Rode hard, and put away winners

Sheer Sierra rock thwarted immigrants and prospectors. Now, add to that list half the horses and mules in the 50th annual Tevis Cup contest, which concluded Sunday.

If just completing the race bestows bragging rights, then Jeremy Reynolds of Morgan Hill and Becky Spencer, a nurse from Pilot Hill, can crow about their first-place tie in the endurance trail ride.

“It was my turn,” Reynolds says. His wife, Heather Bergantz Reynolds, 27, won the title last year.

Reynolds, 24, also captured the Haggin Cup when a panel of veterinarians judged his mount, LV Eli, the best-conditioned.

A total of 245 steeds hit the trail in Truckee before dawn Saturday and a little over half finished 24 hours later in Auburn. The 100-mile race is the country’s oldest endurance ride, and the route retraces the trail of gold miners and immigrants. Riders from the United States, Canada, Japan, Austria and the United Arab Emirates participated.

-- Bobbie Lieberman