Excellent Bullfights Last Night in Juárez;  Possibly More to Come

The first two of six Begoña bulls were slow as molasses, lacked fighting spirit, and had no stamina.  Their tongues were already hanging out before the picadors arrived.  The matadors looked silly trying to execute passes in slow motion without a hint of danger from the bulls.  Fortunately the kills were clean.  The third bull, named Alejo, (1200 lbs) fought by Joselito Adame, made up for all of this, restoring the reputation of the Begoña ranch by tossing both horses to the ground.  This happened very quickly and for a few moments both horses were on their back simultaneously.  The second picador was crushed under the horse as it fell to the ground and had to be rescued and taken to the infirmary.  At this point the cuadrilla, lost control of the ring and for maybe 15-20 seconds no one was in control, a, unusual turn that seemed to please the crowd, now solidly with the bull.  Adame restored order by showing off the bull's great fighting spirit and stamina with skillfully executed, beautifully linked passes, and a clean kill.  He was granted two ears.

The next bull, even more spirited than Alejo, tossed one of the horses to the ground and proved to be unremittingly spirited and fit.  Sebastian Castella showed strong technical skills delivering his passes and the crowd begged the president to pardon the bull.  No dice, a solid kill, and two ears.

All in all it was a good evening, with seven ears awarded to the matadors.  Manuel Gaona, from the famous Gaona bullfighting family in Chihuahua, received his alternativa last night from Castella, and even cut one ear. No longer a novice, he is likely to start moving up the rankings.  Castella showed why he is ranked 15th, instead of 25th, and on the other hand is not in the top 5.  To be in the top five requires more of a distinctive, charismatic style than the generically classic style of Castella, but to be as good as 15th you have to have outstanding technical skills.

The underwriters of this bullfight, Espectáculos Taurinos de México (ETMSA), have suggested they might bring more top-ranking venues to the Balderas bullring in Juarez.  I estimated that people filled about 70% of the bullring.