Sanoma Blakeley was riding horses before she could walk. But even she was amazed when she won the Tevis Cup endurance horse race at 18 years old. The Tevis cup is the most prestigious horse race in the world – a grueling 100 mile race through the Sierra-Nevadas.
The teen from Terrebonne, Oregon had been racing in the Tevis Cup since she was old enough to enter at age 12. But it would be with a horse that her family got for free off Craigslist that her dreams of being a champion would be realized.
Goober was a 2-year-old Arabian horse with a lot of “baggage,” according to his former owners who advertised him for free. Blakeley’s family jumped at the opportunity, took him in and rehabilitated him, Blakeley told the Central Oregon Daily News. She says Goober has personality enough for three horses and is a very mischievous character, but he is also a good racehorse and has a lot of heart.
That heart was evident in the Tevis Cup race, as Blakeley recounts the experience in the video below:
Ninety-four miles into the race the underdog duo caught up with the leaders and then it was a sprint to the finish. They would win just one horse length ahead of another rider!
Now four years later, Blakeley has just released a book about how she became the youngest woman to ever win the Tevis Cup – Chasing Dreams: The True Story of the Youngest Female Tevis Cup Champion.
A lifetime of hard work, training and a very special horse lead Blakeley to fulfil a dream. She said in the video, “I hope it inspires people that some things aren’t just handed to you, but that you really have to work for it but also that you have to set a dream, have a goal in life, have something to work towards.”
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