Benny and Gabriel Torres are the second family from the Mexican town of San Luis Potosi to make a name for themselves in the bucking bull industry in the U.S.

First, Tino Martinez came to the U.S. when he was just 15 years old. Now, Tino and his son Edward are enjoying success in the PBR with Martinez Bucking Bulls.

Gabriel and Benny are also on the fast-track to PBR success. If you’ve been to an ABBI event or sale in the last three years, you’ve probably run into the Torres brothers, who look so similar they could be twins.

In 1980, Benny and Gabriel left their home in Mexico and moved to Mount Airy, N.C. where each worked hard to build a successful carport business. Their childhood dream of raising world class bucking bulls was never forgotten, so they saved their money and looked for a way to get into the industry. Lady Luck stepped in three years ago when a couple of guys approached the brothers and said they’d heard they were looking to buy some bucking bulls. Rafael Sanabria, who works for Gabriel and Benny, recalled, “We live in a little town in North Carolina and so does Tom Teague, so word gets around pretty easily. Tom heard we wanted to get in the business and buy some good bulls, so he got with Benny and Gabriel and helped them get started.”

Gabriel and Benny decided early on to build their herd on the bloodlines of proven PBR stars, so they looked to Tom Teague for guidance. In the beginning, they bought quite a few Bone Collector sons. “They saw the calves were really good and they knew Bone Collector could produce great buckers,” shared Benny. In 2006, the Torres brothers decided to purchase Bone Collector, sire of Bones, the 2008 PBR World Champion Bucking Bull. The brothers also acquired three-time PBR World Finals bull Kelly’s Kat, sired by Skat Kat out of a Bandana 7 dam, and Mesquite Heat after watching videos of him in action.

Within three short years, Gabriel and Benny have grown their herd to over 250 ABBI-registered livestock, which they keep on the 1,000 acres they share in Mount Airy. Stated Sanabria, “We’ve got about 75 bucking bulls altogether. We have some 4-year-olds out of Night Life, Best Shot and Neon Nights that look really good and we’ve also got around 30 Classic bulls that we’re excited about. We’re hoping next year is going to be our year.”

“Originally, we were trying to do everything,” remembered Sanabria. “We didn’t really have a focus or clear direction. Right now we’re concentrating on trying to breed the best bulls possible to compete in the ABBI Futurities and Classics because that’s where all the money is. In the future, we’re going to try to breed some pretty good bulls for the PBR short goes and we hope to be in the big show—but right now we’re looking at Futurities.”

Last year, Gabriel and Benny had a respectable showing with two of their bulls finishing in the Top 100 in the ABBI. Breakin’ Dreams, sired by Best Shot, placed 32 in the standings and Heat of the Night, son of Neon Nights, finished the year ranked 57. This year, they hope to double that number and are concentrating on four Futurity events on the road to Vegas. The first stop was Stephenville where Smoothe Ride, sired by Smooth Move and a Gunslinger granddaughter, finished 19th. The next stop was the American Heritage in Ardmore where Smoothe Move, although he wasn’t in the money, placed in the top 30 and at this writing was sitting in the number 12 spot of the ABBI’s Top 100 Futurity bulls. Gabriel and Benny are also optimistic about a Mossy Oak Mudslinger son, Hot-NJuicey, who is sitting No. 37 on the ABBI’s Top 100 list.

“We’re heading to Jerome Davis’ futurity next with Smoothe Ride, Hot- N-Juicey and another bull I’m really excited about, #759, sired by Houdini son with Speckles as the dam,” shared Gabriel. “After Jerome’s, we’ll go back to Stephenville for the American Breeders Cup. So the next two events will decide for sure what bulls we take to the Finals. I’m pretty sure we’re going to take Smoothe Ride and Hot-N-Juicey, but we’re hoping to take three or four altogether.”