ALBANY, N.Y. – As an electric Saturday night crowd watched on, Austin Richardson (Dallas, Texas) rode in seemingly unstoppable form, sweeping the competition inside MVP Arena to win the Unleash The Beast’s PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Albany.

The premier series win is Richardson’s third of his career, and first since April 2022.

Richardson, who also rides for the Austin Gamblers in the separate PBR Teams League, surged to an early event lead when he tied for the Round 1 win on Friday night compliments of an 86.5-point ride atop Martini Houdini (Flying C/Tom Baker).

The reserved Texan then took over sole ownership of the top spot on the event leaderboard on Saturday when he went the distance atop Magic Trick (D&H Cattle Company) for a Round 2-best 88 points.

With the first pick in the championship round bull draft, Richardson selected a familiar opponent in Ivy League (Jane Clark/Gene Owen). Richardson had climbed aboard the bovine athlete twice prior, but had been bucked off in both showdowns, never eclipsing the 4-second mark.

However, in Albany, Richardson reversed his fortunes on the final out of the night. Remaining in perfect time with Ivy League, Richardson reached the requisite 8 as the boisterous crowd erupted in cheer. Scored an event-high 88.75-points, Richardson won PBR Albany in walk-off form.

Via his win, Richardson earned a check for $49,022 in addition to a crucial 157 Unleash The Beast points. He rose from No. 6 to No. 2 in the Unleash The Beast standings, inching within 73 points of No. 1 Cassio Dias (Sao F. de Sales, Brazil).

Dias remained No. 1 in the 2024 World Championship race as he tied for 11th at PBR Albany. The Kansas City Outlaws' standout went 1-for-3 with his 85.75-point ride in Round 1 atop Nighttime Crime (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls), which garnered 14.5 Unleash The Beast points.

Returning to the top of the event leaderboard, the Nashville Stampede’s Kaiden Loud (Kaufman, Texas) finished a career-best second.

Loud tied for the Round 1 win, riding Boo Ray (D&H Cattle Company) for 86.5 points, before tying for fifth in Round 2, covering Smooth Over It (Shuler Bucking Bulls) for 85.75 points.

He punched his ticket to the championship round second in the event, using his early draft pick to select a showdown with Red Scorpion (Lari Crane/Gene Owen). In a decision which proved dividends, Loud remained centered aboard the bull, making the 8 with ease as he punctuated his perfect weekend with an 86.5-point score.

Loud left MVP Arena having earned 102.5 Unleash The Beast points. He catapulted 30 positions in the tour standings, climbing from No. 39 to No. 9. He is now within 241 points of No. 1 Dias.

The Kansas City Outlaws’ Julio Cesar Marques (Tatui, Brazil) was third, netting 69.5 Unleash The Beast points.

Marques began the event in commanding form, riding West Coast (D&H Cattle Company) for 86.25 points in Round 1. His momentum then came to an abrupt end in Round 2 when he was tossed by Moon Juice (Shuler Bucking Bulls) in 5.35 seconds.

Quick to rebound, Marques concluded the tour stop with a score, riding Smooth Steel (Flying C/Tom Baker) for 86.75 points in the championship round.

Marques rose 10 positions in the standings, rising from No. 20 to No. 10. He is now within 243 points of teammate and top-ranked Dias.

Jake Morinec (Mokena, Illinois) was fourth.

His 80.25-point ride on Honky Tonk (Craig Moore/D&H Cattle/Buck Cattle) in Round 1 and 85-point effort atop South Point Dance Monkey (Painted Pony Championship Rodeo) in Round 2 earned Morinec 39.5 Unleash The Beast points.

Unranked prior to PBR Albany, Morinec is now No. 30 in the 2024 gold buckle race.

Rounding out the Top 5 in fifth was the Kansas City Outlaws’ Wingson Henrique da Silva (Navirai, Brazil).

Silva was flawless through the opening two rounds of action, delivering back-to-back 80.75-point scores as he bested Trouble Maker (Cornwell Bucking Bulls) and Little Hornet (Mike Miller Bucking Bulls). His string of scores then ended in the final round when he was tossed by Ricky Vaughn (D&H Cattle Co./Buck Cattle Co.) in a close 6.91 seconds.

Leaving New York with 34 Unleash The Beast points, Silva rose from No. 42 to No. 29 in the standings.

In the bull pen, Man Hater (Jane Clark/Gene Owen) was crowned the YETI “Built for The Wild” Bull of the Event. The powerful animal athlete posted an unrivaled 47.25-point score in the championship round for his trip with Luciano De Castro (Guzolandia, Brazil).

The PBR Unleash The Beast next travels to Madison Square Garden in New York, New York, for first Major of the season, the Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden, presented by Ariat. The event is on Friday, January 5, at 7:45 p.m. ET, Saturday, January 6, at 6:45 p.m. ET and Sunday, January 7, at 1:45 p.m. ET.

PBR RidePass on Pluto TV will offer re-airs and on-demand replays of every PBR Unleash The Beast event. PBR RidePass is available on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv. Click here for on-demand PBR programming.

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media