Bulllfight Report

Last night's bullfight for the Turlock DES Festa, held at the Stevinson Praca de Toiros, featured Pedro Salvador, from Portugal, Eduardo Costa from Los Banos, and Jose Ignacio Ramos from Spain as well as the Forcados from Turlock and Artesia. The seven bulls (Salvador and Artesia took the extra) from the Ganaderia Acoreana were fairly decent (I would call five of them good, one so-so and one bad). The ring was sold out with standees at least two deep all around the ring (and this was the case half an hour before the trumpet).

Toiro 1 - a good, fast charging bull, taken by Cav. (Alt) Pedro Salvador, who made several failed attempts at placement, but redeemed himself with good horsemanship and a couple of beautiful placements. Turlock made a good, clean grab.

Toiro 2 - This bull had stamina, but was easily distracted from the charge and was a bisco. Cav (Practicante - until next week) Eduardo Costa was OK, but has had better times in the ring. Nothing spectacular. For some reason I did not take notes on Artesia's grab, but I think it was OK.

Toiro 3 - Matador Jose Ignacio Ramos took this beautiful chestnut bull. Even though 95% of the crowd neither knows nor cares a whit about the art of toreo en pie, Ramos always performs honorably. He showed decent work with the cape, placed his own sticks, and gave a respectable faena with the muleta, working both sides. He clearly had the bull under his control. Overall his repertoire was pretty straightforward, but well executed.

Toiro 4 - A charcoal bull that charged consistantly for Salvador allowed a wonderful display of horsemanship that was all but ruined by too many failed attempts at placement. It reminded me of playing a Bach keyboard piece and acing all the ornaments, but making a mess of the actual written notes. There were several excellent placements, though, so he was able to salvage his honor. The Turlock squad had trouble with this bull, failing two grabs, and making a good grab on the third attempt with a different forcado at the head.

Toiro 5 - An all around acceptible if not remarkable performance by the bull, Eduardo Costa and the Artesia forcados (with the Turlock tailman joining them). The bull was quite good, so a quibbler might quibble about Costa doing work that was only just OK for a horseman of his abilities.

Toiro 6 - A so-so bull that was well-worked by Ramos, who built a couple fo solid series of veronicas (something that I never understood is why more bullfighters in California don't do more with the cape, as that is the one area where there is no difference between the bloodless bullfights and the real thing), and showed classic form with the muleta (including several striking naturales). He placed his own sticks, which was an ugly affair this time, with a lot of bad timing and worse aim. Other than the tercio de banderillas, I continue to be impressed with Ramos's class and integrity as a torero.

Toiro 7 - Ever get a bonus that seems more like an obligation. Bad bull, and Salvador was unable to do much with it. The sort of thing that makes you first excited to get the extra bull, but then makes you think of how far along I-5 you would already be if they stopped at six. There were a couple of moments, but at that hour you want something more. Good grab by Artesia, I think, as Amalia and my mother were clearly ready to go, so we were not really focused on it.

The band (Lira Acoreana) was good at what it did, but really needs a larger repertoire.

It was a beautiful evening in the San Joaquin Valley, with a cool breeze, a gorgeous sunset, and a low mosquito count.

Next week is the Festa de Stevinson, with a really exciting cartel. Again, don't take my word for it, look it up yourself bullfights.org.