June 12, 2022 – San Juan Capistrano, CA – Katie Taylor Davidson and L’Con Reyes capped their World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) week at the Blenheim June Classic I with victory in the $25,000 Blenheim West Coast Hunter Classic on Sunday, June 12.
The $25,000 Hunter Classic headlined five days of high-caliber hunter competition at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, CA, with 19 horses contesting the featured class held on the Oaks International Grand Prix Field.
Davidson and L’Con Reyes were the 15th entry to trot out onto the spacious grass field, and they immediately took over the top of the leaderboard with a combined score from the two judging panels of 174.
With the top 12 coming back for the second round, Davidson and L’Con Reyes returned to nearly replicate their performance, earning dual scores of 85 for a round-two total score of 170 and an overall 344.
Finishing in a close second place with an overall score of 341.5, including the second-round high scores of 90 and 86, were Kylee Arbuckle and Gatsby, owned by Shannon Bird. Third place with a total score of 337 went to Lisa Wall and Tangled Up In Blue, owned by 3P Equine Partners, LLC.
“It’s always great to win one of these classes,” said Davidson, who has ridden L’Con Reyes, or “Theo,” for four years, now only riding the Oldenburg gelding, owned by Bravado LLC, prior to shows and for occasions like Sunday’s $25,000 Hunter Classic.
“Theo usually comes out whenever there are derby classes or to do other Hunter Spectacular sort of classes like this,” said Davidson. “I thought he jumped really, really well in the first round. I enjoyed both rounds today.”
“I thought they flowed really nicely, and it was really pretty out there on the grand prix field,” continued Davidson of the courses designed Tom Hern. “Theo gave me his all. It’s a big field out there, and I thought the second round he got a little bit tired. So, I had to help him a little bit at the end, but he finished great and gave us the win! I want to thank his owners, Bravado, for letting me ride Theo.”
Davidson will now continue competing at Blenheim EquiSports throughout the June Classic Series and into the summer.
“I’ve always enjoyed showing out on the grass field,” said Davidson. “It’s something different; the other shows are a lot of sand and stuff, so it’s a different experience, and I feel like they’ve really built up the atmosphere around those two rings [the Grand Looke Arena and the Oaks International Grand Prix Field]. There’s a lot of importance put in, and they really make a big deal out of it all, which feels good.”
For the win, Davidson was presented with an $80 Riderzon gift certificate, a $75 Shady Lady gift certificate, a pair of American Equus riding gloves, and an embroidered pillow from The Clothes Horse, sponsored by Nick Byassee – Equestrian Design LLC. As the winning owner Bravado LLC received a Riviera EquiSports leather halter, an EquiTex embroidered scrim sheet, a Topline Design Ribbon Wreaths gift certificate, and a custom ribbon picture frame.
For full results of the $25,000 Blenheim West Coast Hunter Classic, click here.
Blenheim EquiSports is #ThePlaceToJump all season long. Learn more by visiting ThePlaceToJump.com.
