Bethany Baumgardner carried the American flag after her victory at Champ de Mars in December.

Bethany Baumgardner, an amateur steeplechase jockey and member of the Amateur Riders Club of America (ARCA), has written a letter of appreciation to the many supporters who made possible her participation in the races sponsored by Fegentri, the international organization of amateur riders. Baumgardner won the final race of the female series on Dec. 3

Bethany Baumgardner rode Social Network to victory in the Fegentri Ladies Championship finale.

by Donald Yovanovich

The Amateur Riders Club of America made history on Sunday when Bethany Baumgardner became the first American lady rider ever to win the Champ de Mars, the finale of the Longines Fegentri Ladies Championship in Mauritius.

In an invitational race limited to the top eight riders in the season-long competition, Bethany rode Social Network to a gate-to-wire victory in the 1,500-meter turf race.

Bethany has competed in about 60% of the offered races in the series and during most of the summer was ranked second. With a short hiatus in September and October, she fell to sixth in the standings, but a third-place finish aboard Bonnie Acclamation at Pisa on Nov. 26 moved her into the fifth spot.

Her victory in Mauritius placed her fourth in the world, with only 17 points separating the second-, third-, and fourth-place ladies. The series leader, Sara Vemeersch representing Belgium, ran away with the competition, winning by a huge margin. Bethany had two wins and seven seconds during the series, and she was thrilled by the finale victory. “It was an incredible experience,” she said.

We should also mention that the ARCA Fegentri World Cup Team finished the year by placing second to Norway. Special thanks to the riders, Erika Taylor, Amelia McGuirk, Brittany Trimble, Teresa Croce, and Mark Galligan. All the riders, including Bethany, are National Steeplechase Association-licensed jockeys.

Amateur steeplechase jockey Bethany Baumgardner keeps finishing second in international Fegentri amateur rider races, and those six place finishes have moved her into a tie for third in the Longines Fegentri Ladies’ Rankings for 2017. When the Amateur Riders Club of America hosted four races on the East Coast in June, Baumgarder had three second-place

Riders belonging to the Amateur Riders Club of America had a successful afternoon at the Grand National in Butler, Md., on Saturday, April 22. In the kickoff race, Eric Poretz rode Irvin “Skip” Crawford’s Senior Senator to victory in the $30,000 Grand National and will have the mount as Senior Senator seeks a repeat win

Two American amateur jump riders, Bethany Baumgardner and Eric Poretz, traveled abroad this past week representing the Amateur Riders Club of America in the opening Longines Fegentri Men’s and Ladies Individual World Championship series. On February 19, Poretz traveled to the race course in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where three days of racing are run on

The National Steeplechase Foundation expressed its gratitude to champion steeplechase jockeys Ross Geraghty, Kieran Norris, and Paddy Young for sharing their experiences at the Horse World Expo – MD & PA. The discussion was led by young rider moderators Elizabeth Scully and Hunter Holm.  NSF would also like to thank Gina Perri and Eric Poretz for