The
view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.
Ana Romero Bulls for Borja Jiménez, Francisco Lama de Góngora
and Francisco José Espada
Following yesterday’s
entertaining corrida, Valdemorillo programmed another interesting cartel to
close the feria. For starters, we had Ana Romero’s santa Coloma bulls on the
bill – I really enjoy the Buendía bloodline. Not only does it provide variety
from the usual Domecq fodder (which can be good, average or terrible depending
on the ranch) but also a strong possibility of good performance. Borja Jiménez
was a stand-out novillero who took the alternativa from Espartaco in Sevilla last year; a solid technician he looks to
dominate bulls with little consideration for aesthetic expression. Lama de
Góngora is arguably the opposite, he burst on to the novillero scene with some
good early performances before dropping below the radar; his toreo is
impregnated with touches of sevillian art though there are question son his
ability to dominate bulls. Espada was a good novillero, whose stand out
afternoon came last season at San Isidro, he faced the entire novillada on his
own after his cartel colleagues were each injured – his forte is his excellent
left hand.
The first bull came into
the arena rather coldly, without committing to the early exchanges with Borja’s
capote. The bull charged at the horse with little style, protesting the long
pic. Its poor performance continued with the banderillas, the bull waiting for
the banderilleros at each turn. Given the animal’s poor behaviour, it was
surprising to see Borja take to the centre of the ring to open the faena. The
first series with the right hand was well linked, with Jiménez taking advantage
of the bull’s momentum from its initial charge from the boards, although
slightly untidy. This initial vigour was a mirage, the bull’s mobility took a
nose dive after the first series; it retained the energy to charge, but made
sure that it sized the torero up before each movement. In the circumstances,
Borja gave a good account of himself. Staying firm and still, he imposed his
low handed toreo on the bull. The faena was intermittent, because of the bull’s
condition, and it was too long, but it contained good passages of toreo. Borja
completed his work with a pinchazo and estocada, earning saludos for the performance.
The fourth bull entered
the arena with a bright rhythm to its charge. Borja moulded it into a pleasing
series of smooth veronicas, a chicuelina and a revolera. The bull took a very
short and light pic, barely making contact with the horse before leaving its
jurisdiction. This gave way to a pleasing series of chicuelinas. Borja began
his faena, again, in the centre of the ring, but on this occasion the opening derechazos
were on his knees. The bull was noble and classy, but lacked an edge of nerve
to convey greater emotion with its charge. Nonetheless, Jiménez was able to
construct some low, smooth and well timed series of derechazos. The faena
followed a similar tonic with the left hand and Borja completed his first
series of naturales with some pretty ayudados. The crux of the faena was Borja’s
gentle presentation of the lure, this allowed him to guide the bull gently
through each long, low, slow pass. He also structured the faena, well, layering
creative touches, such as molinetes and arrucinas, over the pleasing toreo
fundamental. Borja had a lucky escape towards the end of the faena, overly confident
during a desplante, he forgot about the bull for the moment and it, sensing a
chance, went straight for the torero, launching the torero six feet into the
air. No damage done, he took the sword and completed his work with a full sword
and descabello. The crowd petitioned enthusiastically for an ear which was duly
granted. However, beyond the prize, the significance of the afternoon had been
Borja’s to ably cope with two different types of bulls and, especially, to
perform good toreo to the bull that would accept it.
Lama’s early veronicas
were nicely linked, if slightly quick. A regulation single pic and short,
pretty, quite by delantales served to complete the first tercio. Although Lama
dedicated the bull to the crowd, this was not an animal for a brindis. Its charge
was dull, listless and conveyed not emotion. De Góngora barely managed a couple
of series of isolated, uncommunicative muletazos before the bull became rajado.
The music played, but it was completely out of place. As expected, the faena
lasted far too long. I understand the torero’s desire to please and yearning to
extract as much as possible from this rare opportunity. But with bulls like
this, he should have cut his losses and rued his luck.
De Góngora greeted the
fifth bull with a tight larga de rodillas a porta gayola, followed by another
in the tercio. The bull charged with power and aggression, and Lama stood firm.
First with the two largas, and subsequently with low capotazos to dominate the
bull and take it from the tercio to centre of the ring. The animal continued
its powerful performance with a stern fight at the horse, charging with vigour
at the horse during a long, hard pic. This was the kind of behaviour we had
hoped to see from Ana Romero’s bulls. Unfortunately, the bull’s mobility
decreased into the final tercio. It retained its power and proved to be a
dangerous customer for Lama to handle, but lacked the desire to follow the
lures through each pass. De Góngora spent a great deal of time in front of the
bull trying to channel its charge into a faena, but he was unable to do so. An
underwhelming afternoon from Lama de Góngora, his first bull was poor and he
was unable to overcome the difficulties posed by the fifth bull. Given the
number of young toreros that are making their mark on the fiesta, he needed a
more striking afternoon.
Espada’s first bull
continued the corrida’s disconcerting behaviour. It took a light pic and moved
with little conviction during the first two tercios. The animal charged with
certain vigour at Espada’s muleta during the early part of the faena, but its
tendency to get distracted between each pass and look away did not augur well
for a good faena. The bull was tardy and looked disinterested, but Espada could
not let his guard down. When he did, by keeping the muleta retreated as he
crossed the line of charge, the bull went for him and caught him by the knee.
Espada was not deterred and returned to the bull. By this stage it was becoming
rajado and although Espada managed the odd pleasing pass, the bull lacked the
nerve in order to make attractive toreo possible. Francisco José was firm and
managed to show his capacity to deal with this type of complicated bull. His sword
work, however, was poor.
The final bull took an unremarkable single
pic, pushing with one horn, parallel to the horse. Given the general poor performance
of the previous bulls, it seemed that the only person in the arena who held out
hope for the bull was Francisco José, who dedicated the bull to the crowd. Unfortunately,
our instincts were correct. The bull came and went without conveying emotion,
its charge was bland and weak. Espada tried to perform toreo fundamental, but
the results were unattractive.
A disappointing end to an
altogether disappointing corrida – the Ana Romero bulls displayed some of the problems
of its encaste, but only the fourth bull showed the class that can potentially
shine through in a santa coloma’s charge. The three young guns enjoyed mixed
fortune, but only Borja Jiménez was able to showcase his toreo.
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