Edited Press Release
In a unique set of circumstances, the California Split in the Equitation 15-17 division today had co-champions sharing the same number of final points.
Of 46 entries, Samantha Takacs, of Oldwick, NJ, and Blythe Goguen, of Lexington, KY, topped the division among the two sections. However, both riders gained a total of 16 points over fences and won their respective under saddle classes, leading to a 26-point tie for a truly equal split of the championship honors.
Samantha Takacs was grateful for her ride aboard Chagall, an eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Sissy Wickes.
“I want to thank Heritage Farm,” said Takacs. “I only just started riding him [Chagall] two days ago, and from that first ride I thought he was so much fun. He has a great canter, wonderful jump, and he’s super sweet.”
Takacs is an equitation rider who regularly competes in the USEF Hunt Seat Medal, ASPCA Maclay, and USEF Talent Search.
“We rode in this division so I could get a feel for him and just start getting consistent,” said Takacs. “Our main goal is to be consistent going forward and to aim for top placings at finals.”
Blythe Goguen and Common Sense, a 16-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding owned by Amber Ayyad, are another pair that have met down here in Wellington.
“I’ve been riding him since the first week down here,” said Goguen, “so we’re still a bit new to each other. He’s really special. He’s got a ton of experience and a lot of buttons so I’ve kind of been trying to figure them out, but he’s awesome.”
Goguen’s top placings today were the next step toward her goals for the rest of the season and the rest of the year.
“I did the Washington [equitation class] yesterday and had a couple of mistakes, so we did this to try to get a bit of a better feel for him,” she said. “He felt so much more relaxed, and I rode him so much better today. I look forward to doing the WEF Equitation Championship class week 12 on him.”
The reserve champions in the Equitation 15-17 California Split were Madyson Diaz, of Eastchester, NY, aboard her own Checkland, and Luke Jensen, of Benton, TX, who rode Holman Import LLC’s Ironman.
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