Published: March 10, 2007 12:07 am         

Well-known riders fail to make finals

Enid received a big treat Friday night.

Two of the world’s best bull riders over the past few years joined a field of 40 riders at Chisholm Trail Expo Center for a Professional Bull Riders Enterprise Tour event.

Dustin Elliott and Tony Mendes both missed the championship short round of 10, but even the best of riders have off nights.

“You can’t ride ’em all,” Elliott said. “If you ride 60 percent, you’re doing something good.”

The 25-year-old Elliott has been around bull riding for 12 years, and among his list of accomplishments are the 2004 PRCA World Bull-riding Championship and finishing fourth in the world as an National Finals Rodeo qualifier in 2005.

Mendes, meanwhile, is in the beginning of a comeback after an eight-month layoff for a series of injuries.

He first qualified for the PBR World Finals in 1999, and has done so several times since.

Mendes made it 8 seconds on a bull named Home Brew in the long-round qualifier with an option for a re-ride. With not enough points to qualify for the championship short round, he chose to ditch his first score, drawing the bull Boomer for his second run.

Mendes was bucked off before the 8-second buzzer.

Elliott, meanwhile, lasted only a couple seconds on Watch This before falling to the dirt.

“Man, I sucked,” Elliott said. “He was just kind of heavy and lunging on me and turned back to the right. I had him knocked out, but then he was smart and he jumped out of it. He got to hop-skipping, and I just lost my rope. It was all my fault. I should have rode that one.”

For his troubles, Elliott also received an injury to his right hand.

That’s one of the hazards in the sport.

Riders constantly battle injuries incurred by the wrath of bucking, gyrating bulls that can weigh as much as a ton. For Elliott and many members of PBR, though, bull riding is a business and not just a sport, which means a little discretion is needed to lengthen a career.

“You’ve just got to be smart about it,” Elliott said. “If you’re hanging off the side to win $500 bucks, you might as well fall off and be ready to ride for $1,000 tomorrow.”