Two for the show One’s headed to Fresno, one to Brazil, but Farley brothers will reunite at World Cup

WEATHERFORD, Texas (March 16, 2010) - Jared and Pete Farley grew up watching their closest kin take on the toughest bulls around.

Their father, Paul, is a five-time bull riding champion in Australia, and their elder brother, Denny, is a high-profile bovine buster from Down Under.

Today, the two younger Farley brothers are known for visiting the pay windows on the Professional Bull Riders circuits throughout North America.

During the past weekend, Jared Farley, 24, a five-time PBR World Finals qualifier, tied for first in the second round of the PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series tour stop in Glendale, Ariz. After finishing in the Top 10 in the average, he exudes confidence as he rosins his rope to compete in this weekend’s Ford Series competition in Fresno, Calif.

The Table Mountain Casino Invitational is scheduled for Friday (8 p.m. PDT) and Saturday (6 p.m. PDT) at the Save Mart Center. The Fresno broadcast begins at 8:30 p.m. EDT Saturday on Versus.

Meanwhile, Pete Farley, 21, who qualified for his first World Finals last year, is headed to South America this week to compete on the PBR Brazil circuit.

But next month, the Farley brothers will reunite to ride for Team Australia in the 2010 World Cup, the PBR’s marquee global event scheduled for April 16-18 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Jared and Pete Farley are from Kempsey, Australia, in New South Wales on the country’s lower East Coast. But when they compete in the North America, they base near the North Texas town of Weatherford in the Fort Worth area.

For the Farley brothers, bull riding always has been a family affair. Though they were taught to compete in the hazardous event early on, Jared said he’s always ridden for the love of the sport.

“All of the time I was growing up, I’ve always wanted to do it for a living, and in the past seven years, I’ve been fortunate that I’ve never had to look for a real job,” said Jared, who has $368,671 in PBR career earnings. “It’s a dangerous way to make a living, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Jared arrived in the United States in 2003 at 17, with dreams of excelling on bigger bull riding stages. He soon became a competitor to be reckoned with. In 2004, he made his first of five consecutive World Finals appearances.

But last year, he fell short of qualifying for the Las Vegas championships after undergoing three shoulder operations. He actually underwent surgeries on both shoulders.

“It wasn’t very much fun,” he said. “But I had to go get it all taken care of at one time.”

After all that, he had to work his way back onto the 2010 Built Ford Tough Series. By excelling in early-season Touring Pro shows, he was granted a spot on the BFTS last weekend after cuts were made and top earners from the PBR’s farm system were brought up to the major leagues.

Jared sent a clear message that he can again be competitive on the big tour by tying for first in the second round in Glendale. He earned $2,340 after turning in a score of 88 aboard a spinner named Petey D., owned by Dustin Danley. He was bucked off in the short go and finished 10th in the average.

But when he’s in control during a ride, Jared said it’s one great feeling.

“It’s really great when you get tapped off,” he said. “When that happens, you don’t really think about nothing. You just try to counter and react to whatever the bull throwing at you. You can’t really think about anything when a bull is traveling that fast, you‘ll hit the ground pretty quick.”

When asked what his champion father instilled in him, Jared’s answer is simple: Just try hard.

However, he said his father taught his sons correct riding form.

“He taught us how to ride, and my two brothers and I pretty much ride the same,” Jared said. “We pretty much have the same style.”

Pete said one of the bigger lessons that came from their father was the technique of placing their feet and spurs in the right place, jump for jump, throughout the 8-second ride.

“The main thing that dad always tried to teach us was to keep our toes out,” Pete said, using the traditional term that means a rider should constantly keep his boots pointed outward to better use the locked-rowel spurs to hang onto a bull. “Our dad must have had really hard feet when he rode and he tried to teach us to have really hard feet.”

Though his father was a great teacher, Pete said he learned as much or more about the sport from his two older brothers.

“Dad first spent a lot of time with Denny, and by the time I came along, Denny and Jared were already riding and they taught me,” he said.

Ironically, Pete was cut from the 2010 Ford Series tour in mid-February. He presently is competing in Touring Pro shows in North America and some international events in an attempt to work his way back.

But last November in Las Vegas, Pete commanded respect by winning the second round of the World Finals with a score of 93.5 aboard Bones, the 2008 PBR World Champion Bull.

Farley said he had to be loose and fluid throughout the ride in order to stay in time with Bones, as the bull vigorously spun to the right.

“He had my rope jerked right in my fingertips the whole time,” he said. “So I was trying to kick loose and not trying to clamp down. I was just trying to stay moving and not clamp down.”

Though he was a rookie whom the majority of fans knew little about, the youngest Farley grabbed attention when he took down Bones.

“Looking back, I guess I wanted to go out there and win,” he said. “When it came my time to pick my bulls in the draft, there weren’t a lot of bulls to pick from and he was there. But I knew if he had his usual trip, he would fit my style. I knew I could ride him if I did things right, and that’s what I did.”

NEWS and NOTES

See the World: Tickets for the 2010 World Cup may be purchased by calling 1-866-PBRSHOW, or visiting www.unlvtickets.com. Hotel rooms and packages can be reserved at Treasure Island, the official host hotel of the World Cup. Not only will Treasure Island be home to the riders during the World Cup, but the hotel and casino will also play host to various World Cup after parties, and be “home base” for all PBR activity during the World Cup. For more information about prices and to reserve a room now, go to www.treasureisland.com or call (800) 288-7206.

-By Brett Hoffman

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