Together at last: Heather and Jeremy Reynolds finish 1st and 2nd at Tevis Cup

The strenuous 100-mile journey from Robie Park to Auburn for the 69th Tevis Cup was not enough to separate husband and wife Jeremy and Heather Reynolds. The two have accomplished just about everything in the sport of endurance riding, entering this year's ride on Saturday with eight Tevis Cups and five Haggin Cups between them in two decades of riding. Throughout all of their accomplishments, the only thing that the Greenwood couple hadn't accomplished was finishing the race together. They did so Saturday night, crossing the finish line at McCann Stadium at 11 p.m. hand in hand as the top two finishers of the ride. "We've never managed to finish together at the end of this, like in any position. So to finish together in first place was just mind blowing," said Heather after the race. "Especially this year with the non-completion rate. To have the two horses pair up and be able to do what they did today was just epic." "That was so special," said Jeremy. "We've been trying to finish together for over 20 years. So it's just surreal that we finally got to do it together and hold hands across the finish line." Officially, Heather was declared the winner for her first Tevis Cup since 2018 and first victory for her horse Sonic. She said that she realized near the halfway point of the race that it was a possibility that they could finish together, but noted that there were still a lot of factors at play such as the heat, course conditions and other contenders. Heather said that there was a conversation with Jeremy about who would take the victory if they managed to reach Auburn at the same time, and he decided that her and Sonic should have the honors. "We had already discussed weeks ago or months ago, that this year it was my turn," said Jeremy, who was chasing his third consecutive victory in races he's ridden with his horse Treasure. "But her horse looked great today and I had won a couple in a row so it doesn't matter, the best horse won. To us, both our horses won." It was an unforgiving afternoon on the trails. The high temperatures played a factor in the ride and out of 105 entrants, only 43 successfully made the trip to Auburn. Both Reynolds said that the most challenging aspect of the course was the rockiness, noting that they change every year and it is one of the more difficult factors to prepare for. "It seems like the rocks really change each year and with the snow melt and rocks moving, some years are better than others," said Heather. "Today they were pretty rough." "This year was definitely a little rockier than normal, it was just tough conditions this year," added Jeremy. "It made things hard footing wise." Jeremy said that the rocky conditions played to his favor, as he enjoys getting off of his horse and running more than a lot of the other riders. "My horse isn't that great of a downhill horse. She likes me being off on the ground with her. That's probably why she keeps going for me, because I'm willing to abuse my body on the downhills," said Jeremy. "These horses, they pick through it pretty well if you just let them decide on their own." Both Jeremy and Heather were among the front of the pack all day and were on the tail of Jenna Harrison, who held the lead through the Foresthill vet check. The three rode into the Francisco's checkpoint together, but Harrison's horse came up lame and was pulled from the race. "We were with her all the way from Foresthill riding together," said Heather. "I didn't realize she'd been pulled. I thought they were gonna check her again and maybe she'd get out of there, but that's a bummer for her." Nevada's Suzanne Ford Huff took home third place, crossing the finish line at 19 hours, 27 minutes. Shortly after, Karen Donley and Suzanne Hayes rounded out the top five, crossing at 19:35 and 19:36. Last year's winner, Jay Mero, placed 12th at 20 hours, 44 minutes.