in five outs this season, and Leme has a bull who is 5-0 against lesser riders. At this moment in time, just about everyone except Lockwood qualifies as a lesser rider compared to Leme. There are bulls in the short round who can challenge both guys, but the odds are good that neither of them will buck off at this event at all.
Brennon Eldred made a nice ride last night, and he may pick up a second score today. He faces what looks to be a rideable bull who is 0-1 in his career.
Cody Nance has an interesting draw. Nance hasn’t been riding his best of late, but he will face D&H Cattle’s 39D Top Shelf here. This bull was a campaigner in the ABBI Futurity race last year as a 2-year-old and nearly won the title. He’s a solid, pattern spinner type of bull but he’s kept a fairly light schedule this season. He’s a good draw at this event.
Shay Marks, who is an international invite here, has D&H’s 606D Crap Shoot – a bull who has spent most of the year on the rodeo trail. They won the Oklahoma City pro rodeo on him with 90 points in September. Marks bucked off in Round 1, but he may be able to salvage his weekend with this draw.
Two of the bulls in this round, D&H’s 605D OK Brand and BS Cattle/Webb’s DZ920 Smooth Gangster are worth keeping an eye on. These two were outstanding ABBI Futurity bulls last year, and have the potential to be greats against riders. OK Brand will face Alisson de Souza here, and Smooth Gangster will face Taylor Toves. Toves got a score in Round 1, and a good ride here could set him up well in this event.
Daylon Swearingen, who rode and of course spurred the daylights out of his Round 1 bull, has an Andrews Rodeo Co. bull in round two. X27 Last Resort is practically unknown, but he’s been on the rodeo trail this year, and there’s a good chance Swearingen has seen him somewhere. If this bull goes to the left, there’s a very good chance he will get spurred here.