SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Ben Marquis pauses for a moment to mull over the questions in his head.

Answering which rider he would like to see attempt to ride his bull Marquis Metal Works Bill The Butcher is much harder for him than whether or not he wants to see a qualified ride.

Marquis had not even blinked an eye a few minutes earlier when he said, “Easily. That don’t bother me at all. I hope somebody rides the crap out of him. I hope it is a 96-point ride.”

The irony is that a qualified ride aboard Bill The Butcher means Marquis is dishing out $25,000 on Sunday afternoon at the PFIWestern.com Invitational in Springfield, Missouri.

“We will keep doing this until he is rode,” Marquis added. “If he isn’t rode for two years, there will be $25,000 out there.”

Bill The Butcher is bucking for the first time since the 5-year-old son of Air Time bucked off Derek Kolbaba in 4.59 seconds in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Aug. 11.

The stipulations for this weekend’s bounty are the same as Tulsa. The rider who selects Bill The Butcher in the championship round will receive $25,000 if he rides the 1,850-pounder for an 8-second qualified ride or if a re-ride flag is thrown and the bull underperforms. Marquis had a Montana Silversmiths commemorative belt buckle made as well for the rider who successfully rides Bill The Butcher.

Marquis will not be in attendance this weekend at JQH Arena because of a conflict, but he hopes to be following along live on CBS Sports Network at 6 p.m. ET for the conclusion of the PFIWestern.com Invitational.

The 35-year-old business owner from Williston, North Dakota, was in Tulsa for Bill The Butcher’s first go of things under the $25,000 bounty rule.

“It is kind of like a kid going out there to watch peewee football,” Marquis said. “You are nervous about them performing, but you know they are capable, healthy and feeling good.”

Health was the main reason fans have not seen Bill The Butcher since he last competed in Tulsa.

It was learned after Tulsa that Bill The Butcher had a ruptured ear drum because of an ear infection. Therefore, Marquis and his stock contractor/hauler Jeremy Walker made sure to pull the bovine athlete out of competition to undergo treatment and antibiotics before bucking him again.

Walker said this week that Bill The Butcher received the all-clear, and he looks ready to go.

Walker admitted he is excited to see what Bill The Butcher can do at full strength on better dirt this weekend compared to the conditions at the BOK Center last month.

“He is good to go,” Walker said. “We will see what he does. He feels good and moves around good. He has a little bit of an attitude back. Hopefully the dirt is not 10 feet deep. I know the two times I bucked him before, he was way better than he was in Tulsa. I knew something was off from him. I like what I have seen, but I don’t want to go bragging or talking any trash because he is still pretty new. If he was going to have a bad trip, Tulsa would have been the one.”

Bill The Butcher was marked 44.25 points for bucking off Kolbaba, and early on it appeared as if Kolbaba was going to easily take Butcher to town before he was sent to the dirt.

Walker has not bucked Bill The Butcher in the practice pen during his four-week break.

“The hard part is keeping the weight off him,” Walker said. “I almost like bulls that are harder to put weight. It is easier to put more to him. There is a lot of pressure behind him, and I want him to do well and not get off tour.”

Walker is also hopeful that Bill The Butcher will do enough in Springfield to gain the attention of PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert and earn a spot at the 2019 PBR World Finals. Lambert said following Tulsa Bill The Butcher looked like a championship round-caliber bull.

“When we leave Springfield, whatever bulls he is kind of on the fence about, if he needs to see a little more, I will load my bulls up and take them to another event,” Walker said.

If necessary, Walker will buck Bill The Butcher again at one of the final four Unleash The Beast regular-season events following Springfield, potentially in Minneapolis on Oct. 3-4 or Greensboro, North Carolina, on Oct. 12-13.

Sunday will at least determine whether the $25,000 bounty will be following Bill The Butcher to wherever he goes next.

So which rider would Marquis like to possibly see challenge his bull?

“Man, you always want the big guys,” Marquis said. “The Chase (Outlaws). Claudio Montanha. I would like to see a rematch with Ezekiel (Mitchell). Or Cooper Davis. Jess Lockwood would probably be the ultimate pick for me.

“Anybody. I just want to see a great ride.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko