PBR Conducts Third Bull Steroid Testing of the 2008 Season
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MEDIA CONTACT:
719.242.2800, ext. office
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TULSA, Okla. (July 20, 2008) - The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) conducted a steroid test on Troubadour (Julio Moreno Bucking Bulls), the top marked bull of the Express Classic presented by Creek Nation Casino, on Sunday, July 20th. The test was held immediately after the Built Ford Tough Championship Round with members of the PBR Bull Testing Committee in attendance.
The PBR has deemed the issue of steroid use in bulls of such importance that a PBR Bull Testing Committee was developed and introduced a Steroid Testing Policy for the 2008 Built Ford Tough season. Under the new policy, PBR will test the top performing bull or bulls at various events throughout the season. The first testing was conducted following the conclusion of the PBR’s VERSUS Invitational event held this weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York City and another test was conducted at the Dickies American Worker of the Year Invitational in Dallas, TX. A stock contractor whose bull is found to have yielded a positive test result will be subject to discipline by the Committee.
While it is unclear to what extent, if any, bulls competing in sanctioned PBR events are being subjected to anabolic steroid treatments, concerns had been raised PBR stock contractors themselves, with respect to that very possibility. Those concerns could be residual in nature. Proponents contend that steroid use was far more prevalent in the past. Stock contractors have since realized that the serious and detrimental side-effects that steroids had upon their bulls simply out weighed any benefit gained.
In an effort to ensure and maintain the integrity of competition and the health of its bull athletes, PBR and its Bull Testing Committee have partnered with the leading veterinarian in the bucking bull industry, Dr. Gary Warner, DVM. and world renowned veterinary scientist Dr. Walter Hyde, M.S., Ph.D. to create the first ever anabolic steroid bull testing protocol and policy in the history of the sport. Testing methods will include taking samples of a bull’s blood and urine.
The Bull Testing Committee is composed of PBR Board Advisors Ty Murray and Cody Lambert; Richard Patterson, co-founder and partner of Spire Capital Partners LLC and Chairman of PBR's Corporate Board; and Matthew A. Rivela, PBR's General Counsel. In keeping with the belief that PBR's founding cowboys should still drive those decisions which tend to affect the sport of bull riding, the PBR Board of Directors have seen fit to create three advisory committees to that end. In addition to the Bull Testing Committee, there currently also exists a Competition/Rules and Regulations Committee and a Conduct Committee.
For more information on the PBR Steroid Testing policy, please contact Katharine Sherrer at 719 242 2800 ext 3372 or katharine@pbrnow.com.
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About the PBR:
More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, VERSUS and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 500 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one and one half million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the Copenhagen Bull Riding Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour and the Discovery Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants. The PBR's governing board of directors is comprised of renowned bull riders who have developed the event into a stand alone sport which is experiencing unprecedented growth in global popularity. The PBR is headquartered in Pueblo, Colo., and has over 1,200 PBR bull riders compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico.
