Results of the 2025 Tevis Cup (Road to Tevis #129)

Though I still haven’t made it to the start, I had a much more personal experience with Tevis this year, as a volunteer at Francisco’s! (Read my blog post about it: Volunteering for the Tevis Cup.) I watched the Haggin Cup judging on Sunday, and have some pictures of the top ten to share. As usual, this post will be a summary of the essentials. I will include links to personal stories when I can!

Potential errata

Before you read any further: These are preliminary results. (See the current Tevis unofficial standings page.)

I am not in any way affiliated with the Western States Trail Foundation. I obtained all statistics (horse and rider names and information, placing, pull information) from the results page on AERC website and the teviscup.org website, where it is publicly available. The WSTF may change things as more information comes in. I will try to update this blog, but life goes on and I may miss something. Feel free to let me know in the comments if I need to update anything!

Read my blog posts about the last four editions of Tevis:

Press coverage of the Tevis Cup 2021
Results of the 2022 Tevis Cup
Results of the 2023 Tevis Cup
Summary of 2024 Tevis Cup results

Summary

As usual, the ride started at 5:15AM. Participants have 24 hours to get to Auburn, which includes two hour-long required holds, plus all the time spent pulsing down, vetting, and caring for the horse and rider at other checkpoints.

On July 12th, 105 horse and rider pairs started Tevis, fewer than last year’s 139, but more than the 94 who started in 2023. (There were 131 in 2022 and 133 in 2021.) Of these, 43 finished, or 40.95%. A completion rate of 41% is normal, and not statistically significantly different from an average of 50% or of most of the years I’ve been writing up the results. The exception is 2023, when 64.89% finished, a great year though a small field.

What is your opinion on the shrinking Tevis field?

I’ve been doing a reader poll for the past few years. Hopefully I’ll write up the results soon! Please complete this one, especially if you have experience riding or volunteering at Tevis (though I want ALL points of view!)

(See my post on what I intend to do with these data: This is not science! On surveys, opinions, blogs, and Tevis.)

Above: Treasured Moments and Supersonic Zell on Sunday before the Haggin Cup judging. “Treasure,” ridden by Jeremy Reynolds, and “Sonic,” ridden by Jeremy’s wife Heather, crossed the finish line together in second and first place respectively.

Top Ten

All top ten horses were Arabians. The race was slower than recent years. (Jeremy and Treasure, for example, came in at 10:03 when they won in 2021. They were much faster in 2023, but it was a different and much shorter trail.)

The top two finishers were a wife-and-husband team!

Heather and Jeremy Reynolds crossed the Tevis finish line together at 11PM. Though both have completed Tevis (and won) multiple times, this was the first time they finished together.

Listen to this great podcast about the Reynolds: Heather & Jeremy Reynolds – Tevis 25 together.

Heather took first place, riding her 13-year-old gelding Supersonic Zell (Sonic), This was their third Tevis in a row together: They placed sixth last year and ninth in 2023. (Read more about Heather and Sonic in this Gold Country Media article that I linked to last year and is still a good read.) This is Heather’s fourth Tevis win and 11th completion.

Jeremy and his 15-year-old mare Treasured Moments (Treasure) won Tevis in 2023 and 2021. Jeremy rode her bridleless in 2023 (I heard that it is now against the rules to ride bridleless, but haven’t read the rulebook myself so…). In 2017, Treasure won the Haggin Cup. This was her fifth and Jeremy’s ninth completion.

The rest came in nearly an hour and 45 minutes later

Suzanne Ford Huff, riding her 15-year-old gelding Ezprezzo3 (Prezzo), came in third at 12:42AM. This was Suzanne and Prezzo’s second completion and top ten: they were seventh in 2022. This year makes two completions for Prezzo and eight for Suzanne.

Karen Donley and her 11-year-old mare Miss Krossfire (Red) were fourth at 12:50AM. Red was the first trot out at the Haggin Cup judging that I really liked! (View it here.) It was Karen’s ninth Tevis win and Red’s second; they came in 17th last year.

Suzanne Hayes riding the 12-year-old gelding Al Marah Triple Speed (Ace) came in just after Karen and Red at 12:51AM. It was Suzanne’s 12th completion and Ace’s third. They came in 11th in 2023 and 19th in 2022. Suzanne has been riding in AERC events since 1984 and has nearly 28,000 endurance miles.

In sixth place at 1:06am were Nicole Wertz and her 10-year-old gelding Little Sammy SV (Sammy). This was their second year in a row to top ten: they were ninth in 2024. At that time, Sammy had only completed 10 endurance ride! (I was impressed last year and still am.) This was NIcole’s seventh Tevis completion.

Michele Roush Rowe (DVM) riding her 14-year-old gelding Slim crossed the finish shortly afterwards, at 1:08AM. This was the pair’s fifth completion in a row (ha) and Michele’s tenth altogether.

Kelsey Mayo riding the 17-year-old gelding One Sun (Sunny) came in a minute after in eighth place. It was Kelsey’s second and Sunny’s seventh Tevis completion; they were 12th together last year.

The ninth place horse won the Haggin Cup!

John Perry riding the ten-year-old mare A Real Diva (Diva) came in immediately after Kelsey and Sunny, in ninth place. This was John’s seventh completion and Diva’s first. Diva went on to win the Haggin Cup.

Above: John Perry showing A Real Diva for the Haggin Cup.

Completing the top ten at 1:11AM were Kassandra Dimaggio and her 16-year-old stallion, WT Bezarif. “Taser” was the only stallion to complete this year. I am especially happy about this because my almost 3-month-old foal Scheherazade is by Taser! This was Kassandra’s 12th and Taser’s third completion.

Junior Riders

Just like last year, ten junior riders started the 2025 Tevis Cup and four of them completed. 

Junior Completions

The top junior rider, arriving in 13th place at 3:21AM was Ryan Ellis, riding the 21-year-old Arabian gelding PSR Karahty Kid (Kid). Ryan was the youngest rider this year, at 12 years old, and it was her (and Kid’s) first Tevis attempt!

Jax Beloberk riding his 14-year-old Arabian gelding Golly Brae Brae (Brae Brae) came in a minute later to place 14th. This was their second Tevis attempt and second completion: They came in 24th last year, one hour slower. The pair have a fantastic AERC record together of 1805 miles, and Jax, at 13 years old, has 3365 endurance miles!

Kendall Groth, riding the 10-year-old Arabian gelding Bread Line (Ice), was the next junior to finish in 26th place at 4:26AM. This was the first Tevis attempt for hoth of them!

The final junior to complete Tevis this year was Joslynn Terry, riding the 18-year-old Arabian-Appaloosa cross NVF Technicolor Vision (Sonic); they came in 41st at 5:05AM with three more of the Intergalactic Equine team! It was Joslynn’s first and Sonic’s fourth completion–four years in a row!

Junior Starters

Alina Hildreth (also part of the Intergalactic Equine team) riding the 15-year-old Arabian gelding Full Send (Send/Pony) made it all the way (94 miles) to Lower Quarry at 3:31AM, where they were pulled for lameness. So close! It was the first Tevis attempt for both of them.

Peyton Lesher riding the 10-year-old john mule Harvey chose to rider option after 68 miles at Foresthill. Peyton completed Tevis in 2022 riding the mule Sarah. It was Harvey’s first Tevis.

Two juniors made it to Deadwood (55 miles), Kyla Thompson at 3:40AM, riding the 8-year-old Arabian gelding Apollo Tou Delos (Apollo), and Mia Clegg at 4:23AM, riding the 10-year-old Arabian gelding CP Staccato (Taco). This was Kyla and Apollo’s first Tevis attempt. This was Mia’s second attempt and Taco’s first.

Mayce Belle Kreeger and the 16-year-old Arabian gelding WMA Sandcastle (Tru) were pulled halfway through at Last Chance. It was Mayce and Tru’s first Tevis attempt. Although Mayce had 1225 endurance miles going into Tevis, Tru had only 150. They did great!

Finally, Tierney Beloberk‘s 10-year-old Arabian gelding Proud American (Flash) was pulled at Red Star Ridge. Tierney has completed Tevis all three times she attempted the race (2021-2024); it Flash’s first attempt.

Non-Arabian completions

37 horses that were not purebred Arabians entered Tevis this year. Seven completed.

The 11-year-old Rocky Mountain mare SFF’s Aces Queen of Hearts (Lucy), ridden by Leahe Daby, was the highest placed non-Arabian, finishing 17th at 3:28AM. This was Lucy’s second Tevis completion out of four entries (she finished 32nd in 2021).

Two Mustangs came in next (for non-Arabians). The 15-year-old gelding OWR Astro (Astro) ridden by Matt Scribner finished 29th at 4:42 AM. It was Astro’s second completion out of three attempts; he has 2355 AERC miles. The 10-year-old gelding Seven, ridden by Audra Cook, DVM, finished one minute later in 31st place. This was the third year in a row that the pair completed Tevis.

The next non-Arabian to finish was the 16-year-old Arabian cross gelding Phil, ridden by Estelle Maxwell. They completed in 35th place at 4:44AM. It was the first attempt at Tevis for both horse and rider. Estelle has only 375 endurance miles–I’m impressed!

Another Arabian cross finished at 5:04 in 39th place, Stevie Delahunt’s 15-year-old gelding Alexander Hamilton (Alex). This was Stevie’s second completion and Alex’s fourth; the pair finished 43rd last year.

NVF Technicolor Vision, the Arabian-Appaloosa cross mentioned above, ridden by junior rider Josslyn Terry, finished in 41st place at 5:05.

Finally, the eight-year-old Mustang gelding MC Geo’s Odyssey (Geo) ridden by Mykayla Corgnell, finished 42nd at 5:05. It was Geo’s first Tevis!

The Pulls

Again, these are preliminary results. They will be updated.

Nine Rider Options: 3 Arabians, 3 Mules, one Morab, one Mustang, one Spotted Saddle Horse.

Four Over Time: One Arabian, one Arabian Cross, one Morgan, and one Mustang.

One Surface Factors: Arabian.

Two Rider Option–Metabolic: (someone needs to explain to me how this differs from Metabolic!) One Morab and one Quarab.

18 Metabolic: 10 Arabians, one Shagya, two Arabian crosses, one Anglo-Arab, one Mustang-Arabian (making that in fact four Arabian crosses!), and three Mustangs.

28 Lame: 17 Arabians, one Shagya, four Arabian crosses, two Anglo-Arabs, one Rocky Mountain-Arab cross, one Morab, one Mustang, and one Thoroughbred mule.

Above: Some photos of the barns at the Auburn Fairgrounds. I explored them while waiting for the Haggin Cup judging to begin Sunday.

The Haggin Cup

One of the things I learned by going up to volunteer and watch the Haggin Cup judging was that it is not the same as BC (best condition).

Timing

For one thing, horses stand for BC one hour after completing. It is certainly true that in an hour any major lameness that could be covered up while the horse is still warm will show up. (This is why Dave Nicholson makes us vet at the end of the hold in xprides.) But one could feasibly keep the horse moving for an hour… and an hour isn’t really long enough for the soreness to set in.

Horses are judged for the Haggin Cup at 10AM on Sunday. Most will have had at least 10 hours for any problems to show up. Even if there are no soundness issues, horses may be stiff. They will also have lost weight; how much they lose and how much they have recovered by Sunday morning it telling of overall condition.

Criteria

The vet cards for the Haggin Cup are not public, and to the best of my knowledge there is no publicly available scoring system. This 2010 article in The Horse presents a summary by Greg Fellers, DVM, (then head control judge): Criteria for Tevis Veterinarians Judging Haggin Cup Winners.

This year, I recorded current head control judge Dr. Mike Peralez explaining the criteria. You can listen to him in this YouTube video.

The main difference is that the horse and rider pairs are also judged on sportsmanship and horsemanship throughout the ride.

This year’s Haggin Cup participants

Per the Tevis Rules, all top ten horses must present to the Haggin Cup judging area to have their blood drawn. After their blood samples have been taken, those whose riders do not wish to show can leave.

Seven of the top ten horses showed for the 2025 Haggin Cup, in order of finishing. The first (Supersonic Zell), third (Ezprezzo3) and fifth (Al Marah Triple Speed) placed horses were not shown. The rest can be seen in the slide show below, in order.

As mentioned above, John Perry’s A Real Diva won the Haggin Cup!

Above: Scroll though the slide show to see the horses presented for the Haggin Cup. In order: Treasured Moments, Miss Krossfire, Little Sammy SV, Slim, One Sun, A Real Diva (winner), and WT Bezarif.

Above: WT Bezarif shows for the Haggin Cup. He was the only stallion to enter Tevis this year.

Some Statistics

There were 73 geldings, 31 mares, and one stallion. See the table below for completion status by sex.
Mean age = 12.16 (SD = 3.80, max = 25, min = 6).

Arabians

64.8% (68/105) of the field were Arabians. (similar to previous years).

83.72% (36/43) of the completions were Arabian. 51.61% (32/62) of the pulls were Arabian. Purebred Arabians were significantly more likely to complete, Χ² (df = 1) = 11.47, p = .001.

In other words, 47.06% of the Arabians that started were pulled.

Non-Arabians

37 non-purebred Arabians entered (35.24%).

Seven, or 16.28% of the completions were non-purebred Arabian (fewer than usual since 2021). 30 of the pulls were non-Arabian (48.39%, a larger percentage than usual).

**In other words, 81.08% of the non-Arabians that started were pulled. This is a much greater proportion than any of the last four years.

Breaking pulls down by Arabian/non-Arabian status:

This is somewhat deceptive, as 21 of the 37 “non-Arabians” were Arabian crosses or Shagya Arabians. Just take that into consideration. You can see a more detailed breakdown in the table below.

No matter how you look at it, however, it was a bad year for non-purebred Arabian horses.

Rider option: 27.3% Arabian. 4.4% of the Arabians that started were RO. 21.6% of the non-Arabian started were RO.

Lame: 60.7% Arabian. 25.0% of the Arabians that started were pulled for lameness. 29.7% of the non-Arabian started were pulled for lameness.

Metabolic: 55.6% Arabian. 14.7% of the Arabians that started were pulled for metabolic reasons. 21.6% of the non-Arabian started were pulled for metabolic issues.

Above: Completion status by Arabian, Arabian cross, and non-Arabian. I did not present as many statistics last year, but you can compare this with my 2023 reporting.

Photos and Videos

William Gore Photography (Cougar Rock and finish)

Robinson Flat 2025 by Crissy Tadlock

Friday vet-in and the swinging bridge by Michelle Evans

Stacy Tierman Photography

Photos of High camp taken by Sonja Barrera, a volunteer (I love these!)

Above: Some great views of the trail, horses and riders, and more in this vlogumentary from a sweep rider.

Facebook’s 2025 Tevis Watch Party

I couldn’t find any press coverage this year. Please let me know what I have missed! And please let me know if you have a blog post or photos you’d like me to link here, or a story to tell!

FAQ

Who won the 2025 Tevis Cup?

Heather Reynolds riding Supersonic Zell won the 2025 Tevis Cup, followed by her husband Jeremy Reynolds on Treasured Moments.

How many riders completed the 2025 Tevis Cup?

43 riders successfully completed out of 105 starters.

What makes the Tevis Cup endurance ride challenging?

It’s 100 miles in a single day over rugged Sierra Nevada terrain with steep climbs, canyons, river crossings, heat management, and strict vet checks — testing both horse conditioning and rider strategy.

Where can I find the full Tevis Cup 2025 results?

See the official Tevis results pages (including standings, finish times, and awards). You’ve also linked the unofficial standings earlier in this post.

How do riders and horses prepare for Tevis?

Lots of long slow distance (LSD) conditioning, hill work, heat acclimation, careful nutrition/electrolytes, rider fitness, and practice on technical footing to pulse down efficiently at vet checks.