Orthez & Mont de Marsan, July 24: Miuras are miuras - and Pedrazas de Yeltes are special too

An initially unplanned trip to see a morning novillada of Miura bulls at Orthez, followed by the closing corrida of Mont de Marsan’s feria, featuring Pedraja de Yeltes bulls, made today one that will live long in the mind.

Novillada

Miura novillos are a comparative rarity, although Ivan Moseley informed me on the way down to Orthez that Diego Puerta fought a novillada of miuras in the late fifties, so they do crop up from time to time. Today’s fare was for two somewhat long-in-the-tooth novilleros by modern standards - Juan Carlos Carballo, from Cáceres, who first appeared with picadores in 2015, but who has only managed two complete temporadas since thanks to injuries, operations and lack of contracts (the pandemic also contributed, his planned alternativa in France never happening as a result); and, to a lesser extent, Solal Calmet Solalito, from Nîmes but based in Spain, who first appeared with horses in 2019, but whose career has also been affected by Covid’s impact on the number of novilladas taking place.

Juan Carlos Carballo with his opening Miura novillo

The first miura that came into the ring looked very under-developed for a novillo and quite small - that is, until we saw it up against the short Carballo, when one could appreciate the lanky nature of the animal, big-boned like most miuras. It came off the lorry into the ring, bucking and moving its head like a boxer (the after-effects of having the divisa put in) and unfortunately continued its hooking throughout its lidia, to the extent that there was little to be achieved with it. It received pitos en arrastre while Carballo was given the silent treatment. The novillero showed better with his second, more mature, miura, managing a few passes con temple, but it was perhaps his tossing while entering to kill for the second time that persuaded those in the crowd who petitioned, and the president, to award him an ear. It was later confirmed that a rib had been broken in the cogida. Carballo did not give the impression of someone who is ready to take the alternativa.

Solalito with his first miura novillo

Indeed, Solalito appeared the more promising of the two. His first miura was clearly more mature than Carballo’s opener and Solalito coped well with it, performing verónicas and a revolera initially, followed by a quite of navarras. His banderillas, however, were a disappointment, revealing that pairs placed al quiebro were not his forté. Although the faena was a reasonable one, the youngster stretching out his derechazos and turning the bull, and managing to do the same in some naturales, three efforts with the estoque meant it all ended with a vuelta for Solalito and applause for the bull.

He had better luck with his second animal, his muletazos more controlled and controlling. A desarme near the faena’s end was shortly followed by a pinchazo and a three-quarters estocada. The two ears awarded were excessive, although one could say his afternoon deserved one more apendice than Carballo had managed. (It is curious that a plaza like Orthez, so concerned about the tercio de varas being executed correctly, is quite happy to award ears on the basis of minority petitions.)

Corrida

Back at Mont de Marsan, the feria closed with a corrida of Pedraza de Yeltes bulls for Domingo López Chaves, Alberto Lamelas and Thomas Dufau. The place was packed, the weather swelteringly hot.

Domingo López Chaves in his opening faena

The first pedraza came in with the typical looks of the ganadería, which most of the rest would follow - camel brown, corpulent, pigeon-eyed, large-horned. López Chaves positioned the bull well for its two varas, and he and Alberto Lamelas traded quites of chicuelinas (the Salamancan’s quite was the better of the two) before a dreadful tercio de banderillas of single palos being placed, the banderilleros apparently fearful of their foe. The faena that followed was excellent, López Chaves sticking to the classic triad of derechazos, naturales and pases de pecho and proving that is all you need to construct a wonderful performance. The estocada could not be faulted either, and I felt an ear was in order, but none was forthcoming, the crowd perhaps being put off by the fact that this was the first bull and its death was a long one, involving an aviso and two descabellos. The pedraza was dragged out to applause and Domingo took saludos.

The first faena of Lamelas, the pedraza chasing the cloth strongly

The second bull received some rough opening cape from Lamelas before taking two puyazos, charging in to the picador from a distance. Following a quite de gaoneras, we had more appalling banderillas. In the faena, Lamelas took a similar approach to López Chaves, the passes less sculptured but with more temple. He was caught but unhurt while delivering an estocada caída that went in to the hilt and soon had effects. Another arrastre took place to applause and Alberto circled the ring with the bull’s ear, the crowd having generously petitioned for two.

The end results of ‘Jacobo’’s first and third encounters with the picador

The third pedraza, ‘Jacobo’, took four varas and was being set up for a fifth when the president called a halt to the tercio. It had overturned horse and rider on its first entry to the picador; came away quickly from its second puyazo; hit the horse so hard on its third entry that its rider was sent flying on to the sand; and stayed in the peto on the fourth time of asking. The bull’s behaviour in the faena was rather strange - it was a bit wayward and had a strongly defined querencia - and Dufau took a while to settle to it and was then rapid in his muletazos. The Frenchman nevertheless produced respectable series on either hand and killed strongly, his traje being ripped in the process, to cut an ear. Dufau brought out the picador, Germán González, on his vuelta, taken after ‘Jacobo’ had been given a vuelta en arrastre, the crowd standing to applaud the animal.

In the lidia of the fourth bull, José Chacón showed his compañeros just how banderillas should be placed. Come the faena, this was a bull that walked rather than charged, so López Chaves’ work with it suffered from a lack of transmission. He closed with a pinchazo and half sword, all running round, and heard an aviso. The pedraza was taken out to silence.

There was little transmission either in the lidia of the fifth bull, but this was more the fault of Lamelas rather than the bull, although the matador did produce some occasional good tandas. Two pinchazos al encuentro and a low volapié and two descabellos downed the animal, which went out to applause.

Thomas Dufau starts his faena with ‘Deslumbrero’

The final pedraza, ‘Deslumbrero’, was dedicated to the public by Dufau following another spectacular tercio de varas, picador Juan José Esquivel citing three entries to the horse and the bull pushing strongly in the peto each time. Thomas extracted some fine series of muletazos from it and, to my mind, the faena was worthy of an ear but for the pinchazo and media estocada that ended it. The ear was awarded anyway, ‘Deslumbrero’ given a merited vuelta en arrastre, and then Dufau brought out both his picadors and the mayoral to take saludos during his vuelta.

The matador and mayoral were carried out on shoulders to end an uncomfortable, but totally absorbing afternoon.