Hope and 'Pancho' ride to victory at SMR Cup, an annual highlight of polo season at Lakewood Ranch
LAKEWOOD RANCH
Chad Oler doesn't mean any disrespect when he talks about Hope, a gray mare.
"When I first saw her, I didn't think she was anything special," said Oler, one of the cowboys taking part in the annual SMR Cup competition between cowboys and polo players.
Hope is no show horse. She is not the biggest horse. Nor is she the prettiest horse. But she is a winner.
Sunday, Hope raced to her fifth victory in the annual horse race at halftime of the polo match at the Sarasota Polo Club, which is always the highlight of the SMR Cup, the competition between those who play polo and others who ride fences and rope cattle.
"Hope has always surprised everyone. She is all heart," Oler said.
Or as Jason "Pancho" Davis, Hope's owner and the rider who rode her to victory Sunday likes to say, "dynamite comes in small packages."
Hope, a quarter horse, "has a motor like I have never seen before," Davis said.
Indeed, Davis had to hang on at the start when the saddle under him slipped, and Hope lunged for the lead.
Hope surged right to the front, and won by a length.
Holly Chamberlin, riding a thoroughbred, seemed to be gaining ground at the finish line, and came in second, said Ann Oniskey, one of the spectators at the race.
Buddy Davis, Jason Davis' father, said the family got Holly 12 years ago, at the same time that Jason's son, Tyler, was born.
"She has the greatest start," Buddy Davis said.
The SMR Cup allows men and women from the worlds of polo and cattle management to get to know one another, and have friendly competition in shooting, roping, fishing and other activities.
"It's a blast and we have a great
weekend being around everyone," said Steve John, citrus production manager for SMR Farms.
Fran Reback, a polo groom, took part in the SMR Cup this year.
"I went out with three cowboys I had never met," Reback said. "They couldn't have been nicer and I caught my first bass."
Wyatt Broxson, 17, of Palmetto High School was chosen as the most valuable cowboy, and Holly Chamberlin was named the most valuable polo player.
"We are so used to doing the cowboy stuff, that I like to play polo. It's fun," Broxson said.
Cassidy Jones of Myakka City is friends with Broxson's family.
"He is just a natural athlete," Jones said.
James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee reporter, can be contacted at 941-745-7053 or on Twitter @jajones1.
This story was originally published February 21, 2016 at 11:34 PM with the headline "Hope and 'Pancho' ride to victory at SMR Cup, an annual highlight of polo season at Lakewood Ranch ."