FAIRFAX, Va. – Here are three things we learned from the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational this weekend in Fairfax, Virginia, at EagleBank Arena.
Whitehorse extends lead in Rookie of the Year race
It was not the ultimate result Keyshawn Whitehorse wanted, but the 21-year-old was able to walk out of EagleBank Arena with his head held high.
Whitehorse won Round 2 on Sunday afternoon with 87.5 points aboard No Excuses to help propel himself to a seventh-place finish overall (2-for-3, 132.5 world points) in Virginia.
“He was a good solid bull around the right and kept getting stronger as the ride progressed,” Whitehorse said. “I had to keep hustling and keep using all my effort and keep my vision and not give up. Just really putting everything out there. That was the main key to that ride. In any ride, and in any situation, that is what it takes. These bulls are going to get you out of position and keep testing you, so with that ride it was really good to boost my confidence a lot.”
Whitehorse had bucked off seven consecutive bulls until this weekend.
The round win is his third of the season.
“Going two weeks in a row with bucking off all my bulls, that let me know I am still trying,” Whitehorse said. “That is the main thing. That is the main key in this sport. It is try. If you can’t try, then you are not going to ride your bulls. You can be very talented and not have try and it is only going to get you so far because these bulls will get you out of position.”
Whitehorse was in prime position for the event victory Sunday when he entered the championship round sitting in third place. He had previously ridden Luke for 85.5 points on Saturday in Round 1.
However, Whitehorse was unable to cash in on Peep Show and was bucked off in 6.01 seconds.
Whitehorse had previously ridden Peep Show for 88.5 points at the Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this past February to push himself onto the premier series.
The McCracken Springs, Utah, bull rider now leads Colten Jesse by 145.83 points in the Rookie of the Year race heading into next weekend’s WinStar World Casino and Resort Invitational in Austin, Texas.
Jesse finished tied for 16th place following his 85-point ride on Dirty Dan.
Whitehorse believes his two-ride performance in Fairfax will give him the confidence to know he can ride through his ongoing injury to his riding hand.
“Absolutely,” Whitehorse agreed. “The two down and the 15/15 bull I had – The Hard Stuff (7.34 seconds) – did boost my confidence a lot. This sport is 99 percent mental so being able to perform at a high level this weekend really put a lot of ease on my mind and keeping my riding up. Not slowing down, but now pushing the gas down harder.”
Pacheco answers the bell with fourth event win of 2018; opens up 1,200-point lead
World leader Kaique Pacheco didn’t waste any time in getting back on track.
A week after going rideless in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Pacheco stormed back with a 3-for-3 showing in Fairfax for his PBR-leading fourth event win of 2018.
Pacheco put himself in position for the victory with rides aboard Dang It (85.5 points), Satisfaction (84.75 points) and Springer Mountain (86.75 points).
“The reason I got Springer Mountain was that he was one of my bottom picks,” Pacheco said with the help of Paulo Crimber translating. “But everybody got the ones I wanted first. He got left behind and I got on him before (in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 2015). It worked out great.”
Pacheco then looked on as fellow World Champion contenders No. 3 Jose Vitor Leme (2-for-3, 34.2 world points) and No. 5 Cooper Davis (2-for-3, 107.5 world points) bucked off their respective bulls sandwiched around Whitehorse’s own shortcomings.
The world No. 1 bull rider then sat on the back of the chutes as last year’s runner-up in the 2017 world title race, Derek Kolbaba, was bucked off by Shownuff on the final out of the evening.
The buckoffs by Leme and Davis only make Pacheco’s victory that much more emphatic this weekend.
Pacheco leaves EagleBank Arena with an additional 450 points toward the world standings.
He now leads No. 2 Claudio Montanha Jr. (0-for-2) by 1,211.67 points with four regular-season events and the PBR World Finals remaining.
Leme is 1,568.34 points behind Pacheco and Davis drops to 1,772.5 points behind.
Meanwhile, No. 4 Ramon de Lima finished 1-for-3 and he has fallen 1,717.5 points behind Pacheco.
Pacheco has won two of the last three premier series events.
This is the largest lead Pacheco has ever had in his career this late in the season too.
“It is a great feeling going into the last few events with this lead,” Pacheco said. “I thank God that I completed my job and rode all of my bulls this weekend.”
Oliveira almost joins Richard in record books
Valdiron de Oliveira briefly almost joined Gary Richard in the record books this weekend.
Oliveira’s 88-point ride on Cooper Tires Brown Sugar in the championship round propelled him into the event lead prior to Cody Jesus leapfrogging him with his 87.5-point effort on Mud Duck.
The 39-year-old would have become the second-oldest rider to win a premier series event if he had held on for the event victory.
Richard, though, would have kept the record at 39 years and 10 months from his 2002 victory in St. Louis compared to Oliveira being 39 years and 3 months old.
“At 39 years old you are not like these kids,” Oliveira said. “Your body doesn’t respond any more like 10 years back. Now it is more difficult for me. I don’t think too much about my number. I try to tell myself to stay more young.”
Oliveira did hang on for the championship-round victory and his 3-for-3, third-place showing in Fairfax was his best performance of the year since finishing the season-opener in second.
The 10-time PBR World Finals qualifier covered Buck John for 85.75 points in Round 1 and Like a Boss for 81 points.
“I felt great this week,” Oliveira said. “I was leaving my house and I told my son and daughter that I wanted to do better. I want to ride like the Valdiron from 10 years ago. It feels great. I feel more strong now.”
Rounding out the Top 5 behind Pacheco, Jesus (3-for-3, 350 world points) and Oliveira was Kolbaba (2-for-3, 205 world points), Marco Eguchi (2-for-3, 135 world points) and Joao Ricardo Vieira (2-for-3, 135 world points).
Jesus rockets all the way up from 68th in the world standings to 38th.
Oliveira tipped his hat to Fit-N-Wise Rehabilitation and Performance Center in Decatur, Texas, for keeping him in shape.
“Thanks to Jim Bui for helping me in the gym in Decatur,” Oliveira said. “He has pushed me more and helped with my back, my arm and my leg. Cliff Cooper too. They have helped me a lot.”
Injury Updates
Koal Livingston and Nathan Burtenshaw are both probable for Austin after missing Championship Sunday in Fairfax because of concussions.
FAIRFAX DRAW: GLORIA READY FOR BUBBLE RACE; MARCHI RETURNING (9-19-18)
Marcos Gloria avoided a scare this past weekend in Atlantic City, New Jersey, after X-rays and a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday showed no serious damage to his left shoulder following his 5.8-second buckoff against Shameless.
Gloria’s agent, Andre Portes, said the No. 35 rider in the world is competing at the U.S. Border Patrol Invitational this weekend in Fairfax, Virginia, and that he is focusing on making a push to stay within the Top 35 of the world standings.
Gloria has a five-point lead on No. 36 Brock Radford in the world standings, and is only 87.5 points back of No. 28 Joao Ricardo Vieira.
“Riding on the premier series is definitely a dream come true,” Gloria said with the help of Portes translating. “Riding along the best bull riders in the world, guys that I’ve only seen on TV back in Brazil, is amazing.”
Gloria is 2-for-9 in four premier series events after his impressive 2018 summer run, which included him becoming the first Brazilian since Adriano Moraes (1994) to win the Calgary Stampede, allowed him to make his career-debut at the PBR’s top level last month.
“I’m really struggling to adapt with the bulls here,” Gloria said. “It is being difficult, especially because I was riding really good at the top of my game back home in Canada. So I’m still in the fight, giving all I got to make this Finals. Definitely a big step and my main focus right now is to accomplish that.”
Gloria will look to make up ground in the standings when he faces Blue Boy (2-0, PBR UTB) in Round 1 on Saturday night. Fans can watch all of the action from Eaglebank Arena on RidePass beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The 28-year-old is fifth in the Rookie of the Year race, 350.83 points behind Keyshawn Whitehorse.
RELATED: Round 1 daysheet
Radford remains out of competition with his torn left ACL/MCL. He is hopeful for a return to competition in Greensboro, North Carolina, next month.
Meanwhile, No. 37 Emilio Resende is also still out following reconstructive shoulder surgery.
No. 39 Cliff Richardson is also not competing in Virginia as he heads back home to Australia to tend to some personal business.
No. 21 Tanner Byrne remains out with a right ankle injury.
Therefore, No. 38 Alisson de Souza, No. 40 Lucas Divino, No. 41 Cody Campbell and No. 42 Fraser Babbington are in the draw.
This will be Babbington’s season debut on the Unleash The Beast and his first regular-season event since March 10, 2017.
The 31-year-old turned down an alternate position last week for Atlantic City after finding out too late he had a spot in the draw as an alternate. Instead, Babbington stayed in Portland, Maine, and went 0-for-2 at the Velocity event.
Babbington explained to RidePass host Colby Yates in Portland that he simply found out too late about Atlantic City.
“I flown over here and had just booked my motel in Portland, Maine, and was waiting for my Uber at the airport looking at my emails asking me if I could make it to Atlantic City,” Babbington said. “I would have if I had known probably six hours earlier when I had a stopover in Atlanta. Then I wouldn’t got on the plane and booked a motel. It is what it is.”
No. 66 Cody Jesus is this weekend’s Real Time Pain Relief Velocity Tour invite.
Jesus earned the invite following his victory in his hometown of Window Rock, Arizona, on Sept. 4. The 20-year-old used two 90-point rides to earn his first RVT win.
He takes on Red Fury (1-6, PBR UTB) in Round 1. Jesus is 6-for-11 at all levels of PBR competition this season.
Divino is now sitting in 40th place in the world standings because of his RVT victory last weekend in Portland, Maine.
The win was also his first Velocity Tour victory. Divino is 24-for-48 (50 percent) at all levels and will square off against Freakin Wicked (0-2, PBR UTB).
2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi will be returning to competition from his two-week hiatus. He takes on Hy Test (24-23, PBR UTB). Hy Test has bucked off Marchi in two of three previous matchups, but the 36-year-old won the last showdown with 83.75 points in Kansas City, Missouri.
World leader Kaique Pacheco will try to extend his 761.67-point lead on No. 2 Claudio Montanha Jr. when he faces Dang It (1-0, PBR UTB).
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko