“This horse is one in a million, and I’m the luckiest person in the world,” said Tracey Weinberg of her horse Larone after winning the $10,000 Junior Amateur-Owner speed class on Friday – the second leg of the new three-phase $45,000 North American Junior/Amateur Owner Challenge Cup. 

     Course designer Conrad Homfeld set a large technical track for the speed class sponsored by Kocher Tack.   Weinberg was worried in a couple of places because Larone is a small horse with a shorter stride.  One particularly spooky element was the second part of a triple combination coming out of the turn by the in-gate. Weinberg said, “Conrad had a big gap in the middle of it and I knew my horse would look at it. Joe (Fargis) said you have got to be brave there.  You can’t take any chances.  You have to just go full out and hope to God you see a long one.”
      The distances worked out for Weinberg and Larone and they blew to the head of the class with a clear go in 59.455 seconds.
      Weinberg was second in the first leg of the event held on Thursday.  Her approach to the Challenge Cup has been to take it one day at a time. She said, “in my mind I’m just trying to ride every class as it is designed. Yesterday was a speed class and instead of thinking about saving the horse for Saturday I’m taking each day as a separate class as if there is no other class and I think mentally that has helped me.”
      Thirty-seven horses will return on Saturday night for the final phase – the $25,000 Ariat North American Junior Amateur Challenge Cup, presented by the Oken Family and Hi Hopes Farm.  The class will be held in a grand prix format (table II section 2a) and the overall highpoint score of the three classes will be presented with the Ariat Congressional Cup.