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LAS VEGAS — Adriano Moraes called it.

Maybe it was his many years of experience talking, maybe it was his influence among the Brazilian riders on tour, but whatever the reason, he called the top two picks of the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) World Finals Round One Bull Draft in Las Vegas.

"Guilherme — he will choose Scaredy Cat …Valdiron — Lightning McQueen," Moraes said.

Brazilians hold the No. 1, 2 and 5 spots in the rankings of the top 45 PBR riders. And, despite a bull pen that was carefully put together and systematically ranked by livestock director Cody Lambert, Guilherme Marchi and Valdiron Oliveira chose the No. 23 and the No. 8 ranked bulls, respectively.

In fact, Lambert picked the No. 2 bull, Ricky Bobby, as the bull that would win Round One.

"You want to ride all eight bulls, but you've got to ride the first if you're going to win," Lambert said, explaining the strategy of the draft.

The draft for the first day of competition is set in order of the riders' rankings. Marchi chose first, as the overall points leader on the PBR, Oliveira followed him in second place and so on until the 45th bull was matched up with the 45th rider. All of the following bull drafts depend on the bull riders' performance in the preceding rounds.

"We've seen these bulls two, maybe three times at least during the season," Moraes said.

And, the common theme of the riders' picks during Round One was to take a bull that they had covered in the regular season. Among the top 15, it seemed that every rider had had a successful ride on the bull that he chose. "You get a chance to pick a bull you've ridden twice, you've got the upper hand," said Sean Willingham, who, in 12th place in the standings, also has the advantage of having ridden his choice, Evil Forces, this season.

Other riders were focused not so much on the future as on the choice at hand. The odds of choosing a familiar bull decreased later in the draft, giving lower-ranked riders a disadvantage. No. 16 Zack Brown asked Lambert to pick one of two bulls that he'd narrowed his choice down to, and, when Lambert declined, Brown inadvertently chose a different bull, Little Bo.

"I like Little Bo just fine," Brown said, shrugging. "I've ridden him, too."

The event itself was a red carpet affair that began on the second floor of the Golden Nugget Casino on the old Vegas strip. Gigantic cowboy Vegas Vic was looking down on the proceedings with a perpetually lit cigarette dangling from his mouth at the advertisements for everything from deep-fried twinkies to plastic, cowboy boot-shaped mugs of beer that provided a backdrop for the event.

Marchi said a few words in broken English, "I feel good. I ready for the finals. I welcome everybody here tonight and hope everybody enjoy the finals."

The PBR announced that there would be 160 bulls at the event, and then, after shots of fire extinguishers and pyrotechnics came out of the bull-head gargoyles flanking the stage, in came the 50 stock contractors who provided the bulls.

As they were seated, the top 45 bull riders in the PBR walked up on stage with the reigning world champion and other end-of-the-year retiree, Justin McBride, bringing up the rear. Neither McBride nor Moraes can win the season, but both are aiming to win the Finals.

Moraes was friendly and animated on the eve of his retirement. He talked to ESPN.com about the realization hitting home that he wouldn't be buying a card this year (traditionally, PBR cowboys buy their competitor's card for the following year at the PBR Finals), and removed the tape on his left, riding hand to show a bulbously swollen pinky finger from a simultaneous break and dislocation.

He explained that he "freaks out" and tries to fix injuries immediately after they happen (he once pulled out his own tooth after getting hooked through the lip), while repeatedly bending his finger to the point where he couldn't take the pain, to emphasize the injury.

"I'm going to get a pain shot," he said. "There's no way I can just endure the pain."

Before the final gimmick of the night, where a Brinks armored car was backed in and supposedly relieved of its million dollar contents (bags with dollar signs drawn on them, reminiscent of a Disney cartoon), the Top Five bulls of the year were announced.

They are, in no particular order:

All In
Bones
Copperhead Slinger
Spitfire
Troubadour

If Moraes' ability to predict the future holds true for these bulls, Troubadour and Spitfire will be the top two contenders.

"It depends on the riders, who gets the No. 1 best bull," Moraes said.

A bull that remains unridden will be ranked higher than a bull that gets covered. So, for the top riders and the top bulls gunning for the big prize money that comes with winning the PBR finals, it truly is a fair and even fight. And the winners, both human and animal, will be determined not only by their performances but by the performance of the riders or bulls they compete against.

Perhaps Sean Willingham said it best.

"A good ride ... it's half bull, and it's half me."

Click here for full draft.

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