Ty Murray invitational - Albuquerque, NM

The Professional Bull Riders rock n’ rolled into Albuquerque for the 2007 Ty Murray Invitational March 30th thru April 1^st. Some may wonder why this is one of longest continuous venues the PBR visits. But all question marks are soon washed away as the standing room only crowd roars into action. As President of the PBR and the events name sake Ty Murray said not only do the residents of Albuquerque support and love bullriding, but with the neighbors of the nearby Navajo Reservation, it’s a guaranteed good time! And with fans from all over the country making the trek to the Duke City, no one went away disappointed!

Friday night kicked off with a bang as local favorite Travis Briscoe of Edgewood, NM scored an 82.5 on the bull Black Jack of Circle T Ranch and Rodeo. While Kasey Hayes of Liberal, Kansas and Kody Lostroh of Longmont, Colorado jumped out to the early lead with a 90 and an 89.5 respectively.

But the true story Friday night wasn’t the human athlete but the four legged one. Friday night was an ABBI Classic event, where three and four year old bulls competed for their own prize money. While many people may have been unaware of this at the start, by the end of the performance the crowd had their favorite new star! Led by Troubadour of Julio Moreno these young bulls showed what the future holds for the PBR.

Saturday night proved a little more challenging for the bulls as 20 riders roared out of the chutes for marked rides. World Champion and Fan Favorite Adriano Moraes won the second round with an 88.25 on Stray Cat of Diamond S Bucking Bulls. After the event most of the capacity crowd made its way to the Sandia Resort and Casino for a concert by Jason Michael Carroll to support the Resistol Relief fund.

Sunday afternoon proved to be the BIG day. With a standing room only crowd, the boys and bulls put on a show worthy of the national television exposure on Versus. With rides by local favorite LJ Jenkins from Texico, NM who had been out most of the year with injuries and other fan favorites like Mike Lee (who earlier in the day had gotten his chaps branded by the kids from the Believe In Tomorrow Organization), Adriano Moraes, JB Mauney and event leaders Kasey Hayes and Kody Lostroh the final round was set to be a big time show of force.

To bad no one bothered to tell the bulls that they should be scared. With a list of who’s who of riders, the list of the bulls was even more daunting! Led by perennial favorites Walk This Way and Bells Blue, only two riders struck gold. With the final round half over Guilherme Marchi hit pay dirt by spurring Black Smoke of Page and Teauge for a whopping 92.25. But a few riders later Adriano Moraes topped Hot Stuff from Diamond S Bucking Bulls for an 89.25 to win the event.

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