SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Craig at Midnight is big and powerful. He stands at least 16 hands tall and weighs in excess of 1,800 pounds, and he's the reigning Bareback Horse of the Year.

On Saturday night at the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo, the athletic gray horse guided Austin Foss to an 89-point ride and the bareback riding lead through seven performances. It was the perfect horse at the perfect place for Foss, a three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Terrebonne, Oregon.

When I saw his name next to mine (earlier this week when the draw was released), I just about dropped my phone," he said. "It was a good feeling.

Foss has had great success inside San Angelo Coliseum before. Two years ago, he won both rounds to claim the bareback riding title. He earned more than $11,000 then, and that was one of the many events that earned him his third straight trip to Las Vegas and ProRodeo's grand finale.

"I got a really good feeling when that horse was coming in to the chutes," Foss said. "He's a lot more level-headed than the last time I got on him, and I'm not hurting like I was back then."

Their last meeting occurred at the 2013 NFR, and Craig at Midnight bucked off an ailing Foss, who was struggling with a herniated disc in his neck. The cowboy was forced to miss the final two rounds because of his injury.

That wasn't the case Saturday.

"He bucked me off after the whistle, but we made it through," Foss said. "He was really good tonight."

What makes the powerful gray so good? Foss said the horse is considered an eliminator, because he's so difficult to ride. Sometimes those horses have some nasty moves with their bucking motions. Sometimes they just overpower their riders.

"He just bucks," he said. "He just turns out of there and is so big, and he goes at it. He was pretty decent to ride tonight. He had just a few bumps to him, but I was able to manage them OK."

After sitting out the 2016 season, Foss is excited to be back on the ProRodeo trail. He is 45th in the world standings, but a strong performance in San Angelo can go a long ways in pushing him up the money list.

"Having his name net to mine is a rung on the ladder for me," Foss said. "It was a good feeling, and it gives you incentive to do your best and try your hardest. The long-term opportunity out there is something that can really catapult a guy right up there in the top 15 in the standings.

"My confidence is really good, especially after that ride. Being able to ride a horse like that definitely shoots a guy's confidence through the roof."

It worked two years ago, so he has no reason to doubt that it can happen again.

By Ted Harbin, Rodeo Media Relations