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The morning line: Round 1

Brown outdraws Lostroh and Marchi; Mauney could take the round on Chester

LAS VEGAS (October 30, 2009) - Going into the World Finals, everyone is geared up for some excitement. Here's where you are likely to get it in Round 1:

The Odds-On Round 1 Favorites:

Mike Lee on Soulja Boy:
Soulja boy hasn't appeared on the BFTS since April, so fans haven't seen him in a while. Soulja is small, fast, and spins like few bulls you will ever see. Ridden 10 times for an average score of around 90.5, he is enough bull to win this round on. He is ridden more than 50 percent of the time by top riders, and Mike Lee is better than most top riders. If he knows how to work fast, this will be electric.

Zack Brown on Pearl Snap:
Zack is the fourth man in a three-man race for the World Championship, and in Round 1 he's already made a bit of a move - he's out-drawn two of the three guys ahead of him. Pearl Snap is money. Like Soulja Boy, he is ridden often and for lots of points. He got Zack on the ground in a previous meeting in 2008, but don't look for that to happen again.

J.B. Mauney on Chester:
J.B. is the guy that Zack did NOT out-draw. Chester is a favorable matchup for most left-handed guys, and few left-handed guys ride as well as .JB.

Beau Hill on Hawaiian Ivory
Beau has been on a hot streak lately, and this bull has been on a hot streak his whole career. These two met in 2008 in Santa Maria, Calif., at a Challenger Tour event for a score of 88.5 points, and I would expect Beau to ride him again.

The Round 1 Honorably Mentioned:

Renato Nunes on Maverick:
Great bull – it’s on Renato to make the whistle. If he does, it could be Top 5 in the round at least.

Robson Palermo on Black Gold:
Should be a qualified ride, and it’s on the bull to bring his A-game. These two met for 87 points in Worcester, but 87 shouldn’t be enough today.

Brian Canter on Rio Grande:
Question marks on both sides. Bull has limited history, but what numbers he does have say he’s good enough for a round win. Everyone knows how capable Brian Canter is, but he’s ridden 3 out of his last 15.

Rocky McDonald on Big Iron:
This should result in a score, but will it be high enough? At times Big Iron has brought big scores – other times not.

Dustin Elliott on Outta Da Blue:
Dustin is the question mark here. He’s bucked off this bull before.

Ross Coleman on Cat Man Do:
Anyone on Cat Man Do has a shot at the round win. He’s noticeably better for lefties, though, and Ross isn’t one. If he can stay aboard, this will be a high score.

Austin Meier on Baja’s Live Wire:
Not much history on the bull, but looks favorable for Austin to score big.

The World Leaders:

Already mentioned J.B. and Zack – so let’s take a look at the two who drew the short straws.

Guilherme Marchi on Monkey Blood:
This bull doesn’t get ridden very often, and even less often by right-handed riders. Of course, busting bull posers is what Marchi makes a living doing, so either this bull will test him, or Marchi will make him look silly.

Kody Lostroh on Red Kat:
This bull has only been ridden once on the BFTS – for 87.5 points. But he’s been ridden three times out of 33 attempts in the PBR at all levels. One of the 30 guys who ate dirt on him? Kody Lostroh in Dallas back in January on a bad day for both of them, really. Hard to say what might happen here, but if it works out in Kody’s favor it still may not be enough bull to win the round on.

The Rookies:

Caleb Sanderson on Wrangler’s Rock Star:
Caleb is the rookie most likely to make up some ground on Cody Nance in the Daisy Rookie of the Year Race. This bull is just fantastic. In fact, this matchup is nearly as promising as the favorites in this round.

Cody Nance on Nasty Town:
Cody is the rookie most likely to add to his own lead. He matches up favorably with Nasty Town, and really the question mark is the bull – will he be worth enough points to place?

-by Slade Long