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Touring Pro Division
With no events scheduled in Australia this weekend, Cliff Richardson (Gresford, NSW) has made the trip across the Pacific Ocean in search of points in an attempt qualify for the PBR World Finals.
Richardson sits in 40th position on the PBR World Standings leaderboard, 190 points adrift of the 35th spot.
The 27-year-old has entered multiple events this weekend with the first being the Touring Pro Division event in Columbus, OH. This event will start at 9am on Saturday and he will face Kiss (Rick Swain) in the long round.
View the Congress PBR daysheet here.
I have no information on this bull and we may have to wait a few days to find out the results so we will keep our fingers crossed.
The 25th PBR: Unleash the Beast
The premier series returns to Greensboro, N.C. for the first time since 2012. Round 1 is scheduled to get underway on Ridepass at 9am on Sunday morning. This is the penultimate stop of the regular season so the pressure will be on those riders still caught up in the bubble race.
Both Australian riders are out in Section 1 so it will pay to tune in early.
Here is the full Round 1 daysheet
Lachlan Richardson (Gresford, NSW) has posted three top-15 finishes in his last four starts on the Unleash the Beast tour and moved into the 25th spot on the PBR World Rankings. He will face Gangster Boy from Rickey West Bucking Bulls on the opening night.
This bull has been ridden only once from his eighteen trips in PBR Competition. Gangster Boy was covered for 87-points by Tye Chandler in Duluth, GA. Most buck offs tend to occur before the 2-second mark as the bull kicks clear of the chute and turns back to the left. If riders can outlast the initial move, Gangster Boy tends to flatten out and can even throw a change of direction in.
Richardson has been handling these bulls away from his hand quite well and I have him a slight favourite.
The no. 24 ranked Nathan Burtenshaw (Coonamble, NSW) broke his three-event buck off streak with a ninth place last weekend in Milwaukee. He will kick off his weekend with a matchup against Red Snapper from EJ Cattle Company.
I have not been able to find any vision or information regarding this bull. If anything comes to hand before the event I will be sure to update this post.
The draw for Championship Sunday should be available on Sunday afternoon so I will update the matchups when the daysheet becomes available. Round 2 will require a 3:45am alarm on Monday morning for those wishing to Listen Live on Ridepass.
UPDATE: Round 2 Matchups
Lachlan Richardson rides in Section 3 and will face Zacchaeus (Davis Ranch/Fogle). This bull has been out 17 times in PBR competition with 7 riders making the whistle. Cody Nance covered Zacchaeus last time he was bucked, scoring 86-points in Fairfax in September. The bull produces a fairly consistent trip. Turns back to the left straight out of the gate with good kick and speed. He can throw the odd quick step into his outs but generally, his rhythm is quite good. If Richardson can make the initial sharp turn back, he should go close to getting a score on the board.
Nathan Burtenshaw will go up against Max Bet from Owens/Wyatt/Smith in Section 4. We have only seen this bull once and that was in Austin where he dominated 3-time PBR Champion Silvano Alves. PBR Analyst JW Hart commented that the bull usually turned back to the right in his previous rodeo outs before coming to the PBR. In Austin, he put in a big dive to the right and went back to the left. I think we will just have to see how this one plays out. Burtenshaw got a bit ahead of himself in his Round 1 buck off. He can’t afford to do that here and I think he will take this one jump for jump.
Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour
On Sunday the Velocity Tour is back with the Rapid City Rumble being held in Rapid City, S.D. This event will be featured on Ridepass.
There are no Australian riders entered but we will keep an eye on the results with spots at the Velocity Tour Finals still up for grabs. Here is the daysheet.
PBR Canada Monster Energy Tour
After opening the weekend in Ohio, Cliff Richardson heads north for the PBR Canada Monster Energy Event in Abbotsford, B.C. This event commences at 12pm on Sunday and live scores should be updated.
View the full daysheet.
Richardson will face Tykro Total from Wild Hoggs Bucking Bulls in the Long Round.
We have seen a lot of this bull this year. Cliff’s younger brother Lachlan made the whistle at the event in Whitecourt back in August for 79-points with the bull turning back to the left initially before a few jumps forward and reversing direction. Tykro Total then produced the same trip with Matt Triplett aboard in Stavely for 84-points in September.
I like Richardson’s chances here.
As usual, all times mentioned are Australian Eastern Standard Time (Queensland Time – AEST) and I will have coverage on Facebook and Twitter over the weekend.