Cody Rego Secures 4th Place In ASPCA Finals
Bermudian equestrian Cody Rego clinched 4th place at the prestigious 2023 ASPCA Maclay Finals Championship, a top annual equitation event featuring the best 250 riders aged 18 and under.
A spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Equestrian Federation is pleased to share that at the 2023 ASPCA Maclay Finals, held on Sunday 5th November, Cody Rego skillfully rode Ironman through to the final jumping and equitation testing round and was awarded an extremely commendable 4th place honor.
“Starting at 7 a.m. and finishing some 12 hours later, the Maclay Finals began with an initial round over fences, after which the 4 panel Judges select a smaller number of riders to proceed to the equitation on the flat phase. Following the flat phase, a further “cut” was made and the remaining riders, which included Bermuda’s Cody Rego, returned for a second round of jumping tests.
“In addition to Cody’s outstanding 4th place achievement, Bermuda can also boast of having two additional Bermudian equestrians, Julia Slade, and Nicolas Lopes, successfully qualify for this year’s Finals. Both riders skillfully navigated the challenging first jumping round but were not selected to proceed to the next phase.
“The ASPCA Maclay Finals is considered one of the top Annual Equitation Championships. Each year, thousands of talented equestrians [aged 18 years and under] strive to qualify for the Finals held annually on the first Sunday in November at the National Horse Show in Lexington Kentucky. Only the top 250 are invited to the Finals.
“Throughout the qualifying year ending on 31st of August, riders strive to qualify for Regionals by participating in Maclay classes held at USEF sanctioned events. These regional competitions are held in 10 different States, thus providing an opportunity for riders throughout the USA to compete in these top-level competitions. Riders vie for top placings in the Regional classes to enable them to advance to the ASPCA Maclay Finals. The ASPCA Maclay Finals is consider one of the most prestigious competitions for junior riders. Its winners have included some of the biggest names in equestrian sport such as Frank Chapot, George Morris, Eryn Ballard, and Jessica Springsteen to name a few.
“Bermuda ‘s equestrian community is indeed proud and delighted to share the achievements and successes of its junior equestrians.”
