User:Dawnleelynn/Asteroid (bull)

Asteroid #781 (born March 7, 2007) is the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) World Champion Bull for 2012. The late bucking bull beat out the three-time world champion Bushwacker for the honor. On July 8, 2019, Asteroid died from natural causes at his owner, Chad Berger's Rafter Arrow Ranch, in Mandan, North Dakota, after being retired after the 2017 season.

Background
The bull Asteroid was born on March 7, 2007, in Attica, Kansas. He was bred by Mark and Cooper Kanngiesser. He was an American Bucking Bull breed, and they branded him No. 781. His sire, also an American Bucking breed, was 331 Cotton. His dam, also an American Bucking Bull breed, was Lil' Mama. His paternal grandsire was Watermellon Crawl, and his paternal granddam was Mama Cotton.

Asteroid was a brown bull who weighed 1400 lb. The Kanngiessers sold him to Harlan Robertson. Robertson sold him to Jerry Nelson of Frontier Rodeo Company. Then Nelson sold him to Jeff Talley of Circle T Ranch & Rodeo who hauled him to compete in the PBR for most of his career. Talley retired him in 2015. In 2016, Chad Berger of Chad Berger Bucking Bulls persuaded Talley to sell him. Berger ran Asteroid in the PBR for about two years.

Career
Asteroid competed on both the PRCA and the Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) of the PBR. He was active from 2011 to 2017.

Season 2011
Asteroid made his BFTS debut in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 6, 2011. He was ridden by Elton Cide for 76 points with a bull score of 39.50 bull points. This type of ride is a very low score, well below average. But it was not a precursor of things to come. After the summer break, he bucked off three time World Champion Silvano Alves in 3.23 seconds. He finished his 2011 season with four scores at or over 46.5 points. He also beat out Bushwacker three times in head-to-head competitions. And he came out as a serious contender for the world champion bull race.

The PBR World Finals took place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, over a period of days at the end of October.The world champion bull contenders for 2011 were Bushwacker, Asteroid, Smackdown, and RMEF Gunpower & Lead at the PBR Finals. I'm A Gangster was selected also, but was kept out due to injury. The riders and some PBR personnel expected the championship to be a match between Bushwacker and Asteroid. The winner was decided based on a two-ride aggregate score from Round 3, Friday, October 28, 2011, and Sunday's BFTS Championship Round 6 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Bulls are marked from a score of 1 to 50 points. They are always marked a score regardless of whether they get a buckoff or not.

The CEO, Jim Haworth remarked that both bulls had a good chance. He remarked that Bushwacker had been unridden for two years now and Asteroid had turned on his peformance the last six months. Some bull riders felt it would come down to the bulls get ridden. Asteroid had been the highmarked bull in his last four BFTS outs, including a very high score of 47.5 points in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 46.5 points in two other venues.

Bushwacker had a one-point lead over Asteroid as they headed into the championship round of the World Champion Bull race. The score was 48.5 over 47.5 in Bushwacker's favor. It was possible Asteroid could have won in spite of this lead, even with a off-day. However, Asteroid had a bad out, hipping himself on the way out of the chute when Cord McCoy was riding him. Despite this, he still received a decent score of 45 points. Then it was Bushwacker's turn. He came out of the chute clean and bucked off World Champion J.B. Mauney in 3.58 seconds, earning himself a high score of 47.5 points. At that time, the race for World Champion Bull was decided by a two-ride aggregate at the finals. Bushwacker secured the 2011 win with a total of 96 points. Asteroid came in second with a score of 92.5. "Bushwacker didn't have his best day this afternoon, but Asteroid fouled himself leaving the chutes, so he sure didn't have his best day," noted PBR Livestock Director Cody Lambert. "They are definitely the top two bulls", despite both bulls not having their best day.

Asteroid finished the season with 11 outs on the BFTS, and 10 of them were against top-ranked riders. He went up against Bushwacker head-to=head 7 times. Bushwacker posted the higher score at 4 of those meetings, while Asteroid made the higher score the other 3 times. Asteroid also had the two of the top 10 bull scores of the season. There were four consecutive events where Asteroid was the high-marked bull. Those events were Tulsa, Oklahoma, San Antonio, Texas, Springfield, Missouri, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Season 2012
Starting out the 2012 season, Asteroid and Bushwacker were considered the top contenders for the champion bull title. Asteroid's home is in Louisiana, and his handler, Melton, has said he will run the bull "about like last year". Asteroid had previously competed on the rodeo circuit mostly notably the Professional Bull Cowboys Association (PRCA). Apparently, the PBR takes some adjustment for a top-ranked bull, as the rodeo circuit entails a lot of outdoor arenas while the PBR circuit is mostly large indoors arenas with pyrotechnics and loud crowds. Once you get the bull used to the PBR environment, then you can usually get them back on the rodeo circuit if that is your intention.

Asteroid's first out in 2012 put him in the No. 1 bull spot. He bucked off Douglas Duncan in 3 seconds for a high score of 46.75. The out happened in Anaheim, California in the Championship Round. To date, only two riders have made qualified rides on Asteroid. The aforementioned ride by Cide. The other was by Fabiano Vieira at Billings, Montana, in August 2011. Vieira scored 87 points on him, and Asteroid earned a decent bull score of 44.75 points.

On Sunday, August 19, at the Bass Pro Shops Chute Out by Cooper Tires, in the AT&T Center, J.B. Mauney rode Asteroid for a qualified ride and a very high ride score of 93.50 points to win the Championship Round. Asteroid received a very high bull score of 46.25 points. Mauney broke Asteroid's buckoff streak of 16 buckoffs.

On Friday, September 21, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, in Tampa, Florida, the top 15 bulls at the 15/15 Bucking Battle shut out the top 15 riders. Asteroid led the pack with a 47.5 score out of a possible 50 points by bucking off Valdiron de Oliveira in 2.33 seconds. Asteroid tied his highest score of the season to date from when he bucked off Silvano Alves in 1.81 seconds at the first 15/15 Bucking Battle in Sacramento, California.

On Wednesday, October 17, the PBR announced the final contenders for the World Champion bull title. Bushwacker led the list; he was chosen by the best bull riders for the third consecutive year. Also chosen were Asteroid, Buckey, David's Dream, Rango, Rock & Roll, and Smackdown. All were selected by a vote of the top 35 bull riders except Buckey and Rock and Roll. Those two were chosen by Cody Lambert, a PBR co-founder, Director of Livestock, and Ring of Honor member.

Asteroid earned his second nomination in a row this year. For the season, Asteroid is 14-1. He owns the three highest bull scores for the year. He also owns 8 of the top 16 bull scores for the year. He tied Bushwacker for Pabst Blue Ribbon Awards; each won five. These awards are for the high-marked bull at each event.

In Round 1 of the World Finals, Bushwacker and Asteroid tied for first with 46.75 bull points each. The winner was determined by an aggregate score from two rounds. Asteroid bucked off Eneias Barbosa Alves in 2.30 seconds. Bushwacker bucked off Marco Eguchi in 6.36 seconds.

On Sunday, October 29, at the Championship Round held at the Thomas & Mack Center, Asteroid won the World Champion Bull championship with an aggregate total of 93.25 points. He scraped by Bushwacker for the title by a mere .25 points. Asteroid bucked off L. J. Jenkins in 6.44 seconds for a score of 46.50 points. Bushwacker bucked off "Agnaldo Cardozo in 3.92 seconds for a score of 46.25. Asteroid's two out aggregate was 93.25 points. Bushwacker's aggregate was 93 points; thus Asteroid won by .25 points.

Retirement, death and legacy
Berger retired Asteroid in 2017 to his Rafter Arrow Ranch in Mandan, North Dakota. Asteroid remained there for the remainder of his life. On July 8, 2019, Asteroid died from natural causes.

Honors

 * ProBullStats Hall of Fame
 * 2012 PBR World Champion Bull