Above: Jeremy and Heather Reynolds crossing the finishline as winners together.
Photos and Story by Merri Melde
As featured in the Summer 2025 issue of Arabian Horse World
The 69th running of the 100-mile Tevis Cup endurance ride took place July 12, 2025, starting at Robie Park above Lake Tahoe, Nevada, beginning at 5:15 AM. 105 riders and horses lined up to contest the arduous race over the Sierra Nevada mountains following the historic Western States Trail, hoping to cross the finish line in Auburn, California, within 24 hours.
Heather Reynolds and Supersonic Zell (first place at the finish) leaving Robinson Flat vet check at 36 miles.
Since 1996, Heather and Jeremy Reynolds had previously accounted for 20 Tevis Cup finishes, eight Tevis wins, and five Haggin Cups (awarded for best condition). Still, until this year, the married couple had never accomplished a Tevis finish side by side. The Reynoldses held hands as they rode under the finish line in a ride time of 15:45, nearly two hours ahead of the next competitor.
Heather took the win aboard the 13-year-old gelding Supersonic Zell (S W Zell x Just N Tyme, by Orzel II), for his third Tevis completion and Heather’s eleventh. Heather is the first person to win Tevis on four different horses. Jeremy took second aboard the 15-year-old mare Treasured Moments (DA Adios x Hidden Treasure, by RD Five Star), for her sixth Tevis finish and Jeremy’s ninth. Treasure and Jeremy won Tevis in 2021 and 2023, and the Haggin Cup in 2017.
SONIC’S BEGINNINGS
A sharp eye and a gut feeling caused Tennessee Blouin from Colorado (Tevis Cup winner aboard Auli Farwa in 2017) to pick “Sonic” out of a dispersal sale as a yearling. He was so tiny and thin, but his conformation “was to die for,” Blouin recalled. “I assumed he would make a killer Junior or Featherweight horse with time, food, and training.” A few years later, Sonic had matured into a large, spirited gelding. Blouin sent him to the Reynoldses’ for training and his start in endurance with a new owner. After a few successful seasons, one happenstance led to another, including severe starvation and a neglectful situation until Heather was able to gain ownership of Sonic in 2023, and she nursed him back to health and reintroduced him to endurance.
Sonic and Heather finished ninth in the 2023 Tevis, his first 100-mile ride, and sixth in the 2024 Tevis. This year’s win shows how excellent care, perseverance, and training can help a horse reach his highest potential.
“We have a generic system that applies to our herd,” Heather says, “but then you have to get specific within that system. We’re able to recognize the differences that are needed for each horse.” She echoes what many top Tevis finishers know and practice: “Know what you have going into the ride, then make your plan based on that horse that day, and hope it’s the best plan and that your horse ends up in the front. You cannot worry about what everyone else is doing. We feel it’s very important to ride your plan, and adapt as the horse dictates.”
Jeremy says that, despite finishing in the front with Heather, his horse, Treasure, was not at her best. Heather echoes that sentiment. “Treasure is a freak show. She definitely wasn’t having her best day, but she was still putting, in my opinion, everyone else to shame. She just keeps going, and she just gets easier, faster. Jeremy could have really gone away with [the win], but he said, ‘No, I’d rather ride with you and have a good time.’ We’d never managed to finish together. So it was really important to us to ride in together. It was so much fun.”
Jeremy Reynolds on Treasured Moments and Heather Reynolds on Supersonic Zell, coming into Michigan Bluff at 62.5 miles for a cooling down by their crew.
Jeremy Reynolds and Treasured Moments (second place at the finish) trotting out at the Robinson Flat vet check at 36 miles.
John Perry and A Real Diva win the Haggin Cup.
BEST CONDITION
Sunday’s Haggin Cup judging took place in Auburn’s McCann Stadium, with seven of the top ten finishers showing. This coveted award is given to the horse in the top ten finishers that is considered to be in the most superior physical condition.
Ninth-place finisher John Perry and his 10-year-old Arabian mare A Real Diva (Dahess x Dreamm Diva, by Dreams of Valor) took the Haggin Cup honors. It was the mare’s first Tevis Cup finish and Perry’s seventh. Perry is normally a mid- to back-of-the-pack finisher on the Tevis trail, but he knew this mare was very special.
“Lynn Ashby, trainer for Cre Run Farm, told me about this mare that was related to another Cre Run gelding [Followyourdreamm] that I finished Tevis on twice. I took Lynn’s advice and had her shipped out,“ Perry said.
“She has a huge trot. She’s a little spooky, so I have to ride her the whole time. She’s a quirky mare. She is a diva, just like her name. But her [pulse] recoveries are unbelievable, even in the heat.”
Their ride was not without a little drama. Around 20 miles in, the mare took a pretty good fall and skinned her nose. “She went down on her knees, but thankfully she didn’t bang them up. But we survived. It was an amazing day. My lofty goal was to finish in the top ten and win the Haggin Cup. And we got it done.”
Nicole Wertz and Little Sammy SV leaving Robinson Flat vet check. They finished in sixth place.
Reyna Mero on Chndakas Eklipse SWA and John Perry on A Real Diva leaving Robinson Flat vet check at 36 miles. Mero was pulled at Foresthill at 68 miles; Perry and Diva finished 9th and won the Haggin Cup.
ARABIANS DOMINATE
Forty-three of the 105 entries finished the Tevis – the finish rate is typically 40 to 50% – and 35 of the finishers were Arabians, with four being part-Arabians. Ten of the Arabian finishers had run on the racetrack in their previous careers. Both Treasured Moments and A Real Diva were bred by Cre Run Farm in Virginia and raced, each winning one race.
Kelsey Mayo on Arabian gelding OneSun, finished 8th, and Kassandra Dimaggio on Arabian stallion WT Bezarif, finished 10th. Shown leaving Robinson Flat at 36 miles.
Reyna Mero and Chndakas Eklipse SWA at the Foresthill vet check at 68 miles where they were pulled.
Tevis Cup Head Veterinarian Dr. Michael Peralez vetting Arabian gelding Impiril Norsk ridden by Mandy Harrison at the Robinson Flat vet check. They were pulled at Deadwood at mile 55.
