Sandblast

[George McGraw <georgem@computrac.com>]

Sandblast
Athens, TX -- February, 21, 1998


The first jewel of the Texas Triple Crown series was held at a Scout
Camp in Athens, TX. The camp is a beautiful area of rolling hills,
trees, a few small lakes  and lost of sand. The Triple Crown is a three
race series where rider/horse pairs who complete all three events are
awarded jackets to recognize their accomplishment. Co-ride managers Mary
Manual and Carolyn Hosmer  prepared a well marked series of trails that
routed rider through the more scenic areas of the camp. 

The 75 mile event saw 6 competitors take to the trails. The ride was won
by Featherweight Shelley Bridges on Windswift Pharrah in a time of 8:46.
She was closely followed across the finish line by Middleweight Bridget
Cavanaugh/Karronick and  Lightweight Lynda Cory/Baskari. Gail
Fiebelman/Obsyssion was fourth in a tiem of 10:06. Linda Laack/Klassic
Capri and Paulett Brehob/Kache rounded out the top ten with times of
12:08. Karronick was awarded Best Condition for his outstanding 730
score.

Thirty-nine rider entered the 50 mile ride and took to the trails on
what would be a beautiful spring day in central Texas. Middleweight
Karen Beason/Ahmerikahn Salute was first across the finish line in a
time of 6:29. Heavyweight Paul Zeck/HK Contendar was one minute behind
for a second place finish. The top ten was rounded out by first
Featherweight Sue Phillips/King Cub 6:34, Lisa Baldwin-Toth 6:35, Jim
Baldwin/Dann Tana 6:40, Vonita Bowers/Kozy Girl 6:53, first Junior Jesse
Burton/Farah Lena 7:10, Bruce Burton/Meescha 7:10, Amber Burton/Cochiese
7:10, and Joe Holzer/Bulletproof. Best Conditioned was awarded to Dann
Tana for his 609.5 score. There were 36 completions from the original
field.

A 25 mile limited distance ride rounded out the day with 61 riders to
account for the 106 total entries. Zarito ridden by Lightweight Barbara
Gailliams was first to reach criteria in a time 2:30. Best Condition
honors were awarded to Zarito. 

This ride was sponsored by TERA and sanctioned by AERC.