PUEBLO, Colo. – Whether it be his explosiveness, intensity, enormously powerful kick or his ability to propel a bull rider to a 90-point ride, there are plenty of World Championship characteristics within No. 2 YETI World Champion Bull contender Chiseled that date back to the storied D&H Cattle Company breeding program.
The 5-year-old rising bovine star is averaging 45.68 points per out in 2020 which has him right in the thick of the world title race, and a championship may indeed be in Chiseled’s future if his pedigree is any example of things to come.
Chiseled is the son of six-time PBR World Finals qualifier Stone Sober, and the grandson of two-time PBR World Finals qualifier Showtime on his dam’s side. Showtime sired 2015 World Champion SweetPro’s Long John and three-time World Champion Bull SweetPro’s Bruiser.
Going even further into Chiseled’s bloodlines and his grandmother is the daughter of 2006 World Champion Mossy Oak Mudslinger.
“That’s three champion bulls or however you want to look at it,” H.D. Page told PBR.com this week. “Stone Sober just missed winning a World Championship. There is a lot of world title prodigy in his pedigree. He is kind of mixed up just about right.”
Chiseled is set to make his second-half Unleash The Beast debut this weekend during Saturday’s championship round at PBR Bullnanza (RidePass at 1:45 p.m. ET on Saturday / CBS Sports Network Sunday at 6 p.m. ET).
The 2019 ABBI Classic Champion gained mainstream notoriety last year at the PBR World Finals when Rubens Barbosa rode him for 95.75 points.
This season, though, Chiseled has made things tough on his opponents – going 6-1 in PBR competition with an average bull score of 45.68 points – during his first full season on the premier series.
Lucas Divino is the only rider to successfully reach the 8-second mark on Chiseled in 2020, riding him for 90.75 points in Guthrie, Oklahoma, for his second premier series victory.
Chiseled needs one more out to officially qualify for the 2020 World Championship, and a 46.25-point bull score would put him in a tie with No. 1 Smooth Operator.
“I think Chiseled is the best one, myself,” Page said. “But, I know there are a lot of really good ones, and I know those bulls have a mind of their own. There are a lot of variables, and it is a long season and all that business. It all boils down to him. He has to stay sound first off, the same as the rest of them in the race. There is a lot of things. If he can stay sound, I think it is kind of his to lose at this point. But Smooth Operator is bucking hard, and there is a bunch more bucking hard. There is probably a lot of bulls that could be in the race.”
The 2020 YETI World Champion Bull will be the animal with the highest average bull score from their top eight regular-season outs and two outs at the PBR World Finals.
Chiseled recently bucked off Denton Fugate for a 46.5-point bull score last week on Aug. 5 at the Lawton Rangers Rodeo in Lawton, Oklahoma.
In fact, Page, who only saw video of the out seeing as his dad, Dillon, hauled bulls to Lawton, said that it appears to him that Chiseled is rounding into peak form at just the right time.
Chiseled showed promise early on in the season when he bucked off Ezekiel Mitchell for a 46.5-point score during his season debut in Sacramento, California. He followed that up with a 45.75-point effort for 2.37 seconds of work against Brady Sims in Oklahoma City.
However, Chiseled then injured his hock at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo in February. He would buck off Keyshawn Whitehorse at the Global Cup (45.25 points) before D&H Cattle Company shut him down for a month.
Chiseled returned in April/May with back-to-back 45.50-point bull scores. He was then scored 44.245 points when Divino rode him for 90.75 points to win the final UTB event of the first half.
“He got hurt bad at San Antonio this year,” Page said. “He kicked over the top of the rail and he punched a big hole in his hock. We got him over that. He is sound and ready to go. Actually, we just got him in really good shape and sound in the last 30 days. He is hitting his stride right now. He is kind of peaking hopefully at the right time.”
The Monster Energy Team Challenge Championship Game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, last month was an example of what Chiseled can do at full strength. He tied his career-high score of 47 points from the World Finals when he sent Boudreaux Campbell flying in 5.6 seconds.
Chiseled has a very strong chance at becoming the first ABBI Classic Champion to win a PBR World Championship since three-time World Champion SweetPro’s Bruiser won his first championship in 2016.
Three ABBI Classic Champions since 2004 have gone on to win PBR World Championships – 2015 ABBI Classic Champion SweetPro’s Bruiser, 2014 ABBI Classic Champion SweetPro’s Long John and 2010 ABBI Classic Champion Bushwacker.
PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert remembers sitting in an ABBI meeting once and hearing chatter that riders did not want to get on this young bull called Chiseled.
Of course, that narrative is completely different today with the best bull riders in the world wanting every chance possible to climb aboard the D&H Cattle superstar.
“Chiseled is a great bull,” Lambert said. “To me, he is everything you want, but he is smooth. We were in an ABBI meeting and somebody said, ‘Those bull riders don’t want to get on Chiseled for $5,000,’ or whatever they were paying at those small deals. I had to stop the meeting and ask which bull riders don’t want to get on Chiseled because I can’t imagine somebody that rides bulls for a living not wanting to draw Chiseled if there was anything to be won, or just for the fun of it.
“He bucks too hard to screw up on, but he has to feel like a million bucks every time. He could be the World Champion bull too, but the real bull riders should lick their chops about getting on him, and the fake bull riders should pretend that they want to get on him.”
Page is still hopeful his legendary bull Bruiser can make a push in the second half for a record-setting fourth world title, but he also knows the future is bright for D&H Cattle Company with Chiseled on the trailer.
Chiseled is on the path to becoming the new face for D&H Cattle Company in due time, and a world title would be quite the statement from last year’s ABBI Classic Champion.
“Well, I hope so,” Page said. “I feel like he is our best shot right now for that Bull of the Year title. The standings will shake up, especially when those bulls can start dropping scores. Smooth Operator has already dropped two scores.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
