FORT WORTH, Texas (May 3, 2023) – Ahead of the 30th Anniversary PBR (Professional Bull Riders) World Finals, scheduled to return to Fort Worth, Texas, and Dickies Arena from May 12-21, the organization has announced the rank pen of more than 100 bovine athletes who have been selected to buck at the prestigious, season-culminating event.
World No. 1 Cool Whip leads No. 2 Ridin Solo by 0.41 points in $100,000 YETI World Champion Bull Race
Alongside the riders, who will be vying for the 2023 PBR World Championship and $1 million bonus, the PBR’s fiercest bulls will also be competing for the 2023 YETI PBR World Champion Bull honor and accompanying $100,000 bonus.
The field is led by powerhouse No. 1 Cool Whip, who is chasing his first YETI PBR World Championship after being crowned the 2022 ABBI Classic World Champion. Cool Whip leads No. 2 Ridin Solo by 0.41 points as the Oklahoma-raised bovine attempts to make a come-from-behind surge and become just the sixth back-to-back PBR World Champion bull in the organization’s history.
Both Cool Whip and Ridin Solo have been named the YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Event a PBR-best four times during the title push.
The 2023 YETI PBR World Champion Bull will be the animal with the highest average bull score from his highest-scored 6 outs logged during the 2022 PBR Team Series and 2023 Unleash The Beast regular-season, and two outs at the 2023 PBR World Finals.
The top bucking bulls competing at the Finals will receive three outs, and World Champion contenders will be able to drop their lowest score in Fort Worth.
The 2023 PBR World Finals will also anoint a YETI “Built for the Wild” Bull of the Finals, who will be presented with a $25,000 bonus for posting the top combined score based on his three outs at the season-culminating event.
Cool Whip, who bucked to a 45.97-point world average, will travel to World Finals unridden in his 18 eligible outs for the 2023 title. He has been ridden just once in 39 career outs across all levels of competition.
Among those outs, Cool Whip has been marked 46 points or more six times, including a season-best 46.25 points twice. The powerful animal athlete first posted the marks at the Team Series event in Austin, Texas, for his 4.27-second buckoff of Joao Ricardo Vieira, and again during the league’s event in Fort Worth when he upended Wingson Henrique da Silva in 7.36 seconds.
Ridin Solo has made a late-season surge as he attempts to be crowned the YETI PBR World Champion Bull in back-to-back seasons. He currently holds a 45.56-point world average.
Ridin Solo notably won the 2022 World Championship at the debut World Finals in Fort Worth when he held off 2021 World Champion Bull Woopaa, who retired earlier this season.
Having bucked 16 times during the 2023 title campaign, Ridin Solo has been ridden just once, covered by Vieira for 91.5 points during the 15/15 Bucking Battle in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Of those outs, Ridin Solo has been marked more than 46 points three times, including for a monstrous 47.25 points in Albuquerque when he tossed Josh Frost in a swift 2.86 seconds.
Looking at other bull contenders, Moonlight Party, who is ranked No. 7 in the standings, will attempt to become the first Canadian-born bovine athlete to be crowned a PBR World Champion Bull at the 2023 PBR World Finals.
Moonlight Party, who was bred by Allan Shields and then purchased by Outlaw Buckers in Western Canada, now represents Gene Owen’s Oklahoma outfit. In his second full season stateside, Moonlight Party bucked 14 times, concluding the regular-season with a 45.22-point world average, 0.75 points behind the top spot.
The striking bovine delivered five scores of 45 points or more, including a season-best 46-point trip during the Bonus Round of the October 2022 PBR Team Series event in Fort Worth, Texas, when he tossed Thiago Salgado in 2.33 seconds.
While not in contention for a World Championship, Moonlight Party will be joined by several other bulls with ties to the nation, including Yellowknife and Norse God, both of whom were raised in Canada and now reside in the United States.
The remaining Top 10 active contenders in the YETI PBR World Champion Bull race set to compete at the World Finals are: No. 3T Flapjack (45.53-point average | -0.44 points); No. 3T UTZ BesTex Legend (45.53-point average | -0.44 points); No. 5 Ricky Vaughan (45.38-point average | -0.59 points); No. 6 Night Hawk (45.25-point average | -0.72 points), No. 8 Manaba (45.19 points | -0.78 points), No. 9 Blue Duck (45.13-point average | -0.84 points); and No. 10 Alakazam (45.03-point average | -0.94 points).
As an added layer of excitement, ABBI (American Bucking Bull Inc.) will buck roughly 25 bulls during Round 1 of the 2023 PBR World Finals when the top 3- and 4-year-old up-and-coming bulls will go up against the best riders in the nation. These four-legged athletes will compete for an estimated purse of more than $45,000, with the champion to be awarded a check for an estimated $7,500.
Bovines to watch for include current No. 1 in the ABBI Classic standings Flapjack (Parker/OK Corallis/Gordon/D&H Cattle) who has picked up four different Classic event wins so far this season; Flyin Wired (Julian/BS Cattle Co.) who has won the last three consecutive Classic events; and Ricky Vaughn (Buck/D&H Cattle) who is also in the running for YETI PBR World Champion Bull.
