Emilee Randal story
2024 Virginia City 100
2024 Virginia City 100 1st place
Melissa Montgomery and Guns N Roses (Bullet)
Steve Elliott photo
CONGRATULATIONS to MELISSA MONTGOMERY & GUNS N ROSES (BULLET), the Winning Horse and Rider Team at the 2024 VIRGINIA CITY 100 MILE ONE DAY RIDE.
Their winning time was 13:24 under a shining moon, earning them 1st Place, 1st LW and Top Ten Awards. This makes four completions of the VC100 ride for Melissa and two completions for 15 year old Arabian gelding, Bullet.
It was the second time this exceptional duo won the ride. In 2023 their winning time was 13:42 and they also earned the Charles Mapes Best Condition Cup.
2024 Virginia City 100 Best Condition
Peg Murphy-Hackley and HE Khem Chee
Tami Rougeau photo
Congratulations to the 2024 Virginia City 100 Mile One Day Ride BEST CONDITION WINNERS, PEGGY MURPHY-HACKLEY and her 18 year old purebred Arabian mare HE KHEM CHEE.
This makes the third time Peg & Khemmie have won this prestigious award, now holding the 55 year ride record. They have previously finished the ride together seven times from seven starts.
Bryce Hackley, Peg’s son shown in photo, is presenting Khemmie for the BC judging to the Ride Veterinarians, Dan Chapman and Susan McCartney.
2024 NASTR TRIPLE CROWN CHAMPIONS
STELLA STILWELL & VA BEYCHELLE (Chevy)
Karen Stilwell photo
Stella at 9 years old, is the youngest rider to ever win the Triple Crown in its 40 year history. It is her second VC 100 completion. Chevy her purebred Arabian gelding shares her same age, 9 years old, finished his first VC100. The duo finished in 5th place overall with a riding time of 15:04 minutes. Their overalll Triple Crown time was 35:11:04.
Stella also earned the Pat Fitzgerald Perpetual Junior Trophy honors for finishing the ride as the first junior. This is the second time they have won the 1st junior trophy, having also won in 2023.
2024 Virginia City 100 - Emilee Randal
September 224 2024By Emilee Randal
By Emilee Randal
September 24 2024
since the ride meeting was rapidly approaching. He vetted through beautifully and the nerves were hitting. I didn’t have time to pre-ride but my saddle looked like it fit him well. I met Andrew, who was voluntold to ride with me, and he suspected we would finish around 3:30am. This didn’t really surprise me, but I also didn’t really realize how late that truly is when you haven’t had a lot of rest.
At the ride meeting, we were warned about lions and bears. No tigers, thank goodness! The sheriff had notified Tami about four mountain lions in town and Tami had seen bear tracks in Bailey Canyon. There was no mention of rattlesnakes which was a relief. I went to bed shortly after the ride meeting with tightly braided hair (thank you, Mollie) and I slept well until about midnight. I was tossing and turning and worrying about a million possible bad outcomes. I was supposed to be awake at 2:45 and I didn’t have my watch, phone, or a clock nearby, so I hoped it was close to 2:45. Fortunately my mom happened to be awake and close to her phone so she told me it was 12:30. Blegh. I was able to go back to sleep and despite sleeping lightly, I felt well rested when my alarm went off at 2:45. I got up, ate breakfast, drank some electrolytes, and enjoyed the stars. Around 3:30, camp was bustling with energy and it was time to start saddling. I got Gibbs and brought him over to my trailer for some hay and began tacking up and fitting everything to him. By 4:15, we were ready to go. We gave him some electrolytes and I hung out with Andrew while he finished getting ready. We were mounted by 4:40 and headed into town. The energy of a crowd of 43 teams isn’t describable until you’ve done it. I can’t even imagine what Tevis is like!...
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