Young bull rider making huge strides in the arena
When Kaique Pacheco slides into the bucking chutes inside the Broadmoor World Arena on September 24, the 21-year-old will feel no fear as he takes a seat aboard 2,000 pounds of bucking destruction.
The Itatiba, Brazil bull rider hears nothing inside arenas throughout the United States. He doesn’t hear the in-arena announcers analyzing every aspect of his young career. He respectfully blocks out the thousands of screaming fans cheering for him in a language that is still very much foreign to him. Most of all, Pacheco is able to block out the fears of life vs. death in the arena.
He is fearless.
“I stay there on top, calm, concentrated,” Pacheco says in the Netflix documentary, “Fearless.” “I adjust my rope. I close my eyes. And I picture him bucking. All kinds of buck he could possibly do. I think of nothing else. I think of nothing else except me and the bull. I breathe deeply. I try to relax.”
Pacheco is one of the featured riders in the recently released documentary. In fact, three-time PBR World Champion Adriano Moraes and 2010 PBR World Champion Renato Nunes – both of whom have since retired from professional bull riding – appear throughout the six episodes on Netflix and have won seven of the 11 PBR Built Ford Tough Series events held in southern Colorado.
Pacheco and the Top-35 bull riders in the world return to Colorado Springs and Broadmoor World Arena on September 24-25 with the Rumble in the Rockies.
Nine-time World Champion Ty Murray once compared Pacheco to two-time World Champion Chris Shivers. Shivers famously took on Little Yellow Jacket for $1 million in 2003 at World Arena.
During the documentary, Murray says, “Kaique is a real talent. It is always exciting whenever you are ever able to see a young guy come around that you go whoa, this guy is legit.”
Pacheco is ranked No. 1 in the PBR world standings and is coming off a runner-up finish at this past weekend’s Frontier Communications Music City Knockout, presented by Cooper Tires, in Nashville.
The second-year pro nearly became the first rookie in PBR history to win the PBR World Championship last season when he turned in 37 qualified rides, a record for a first-year rider. Pacheco ultimately came up just short of the title though as J.B. Mauney went on to win his second career World Championship.
Pacheco was still named the 2015 PBR Rookie of the Year.
The two riders are currently ranked first and second in the world standings and Mauney is expecting another back-and-forth race with Pacheco.
“Pacheco will be a force to deal with for a long time,” Mauney said. “He will be around for a long time. He rides good enough. He is not like some of them other guys. He does play it smart sometimes, but he will step up and pick the rank ones too.”
Pacheco was confident last year going up against Mauney, but he admitted in May after winning Last Cowboy Standing and taking over the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career, that he feels even stronger mentally compared to last year.
He too is prepared for another tough battle against the defending World Champion.
“For me, it helped a lot because he is one of the best bull riders here in the PBR,” Pacheco said. “Competing with J.B., and the other riders in the Top 5 and Top 10, make me stronger. I am very proud to compete with J.B. and the other riders here on the Built Ford Tough.”
Mauney has won two of the last five PBR world titles. The other three have been claimed by Silvano Alves.
Coincidentally, Alves, a fellow Brazilian, has become a mentor of Pacheco’s since the younger rider first arrived in the United States in February.
Alves believes Pacheco has what it takes to dethrone Mauney from atop the PBR’s championship perch.
“Some riders it is too much for them, the first year,” Alves said. “Right now, he is growing up all the time. It is very good. There is not very much pressure. He is a very good bull rider. He is not nervous or feels the pressure. He is relaxed all the time. He is not nervous. Nothing.”
Like his mentor, Pacheco has become a student, or better yet, an expert on the game of professional bull riding. After he rides bulls during the day, he spends his nights studying bull riding videos.
“Ever since I was a kid, since I started, I’ve always watched videos of my rides,” Pacheco says. “This is something that helps me a lot to fix my mistakes. Even my mother and my father say that sometimes when I get bucked off I get mad at myself. I get closed off. That’s how I am, I have always been this way, and I don’t think I can change that. Just like in Brazil, I don’t really like to go out when I come to these events. I stay in my room, focused, waiting to go to the event. And nothing more.”
Pacheco has made his dreams of coming to the United States and riding in the PBR a reality, but he won’t be satisfied until he reaches his declared goal.
“I used to watch it and picture myself there… riding with them,” Pacheco says. “And I told myself, ‘That’s where I’m going. I’m going to be the World Champion. That’s what I want for myself.”
Tickets for this two-night event will range in price from $15 to $102 and can be purchased online at ticketswest.com, at the World Arena Box Office or via phone at (866) 464 2626.
For an enhanced experience, fans can also purchase tickets for the PBR Elite Seats section. New this season, PBR Elite Seats offer the avid bull riding fan a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s premier bull riding circuit. These tickets provide premium seats and the VIP experience of a lifetime
The PBR Elite Seats are available for $300 and can be purchased by contacting the PBR Customer Service Department at 800-732-1727 or online at ticketswest.com.
Kaique Pacheco on Dollar Hunt at the PBR Last Cowboy Standing in Las Vegas. Photo by Matt Breneman / Bull Stock Media
Kaique Pacheco the PBR Last Cowboy Standing in Las Vegas. Photo by Matt Breneman / Bull Stock Media
Kaique Pacheco in the opening during the first round of the Iron Cowboy, Built Ford Tough series PBR. Photo by Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media. Photo credit must be given on all use.
