GERRY — The long trip to Las Vegas paid off for Painted Pony Championship Rodeo’s prize bull Cocktail Diarrhea as he took veteran bull rider JB Mauney for an 87.5 winning ride and a $24,100 check in the opening performance of the National Finals Rodeo.

The matchup between this bull and Mauney was expected to be a classic as Mauney, perhaps the greatest bull rider in history with more than $7 million in winnings, was making his first appearance in competition since being air-flighted to a hospital after suffering a lacerated kidney at a rodeo in Iowa two months ago, while this 5-year-old bull was making a name for himself across the country as one of rodeo’s best bucking bulls.

The luck of the draw pitted these two outstanding performers together for eight action-packed seconds with the bull giving his best to toss Mauney to the dirt, while Mauney thrilled the capacity crowd by refusing to give in to the bull and tied for the best score of the night.

This event, known as the “Super Bowl” of rodeo, will continue through next Saturday, and is being broadcast nightly on RFD TV, The Cowboy Channel, and the Cowboy Channel app from 8:45 p.m. until midnight. The 15 top money winners during the past year have qualified for this event, which will pay out more than $13 million to the competitors.

Painted Pony has been the stock contractor for the annual Gerry Rodeo for the past nine years and will return to produce the 77th version of the annual Gerry Rodeo for four performances, Aug. 3-6.

Additional information is available at the Gerry Rodeo website: www.gerryrodeo.org.