CASABLANCA, Morocco--Taylor Kingsley of Camden, S.C., got what she termed was a crazy opportunity and turned it into a fantastic experience by winning a Fegentri sponsored race in Casablanca.

Taylor Kingsley winning in CasablancaFegentri is the International Federation of Gentlemen and Lady Riders, in other words young amateurs, founded in 1955 that now has a membership consisting of 25 different countries.

Don Yovanovich is the American member of the board of directors and the executive director.

"I couldn't have dreamed it up," said Kingsley.

"I'd been riding horses at Laurel on a very cold day and then getting a horse ready to run," she said. "The horse was on the way to the post when I got a text from my mom to call her. I dreaded calling her, wondering if I'd done something wrong. So I called her and we discussed the race, and then she said, `Would you like to go to go to Casablanca?'"

Kingsley said that the Amateur Riders Club of America pays for most of the expenses, including the airfare,so the riders chosen just have to pay for extras.

Kingsley and Elizabeth Scully were the two American girls chosen to compete in Morocco.

"We flew over separately," said Kingsley. "I left on a Friday, but for my flight, we had plane delays, so flights were missed. It was so bad that there was a question of whether I'd get there in time for the race."

 

"EVENTUALLY, it worked out well," she said. "I got there at the same time as the riders from Europe, and there was a van to take us to the hotel.  Fegentri put us up at a hotel for the weekend, and we all had dinners together,"

Taylor Kingsley with the trophyKingsley got there Friday evening, and the race was Saturday.

Horses are donated to the race by their trainers for all the Fegentri races.

"I'd never seen the horse before," said Kingsley. "I wasn't able to see any of the races she'd run in. All I was able to find out was that she was a maiden running against winners, and that she'd only run about six times while the other horses had run 20 or 30 times. Plus she was a filly running against geldings, But she'd been improving, she'd been second and third in her last two races."

Kingsley was number 12, but she was in post position one for the 6 1/2 furlong race.

In America, the number of the horse is also the number of the gate they'll break from, but in Europe the number of the horse and the post position are different.

"I broke on top, and we led to the top of the stretch, where she was headed. I got back in front just the last 20 yards," sad Kingsley. "I got a big, beautiful trophy. Of course, as amateurs, we're not allowed to be paid."

Scully, the second American rider, finished fourth.

Morocco's photo of the finish of the Fegentri race won by Taylor Kingsley, right. The numbers on the bottom are the order of finish. Elizabeth Scully, fourth, is  pictured  behind the top three,"So both American riders were in the money," said Kingsley.

"Fegentri had a very nice gala for us after the races," she said. "Then on Sunday we got to tour the city. It's quite a cool city, but it didn't look like  though tit would from the movie Casablanca. I didn't know what to expect, but it's quite a third world city. There's beautiful architecture. The markets were very quaint."

Kingsley flew home on Monday and is back galloping horses and working for her father, trainer Arch Kingsley.

Earlier this year, she won a bumper (flat) race in Ireland for trainer Shark Hanlon, and she's won nine of 11 raced she's ridden in this year in this country.

"The short term goal is to be a flat jockey," said Kingsley. " It's like every amateur rider's dream, to ride at the major tracks. The long term goal is to ride over fences and then to be a trainer."