This was a pretty tough event last year. No one rode all three bulls, and they only rode 2 total in the short round. Sometimes events on the east coast can be light on bull power, but this wasn’t one of them. Jesse Petri won the event, and he has a nice enough draw to open this one up as well.
Dalton Kasel on F22 Hard Eight:
Kasel should have an edge here. This bull just came down from Canada, Marcelo Procopio Pereira rode him in Minneapolis. Kasel was 1-for-3 in St. Louis, but he had two tough draws after winning second in the opening round.
Sandro Batista on 86 Chief:
This should be a slam dunk for Batista. Chief is 2-9 against left-handed riders, and he’s one of the easiest bulls to be found at this level. Batista just arrived here in July of this year, and he’s a little tall for a bull rider, but since October, he’s ridden over 70% of his bulls.
Luciano de Castro on 892 Firetime:
Dalton Kasel was 88.5 on this bull in St. Louis. Castro has ridden 4 of 5 bulls so far this season, and really should be 5 of 5. The bull that bucked him off shouldn’t have. He has a good shot here on a strong bull that could deliver a round win.
Adriano Salgado on 417 Sleepy Shawn:
Salgado was blanked at Minneapolis, but he rode well during the Teams season. Sleepy Shawn is one of a number of bulls who really hasn’t been tested against the top riders that often. He’s also 0-2 against lefties, and Salgado is very solid on bulls that go into his hand.
Silvano Alves on 64 Big Poison:
Good bull here, but he’s made his reputation away from the better riders. When he has to face them, he’s been ridden more often than not. Kaique Pacheco was 87.75 on him at the Winston-Salem Teams event, and Josh Frost was 86.5 on him at the NFR just a couple of weeks ago. In fact, Big Poison probably hasn’t been home that long from a lengthy Vegas vacation either. Alves has good odds for a qualified ride here.
Rafael Jose de Brito on 637 Two Socks:
Two Socks is among the more difficult bulls in this round, but he’s been ridden in his past two outs and he’s been ridden a decent amount by right-handed guys. Brito has ridden his last 4 bulls in a row, two of those for over 90. He was 3-for-3 in Minneapolis and finished second to Daniel Keeping there. The Texas Rattlers riders rode 10-of-13 bulls in Minneapolis, the most dominant performance by a team at a UTB event so far.
Kaique Pacheco on 141 Chief Wahoo:
This is a good example of the kind of matchup you see a lot on the east and west coast. Bulls that live in the middle of the country tend to get exposed to the best riders quickly. Chief Wahoo is 17-2 in his career, which makes him sound formidable until you see that he’s only been to Velocity and Challenger events and has yet to go against anyone of Pacheco’s caliber. This doesn’t mean his difficulty is overrated, just that he’s unproven. While this bull looks tough on paper, you have to give Pacheco a slight edge here.
Daniel Keeping on E36-3 Smokestack:
Keeping is lighting up the scoreboard right now and leading the world standings. He should stay on a roll here. This bull is a really nice draw for any rider at the UTB level. He’s been ridden 4 times in 11 career outs. Keeping has ridden 7 of his last 9, and the two bulls that threw him put up 45-point bull scores. This bull isn’t going to do that.
Bob Mitchell on 57 Game Day:
Mitchell has ridden well enough of late, but has stayed out of the spotlight with no big wins. He’s 3-for-7 since UTB events started back, but hasn’t scored over 85 yet. He has a good draw here. This bull threw him off at an open bull riding back in May, but Game Day is rideable, and Mitchell took him a long way before coming down.