PUEBLO, Colo. – With the holiday season in full swing, the world’s best bull riders are set to return to action this weekend in Albany, New York, Dec. 29-30 following a 13-day break since the tour last invaded Manchester, New Hampshire.
Now four events into the 2024 Unleash The Beast campaign, fans have been treated to a variety of surprises and a whole bunch of first-time winners, with Cassio Dias, Brady Fielder and Caden Bunch each picking up their career-first premier series wins during the early-season run.
With a rowdy tour-opening showdown in Tucson, Arizona, which featured the most qualified rides (42) at an event since riders competed in New York City in 2022 (45), the boys haven’t been holding anything back throughout the tour’s early string of events.
Seeing the pack combine for a 41-ride effort two weekends later in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, it’s been the “Year of the Youngsters” so far, with several of the tour’s 24-and-under crowd finding success early on.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, guys like No. 2 Alan de Souza have turned up the heat just same, albeit courtesy of a slow and steady approach rather than by providing the flashiest of scores.
But if you ask the 30-year-old, who’s now 9-for-10 to start the season, odds are he isn’t worried about the scores. He’s busy riding everything in sight and will leave the numbers up to the judges.
Ignoring Father Time just the same, 33-year-old veteran Eduardo Aparecido continues to occupy the No. 5 spot as the result of insane efforts like this:
Bringing a 4-for-9 record into this weekend’s PBR Albany showcase, the tour’s fifth event of the season, he’s an odds-on favorite to keep his hot streak alive.
And yet, despite quite the entertaining start to the year, fans have only seen riders meet the coveted 90-point mark just eight times so far this season, with seven different riders securing rank scores and Dias representing the only cowboy to have doubled down.
Cuts will quickly come into the play, another wave of pressure on riders for the duration of the season, as the tour continues to refresh the talent pool with deserving riders from the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour.
But for now, we’re celebrating the good and we’ll let the rest sort itself out.
With the first four events of the 2024 Unleash the Beast season already in the books, we’re taking a brief look back at the top scores from the premier series campaign!
90.5 Points: Eduardo Aparecido vs. Punchy Pete
Joao Ricardo Vieira and Rafael dos Santos have both recorded a 90-point score early in the season, with JRV’s strike coming in Tucson and Santos’ occurring at the following event in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Quality conversions in their own right, but we’re zooming in on the Top 4 scores!
Beginning with Aparecido and Dias, who have each posted 90.5-point scores.
Dancing with Punchy Pete for a round-winning ride during the opening night showdown in Johnstown, the veteran couldn’t be off to a hotter start during the 2024 campaign.
While it was his only qualified ride on the weekend, it still earned him a 13th place finish. With a third and eighth-place finish representing his other two finishes, he’s got at least one conversion in each of the three events he’s participated in. With his other 8-second trips (86.25, 88.25 and 88.75 points) coming up just short of the mark, he’s got a good chance to stay hot this weekend in Albany. But will the veteran be able to top his season-high mark?
90.5 Points: Cassio Dias vs. Mike’s Motive
The other rider to produce a matching 90.5-point ride?
The No. 1 ranked rider in the world. And honestly, the most consistent rider on tour since storming into the United States one year ago.
Consistently impressing us and taking the next step in becoming a superstar, that is.
Teaming up with one the industry’s most competitive bulls in Mike’s Motive, who remains Ranked No. 5 in his chase to be crowned the 2024 YETI World Champion Bull, Dias logged the second-highest score of his season in stunning fashion.
Capturing his second-straight event title courtesy of the conversion, all fans can do is sit back and see just how BIG of star the talented 22-year-old will become!
90.75 Points: Jose Vitor Leme vs. High Wire
There are a lot of ways to begin a season. Just ask all 38 riders who took home different amounts of earnings and confidence when the tour kickstarted the 2024 campaign in Tucson.
Getting things started only like a two-time World Champion can, Jose Vitor Leme didn’t waste any time setting the bar.
Ripping off an event-high 90.75-point journey atop the likes of High Wire sent quite the message. Not that anyone was doubting the newly christened two-time PBR Teams MVP.
90.75 Points: Cody Jesus vs. Watch Out
Watch Out describes not only the animal athlete’s name, but a general statement from Cody Jesus, who stormed into premier series action this season with an electric 6-for-9 start thanks to rank rides like this one.
Set to defend his No. 3 rank this weekend in Albany, things have been going his way since winning a PBR Camping World Teams Championship title with the Texas Rattlers two months ago.
If he can continue to stay healthy, his confidence will follow.
If he can continue to command his matchups like he did during his 90.75-point out, which qualified as the sixth-best mark in his career, he’ll again find himself competing for a world buckle.
91 Points: Brady Fielder vs. UTZ BesTex Smokestack
No ties here, unless you’re trying to figure out whether it’s UTZ BesTex Legend or UTZ BesTex Smokestack that is the superior athlete in the household!
But in this matchup, it was Smokestack who showed out when paired against Australian sensation Brady Fielder two weekends ago. Helping the rider earn the first premier series event buckle of his career courtesy of the flashy antics, Smokestack led the way.
Fielder just hung on for the ride!
Sitting at No. 4 in the world, these are the types of event-winning rides that will keep him relevant throughout the 2024 season.
91.75 Points: Cassio Dias vs. Cy Young
Over the years, we’ve seen a few different athletes noticeably elevate themselves from the pack.
While we’ll continue to watch on as Jose Vitor Leme shows off his best stuff, it’s Dias that the crowd has come to know and love as the most regular provider of sparks.
Exiting the chutes atop the MLB award-inspired bull, he and Cy Young danced to the requisite 8 as Dias extended his insane ride streak to nine en route to capturing his second-consecutive event title.
Serving as the highest ride score throughout Unleash The Beast’s first four events of the season, there’s a good chance that the effort may survive as a Top 5 score for the duration of the season.
But if Dias, Leme and the pack have anything to say about it, they’ll be looking to kick it up a notch as the calendar year comes to an end!
Photo courtesy of Todd Brewer & Bull Stock Media