Mike Lee wins Professional Bull Riding championship at Pala, collects $6,426 in prize money

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Update:Lee wins PBR at Pala

In a rodeo rough stock event the judges may award a re-ride to a cowboy if they feel that the animal did not buck sufficiently. If the cowboy takes the re-ride option, the score or lack thereof on the re-ride replaces his initial score.

During the Professional Bull Riders competition May 4-5 in Pala, judges Allen Jordan and Jeff Shearer awarded Mike Lee 77 points for his May 5 ride on Jumper while also offering Lee the option of a re-ride. Lee turned down the re-ride opportunity.

“I was close to the short round anyways, and I wanted to save my energy,” Lee said.

The format of the PBR at Pala involves a “long go” of 35 entries (a cowboy can enter more than once and have multiple rides) with 12 of those advancing to the “short go”, where any score is added to their long go score. If fewer than 12 riders have a qualified ride in the long go, the cowboys who stayed on their bulls the longest round out the short go field. Pala had separate long go and short go sessions each day with the final prize money being given to the cowboys with the best overall one-day scores.

The four qualified rides in the May 4 long go were led by the 88.5 points Australia’s Jared Farley scored on Hula Hoop. None of those four riders stayed on their bulls during that day’s short go; the only two May 4 qualified rides in the short go were Michael Lane’s 87-point ride on Tick and Carson Hiatt’s 86-point score on Ball Peen.

Lane’s travel partner, Gage Gay of Staley, N.C., had the top score of the May 5 long go with 90.5 points on Money Blue. That put Gay into first place, and none of the other four cowboys with a May 5 long go score matched Gay’s.

A re-ride may also be given if the rider is fouled in the chute or if the chute is opened before the rider signals that he is ready. Two other May 5 cowboys, neither of whom had qualified rides, were offered re-rides. Both were bucked off on the re-ride.

Lee’s score placed him fifth among the May 5 cowboys in the short go, so the inverse order made him the eighth rider in the finals. Two of the first seven riders earned scores in the short go.

Lee drew Ball Peen for the Sunday short go. “He was one of the better ones to draw, I think,” Lee said.

Tommy G Productions used bulls from several stock contractors; Ball Peen was provided by Jeff Robinson Bucking Bulls. Lee scored 88 points on Ball Peen to give him a score of 165 points on two head.

After the next three cowboys were bucked off, Gay needed a score of 74.5 points on Chocolate Drop to tie Lee and 75 points to win. Chocolate Drop bucked off Gay, giving Lee the victory.

“I’m just real thankful for everything I get. Everything good comes from God, and he gave me the strength to persevere today,” Lee said.

Lee received the first-place check of $6,426. Gay matched that amount, receiving $1,836 for the top long go score of the weekend in addition to his $4,590 second-place check.

Lee, who will be 30 in June, is originally from Billings, Mont., and moved to Texas when he was four. He currently lives in Decatur, Texas. “I love coming to California. It feels like a nice place to be. People are always good fans and they’re very appreciative of us,” he said.

Last year Lee entered the Pala PBR three times. He made the short go twice, and on one of those he was fouled in the chute and was given a re-ride, so he was on six bulls in one day.

The Mutton Bustin’ competition in which children ride sheep had only a trophy as a prize. That was won by seven-year-old Pala resident William Salgado, who rode his sheep for 81 points.

This year’s PBR is the fourth hosted by Pala Casino, which holds the event in the pasture just west of the casino parking lot. Stock for the first three PBR events had been provided by Cotton Rosser’s Flying U Rodeo Company, but schedule issues forced a change to Tommy G Productions of Pueblo, Colo., for both stock and contract acts. “I loved it here. It’s nice to do it outside. The weather’s good. I think people were real receptive to some of the things we brought as a production company,” said Tommy Giodone.

In a rodeo rough stock event the judges may award a re-ride to a cowboy if they feel that the animal did not buck sufficiently. If the cowboy takes the re-ride option, the score or lack thereof on the re-ride replaces his initial score.

During the Professional Bull Riders competition May 4-5 in Pala, judges Allen Jordan and Jeff Shearer awarded Mike Lee 77 points for his May 5 ride on Jumper while also offering Lee the option of a re-ride. Lee turned down the re-ride opportunity.

"I was close to the short round anyways, and I wanted to save my energy," Lee said.

The format of the PBR at Pala involves a "long go" of 35 entries (a cowboy can enter more than once and have multiple rides) with 12 of those advancing to the "short go", where any score is added to their long go score. If fewer than 12 riders have a qualified ride in the long go, the cowboys who stayed on their bulls the longest round out the short go field. Pala had separate long go and short go sessions each day with the final prize money being given to the cowboys with the best overall one-day scores.

The four qualified rides in the May 4 long go were led by the 88.5 points Australia's Jared Farley scored on Hula Hoop. None of those four riders stayed on their bulls during that day's short go; the only two May 4 qualified rides in the short go were Michael Lane's 87-point ride on Tick and Carson Hiatt's 86-point score on Ball Peen.

Lane's travel partner, Gage Gay of Staley, N.C., had the top score of the May 5 long go with 90.5 points on Money Blue. That put Gay into first place, and none of the other four cowboys with a May 5 long go score matched Gay's.

A re-ride may also be given if the rider is fouled in the chute or if the chute is opened before the rider signals that he is ready. Two other May 5 cowboys, neither of whom had qualified rides, were offered re-rides. Both were bucked off on the re-ride.

Lee's score placed him fifth among the May 5 cowboys in the short go, so the inverse order made him the eighth rider in the finals. Two of the first seven riders earned scores in the short go.

Lee drew Ball Peen for the Sunday short go. "He was one of the better ones to draw, I think," Lee said.

Tommy G Productions used bulls from several stock contractors; Ball Peen was provided by Jeff Robinson Bucking Bulls. Lee scored 88 points on Ball Peen to give him a score of 165 points on two head.

After the next three cowboys were bucked off, Gay needed a score of 74.5 points on Chocolate Drop to tie Lee and 75 points to win. Chocolate Drop bucked off Gay, giving Lee the victory.

"I'm just real thankful for everything I get. Everything good comes from God, and he gave me the strength to persevere today," Lee said.

Lee received the first-place check of $6,426. Gay matched that amount, receiving $1,836 for the top long go score of the weekend in addition to his $4,590 second-place check.

Lee, who will be 30 in June, is originally from Billings, Mont., and moved to Texas when he was four. He currently lives in Decatur, Texas. "I love coming to California. It feels like a nice place to be. People are always good fans and they're very appreciative of us," he said.

Last year Lee entered the Pala PBR three times. He made the short go twice, and on one of those he was fouled in the chute and was given a re-ride, so he was on six bulls in one day.

The Mutton Bustin' competition in which children ride sheep had only a trophy as a prize. That was won by seven-year-old Pala resident William Salgado, who rode his sheep for 81 points.

This year's PBR is the fourth hosted by Pala Casino, which holds the event in the pasture just west of the casino parking lot. Stock for the first three PBR events had been provided by Cotton Rosser's Flying U Rodeo Company, but schedule issues forced a change to Tommy G Productions of Pueblo, Colo., for both stock and contract acts. "I loved it here. It's nice to do it outside. The weather's good. I think people were real receptive to some of the things we brought as a production company," said Tommy Giodone.

(previous story, limited version)

Mike Lee wins 2013 Pala Professional Bull Riding championship

PALA - Mike Lee, the 2004 Professional Bull Riding (PBR) World Champion and the current 11th-ranked bull rider in the world scored 165.0 points on two rides and won $6, 426.00 and the Pala PBR Touring Pro Division Championship this afternoon at the Pala Rodeo Grounds. The Decatur, TX, rider held on to Jumper for 77.0 points in the Long Go and followed with an 88.0-point performance on Ball Peen in the Short Go.

“Ball Peen is a real tough bull and I was lucky to get out from under him,” Lee said.

Second place and another $6,426 went to Gage Gay of Staley, NC, whose 90.5-point ride on Money Blue in today’s Long Go was the top score of the weekend. Gage won $4,590 for second and another $1,836 as the weekend’s Long Go round leader.

Jared Farley of Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, finished third in total money with $4,681.80. He won $2,754 for third place and another $1,927.80 for his 88.5-point and 84.5-point Long Go rides in Saturday’s action. Farley was the first-day leader.

Other top finishers included:

4. Michael Lane, Randleman, NC, $2,754 (which included $1,836 for fourth in average and $918.00 for third in Long Go scoring.)

5. Carson Hiatt, Rosalia, KS, $1,468.80

6. Chon Miranda, Ruisdoso Downs, NM, $734.40

See a more detailed story in the May 9 issue of the Village News by sportswriter Joe Naiman.

Jacob Farley leads in points after first day of Pala Professional Bull Riders event; finals on Sunday, May 5

PALA - Jared Farley of Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia is the first-day leader with 88.5 points in the Pala Professional Bull Riders Touring Pro Division competition at Pala Casino Spa & Resort. Farley set the mark aboard Hula Hoop this afternoon as just the second rider of the day in the Long Go round. Farley’s second 84.5-point ride on Twister in the Long Go also qualified him fourth in the competition.

Michael Lane of Randleman, NC, is second with 87.0 points after an eight-second ride on Tick in the Short Go and Carson Hiatt of Rosalia, KS, is third, just a point behind at 86.0 after staying up on Ball Peen in the Short Go. Other first-day scores include Derek Creswell of Weatherford, OK, fifth, with 80.0 points aboard Move Over in the Long Go and Jeremy Kolich of Norco, CA, sixth, with a 78.5-point ride aboard Dapper Dan in the Long Go. Seven-year-old William Salgado of Pala won today’s Mutton Bustin’ competition with 81 points.

The final round of Pala PBR competition starts at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 5, at the Pala Rodeo Grounds when 35 more bull riders will compete for more than $25,000 in prize money. The scores from today’s first round carry over to determine the champion.

Tickets, $58, $48, $28, and $10 for children under 12 in the reserved section, are available for Sunday’s final round at the Pala box office in the casino, by calling 1-877-946-7252, or at http://www.startickets.com.