The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I
have watched on TV.
José Escolar bulls for Francisco
Marco, Antonio Gaspar Paulita &
Paco Ureña.
The opener injured itself with its first
remate en tablas; thankfully the first sobrero was an Escolar bull so the
accident did not rob us of seeing an Albaserrada bull. The sobrero took a
couple of well-placed pics but displayed no interest in pushing the horse, moreover
it was reticent to go in for the second pic. The bull charged at Marco’s muleta
the same way that it attacked the horse, that is, at mid-height and without any
vigour. It was unlikely to be a bull that would yield a triumph. Nevertheless,
it was noble, and it may have repeated its charges with more ease had Marco
displayed the wherewithal to stay still between each pass and keep the cloth
ready to take the next charge. Instead Marco betrayed his lack of form shifting
backwards between each pass and retreating the muleta. Francisco has few
contracts, Pamplona is his provincial ring and first corrida of the season; consequently
he is likely be in poor nick.
Marco was unable to give a performance of
note with the fourth bull either. It was a complicated animal that soon
discovered where the torero stood and did not give a complete charge. The bull
was barely through the pass before it would quickly shift back on itself and
head for the torero. Francisco tried to torear with either hand, but the animal’s
behaviour was the same. Marco’s afternoon was therefore a non-entity. True, his
lot was average, but he gave no impression that he was ready to overcome the
bulls’ difficulties and try to solve the problems posed by their charges. It
was his first contract of the season and raises the question of whether it is
wise to sign a torero for a top plaza with tough and serious bulls purely by
accident of birth.
Paulita’s opening bull
received a couple of very trasero pics, two disastrously placed varas that
would not have done the animal any good. Even so, its charge was exceedingly
tough. The bull sized up the torero with each charge, it would not commit to a
charge and not go through the pass. Paulita
did not attempt toreo en redondo, instead opting for a couple of doblones and a
short faena of chop passes. Conceptually this was an acceptable tactic –
however Paulita did not execute these
correctly and rather than reduce the bull, his toreo gave it confidence to
charge stronger. The bull became a nightmare to kill, and Paulita gave a couple of pinchazos that earned him jeers from the
crowd. Antonio managed to bury the sword at the third time of asking with a
risky estocada al encuentro, receiving a bronca for his trouble.
The fifth would surely signal an upturn in
fortune for Paulita and, indeed, it
pushed low and hard in its first meeting with the picador. The animal was
reticent to charge for a second time to the horse, but, when it did, he pushed
hard once again and received a long, tough pic. The animal posed difficulties
to the lidiadores throughout the first two tercios, its charge was strong and
it had a tendency to cut it, therefore leaving more than one without a capote. By
the time the bull reached the muleta, it was difficult to predict how the bull
would develop; it retained a strong but problematic charge. Paulita’s first job would be try and dominate it, so we could see
whether the bull would develop for the better. However, Antonio did not have
the confidence to stay still and try to extract charges from it. It was a pity because,
as the faena developed, the bull showed positive qualities that might have been
channelled into a good performance. Paulita
received another bronca. Once again we were left wondering whether contracting Paulita, who has built his limited
cartel on the basis of stylish toreo, for a José Escolar corrida was the best
idea. Especially with the likes of Rafaelillo,
a specialist of the corrida dura, having being left on the subs bench this
feria.
Paco Ureña’s first bull showed its
positive intention to charge from the moment it entered the ring, immediately
giving Paco classy and repetitive charges which he duly moulded into a clean
and pleasing series of veronicas. The bull pushed hard during the first pic and
unseated the picador for the second, although it showed some reticence to face the
horse a third time, the animal gave promising signs throughout the opening two
tercios. By the muleta we could see that the bull was classy and had a long
charge, but it needed a sweet and smooth muleta to tease it through the pass.
If Ureña presented the muleta softly and did not let the bull touch the cloth,
the animal rewarded him with its long charge. As soon as there was a brusque
move or an enganchón the bull stopped in its tracks. The faena had an
inconsistent beginning, Ureña combining a smooth passes with enganchones. However,
as the performance developed, Paco got the measure of the bull and began
linking series effortlessly, even sprinkling the odd creative pass. With an
edge more repetition the bull would have been excellent, and if Paco had got
the air of the bull sooner, we might have had an emphatic faena. Nonetheless,
Ureña gave us a worthy piece that, at its best, was moving. His estocada
allowed him to cut an ear.
Ureña once again greeted the sixth bull
with a series of low veronicas, this bull charging even lower and with more
committment that his first. It continued its low and strong charge to the
picador; thus far it seemed that Ureña had drawn the best lot. It was probably
for the best, he was the most likely of the terna to be able to make something
of his animals. Paco began his faena with obliging and well timed doblones, a
series of excellent long passes controlling the bull to perfection. The bull
was noble, committed and classy, an excellent bull for the muleta – that had
also displayed its bravery at the horse. Ureña’s faena was up to the quality of
the bull. His toreo fundamental was wonderfully linked on either hand, full of
dreamily long passes given with depth and respose. The bull tended to come out
of the pass looking slightly distracted, but Paco kept in the correct terrain ready
to give it the next pass en redondo. The bull readily accepted the long faena,
and Paco was able to maintain the emotional intensity throughout. He concluded
with some manoletinas before securing an estocada casi entera that earned him
an ear – the crowd petitioned strongly for a second ear that, had it been
granted, would have been deserved.
It was good to see Paco Ureña triumph, he
was unlucky enough to meet an extremely brave and tough Fuente Ymbro in San
Isidro that he was unable to dominate. That bull might have cost him, but today
he showed once again that he is a solid, sober torero that deserves a place in
some ferias alongside the crop of emerging toreros (although, had he been able
to cuajar that Fuente Ymbro his prospects would be much higher).
A thoroughly entertaining corrida from
José Escolar, providing variety from the Domecq fare we had been served so far.
Paco Ureña’s lot was good, Marco’s lot and Paulita’s
second were average and only Paulita’s
first was nigh on impossible. Even though we could find faults with the
corrida it kept my interest throughout. It was also a short afternoon, barely
over two hours. One of my bug bears is long faenas to bull’s where success is
impossible. These faenas are usually given to dull and bland bulls that let the
torero feel at ease; today the bulls would not allow Marco or Paulita feel at ease, they therefore
sought to get rid as soon as possible, saving a goodly amount of time.
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