The Indy 2000....Pounds, that is!

RMEF Gunpowder & Lead

I, for one, would much rather see 2000 pound bulls running around in Indianapolis than cars going around in circles (or big ovals)....but that’s just me!  So this past weekend was perfect!

The highlight of the weekend was the 15/15 Bucking Battle.  Douglas Duncan rode Bad Blake to a spectacular win!  Bad Blake looked good, a solid spinner, but lacked his usual high kick.  I love this bull, and he seems to be a BIG money bull, if the guys can stay on him! 

Of course, the stellar buck off of the weekend went to Asteroid.  My goodness, he was amazing!  He had a big jump with huge kick right out of the chute.  He belly rolled then whipped his back end around and drove de Oliviera in to the ground, evidenced by the dirt left on Valdiron’s hat brim!  This was Asteroid’s 12th buck off in a row. 

Smackdown was outstanding!  His score of 46 points was second in the round to Asteroid’s 46.75 points.  For over a year now, Smackdown has been scored 45 points or better in every out he’s had.  That is impressive!  He has such strong whip, at both ends, and is so difficult for cowboys to hang on him!

RMEF Gunpowder & Lead was also outstanding.  So strong and solid in his buck off of Snyder.  South Point looked great with big spinning moves.  He’s a young bull already in the 15/15, so I think we will see even bigger and better things from him.  Shamoun really impressed me with 3.33 second buck off of Austin Meier.  Shamoun has logged 17 straight buck offs.  Shepherd Hills Trapper had a quirky but successful out.  He made big cuts and covered a lot of ground.  Mulligan Man wins best move of the night!  His big moves whipped Alves back and out of position in the buck off!  Highway 12 also got his cowboy out of position quickly and had good moves for a big, strong bull!

Highway 12

And now for King Lopez....who was spectacular....and was scored very average.  Forgive me, as I take a moment to fuss!  This bull had big kick, a huge first move out of the chute as he got in to a spin, and had his rider on the ground in 3.1 seconds.  In my humble opinion, he had one of the best outs in that round, but was only scored 43.75 points.  As I jumped in my seat and screamed at the TV (which always amuses my husband), I asked, “what...seriously, what else does this bull have to do?”  Did all the judges actually watch his out?  Now I know y’all are reading this and saying, “Susan, you love the bulls, and Lopez is your newest bull crush, and just because he’s a favorite doesn’t mean he should be given a high score!!”  I know! I know!  He should be given a higher bull score because he earned it and deserves it.  Like Ty Murray said during the broadcast, King Lopez can be as good as any of the big bulls they talk about.  So again I ask, what else does this animal have to do?

Ok, I feel better....well, not really.....but that’s for another day.....

So having said all of this, I now jump over to the Championship Round on Sunday.  None of the 15/15 bulls were bucked again.  So, while the Championship Round pen was good, I didn’t think it was the best.  There were 5 rides, which for a championship round is a lot.  The bulls scores ranged from the high (Big Spread) 45.50 points to the low (Motown Magic) 38.25 points.  Big Spread’s score was the only one 45 points or better.  Motown Magic’s out with Alves was not his typical 43-44 point out.  His score reflected he did not buck the way he usually does.  What was keeping him from his normal pattern?  Motown Magic is a great bull and I hope he is given another championship round chance to remind everyone of that!

Rango continued to look good and quickly bucked off his cowboy in 1.86 seconds.  Big Spread was super solid and turfed his rider in 3.52 seconds.  He really showed some snotitude afterwards, willing to take on each and every one of the bullfighters! Party All the Time was almost ridden by Outlaw, but used a big move to get him off at the 7.06 second mark.

Party All the Time posted a 44.5 pt score Sunday

So, that’s my two cents this week....maybe it was actually three cents!  What did you think about the event?  Please leave me a comment with your thoughts. So until next week, thank you for supporting my blog and my love of the bulls!






All photographs by Susan Hanrahan