Las Vegas Weekly

November 1, 2009 · 12:32 PM

PBR Photo Gallery: Aussie rookie conquers toughest bull in Round 2

By Robin Leach

Round 2 winner Peter Farley of Australia and his gold buckle at the 2009 Professional Bull Riders World Finals at Thomas & Mack Center on Oct. 31, 2009.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

His name is Bones! His reputation as the meanest, toughest bull on the circuit is so awesome, he’s been ridden only once in 30 career outings. Nobody wants to ride him, and only Friday night’s first-round winner, J.B. Mauney, tackled him once on a bounty ride for show many months ago.

Yet 20-year-old rookie Peter Farley of Australia picked him early yesterday. In a sense, the bull picked him because Peter had little choice. On Friday night, he’d done so badly in the scoring, he was nearly at the very bottom among the 44 competing riders.

He’d been bucked off the quickest and had little say over which bull to ride. Desperately, he even called his brothers Down Under to get some much-needed advice for what might be best.

Incredibly, Peter stole the spotlight from the tight, three-man race for the $1 million title by conquering Bones and staying on the entire 8-second ride of torture. It was beyond spectacular and thrilling, fans said.

A kid had conquered the world’s rankest, meanest killer! For Peter, it was a night of triumph, as he earned his first gold buckle, a $25,000 bonus and 93.25 points.

He said: “I was backed into the corner to select Bones. To be truthful, he wouldn’t have been the bull I’d have picked. He’s a bull where there is no room for error. No one wanted to pick him because he’s so hard. I didn’t set out to prove anything, but the good news now is I get to pick whatever I want for Round 3!”

The rides last night tightened -- and shook up -- the standings in the race for the world champion battle. J.B., who followed up his Round 1 win with 91.25 points, finished second behind Peter in Round 2.

In the overall race for the world champion title, Kody Lostroh is in the lead, followed closely by J.B. Defending champion Guilherme Marchi is in third with his second consecutive buck-off in the Las Vegas finals. Kody finished seventh in Round 2 but stayed on his bucking bull for the second consecutive night, so he still maintains his lead. Only 10 of the 44 riders managed to stay on the full 8 seconds last night.

The tight three-man race of Kody, from Longmont, Colo., J.B. of Mooresville, N.C., and Guilherme of Leme, Brazil, might tighten even further today. If Guilherme fails to grab his first 8-second ride, it will become a two-man race, and once again, no rider will get a back-to-back championship since the beginning of the PBR. If J.B. wins the championship, he would be the first cowboy east of the Mississippi to claim the honor in the 16-year history of the PBR.

Today’s Round 3 starts at Thomas & Mack Center at 3 p.m., and then the roughed-up riders enjoy a three-day break before the World Finals resume Thursday. We’ll have today’s results and photos tomorrow right here at Vegas DeLuxe.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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