Ride for Kevin, Ride for History: Morrissey Claims a Third Babington Benefit Classic

Ride for Kevin, Ride for History: Morrissey Claims a Third Babington Benefit Classic

Michael Morrissey and Dolce Gusto From Second Life Z deliver a championship ride, hold off a furious late charge from Kelli Cruciotti-Vanderveen and make history as the first three-time winners of the Babington Benefit Classic.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wellington, FL – Sept. 6, 2026

There are horse classes that are won.

And then there are horse classes that are remembered.

Saturday afternoon at the Silver Oak Jumper Tournament presented by the Davis McCullough Foundation, the Rood & Riddle Babington Benefit Classic became the latter.

It began with a guitar.

Jesse Jefferson stood before the crowd and sent the unmistakable notes of the Top Gun Anthem across the showgrounds before moving into a stirring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. The crowd rose. Old Glory moved in the background. For a few minutes, the International Ring felt less like the site of a horse show and more like the setting for something much larger.

Then came the riders.

Twenty-three horse-and-rider combinations entered the ring to Ride for Kevin.

Before each round, horse and rider stopped.

They faced Kevin Babington and members of the community whose lives have been touched by the Foundation.

And they saluted.

For a brief moment, the clock did not matter. The jumps did not matter. The prize money did not matter.

They were there for Kevin.

“Kevin is the strongest man I know, and I have met some heroes in my time,” said Kevin Babington Foundation Chairman Jeff Papows. “Riders come from all over the country to honor Kevin and the Foundation, and they compete for something much bigger than themselves.”

Then the buzzer sounded.

And the race was on.

Ride forward. Leave the rails up. Come back for the jump-off. And if you were brave enough, find another gear.

The lead changed hands again and again as one rider after another attacked the course. Every clear round brought another blast of the Windstar Cruises Clear Round Horn and another contender into the fight.

And this year, the blue ribbon came with a little something extra: a Windstar Cruises voyage for two.

But for Michael Morrissey, there was something else on the line.

History.

Morrissey had already won the Babington Benefit Classic twice. A victory Saturday would make him the first rider ever to win it three times.

Standing in his way was defending champion Kelli Cruciotti-Vanderveen.

Early in the class, Cruciotti-Vanderveen threw down the challenge aboard Sweet Lady, setting the pace and putting the rest of the field on notice.

Then Morrissey entered aboard Dolce Gusto From Second Life Z.

Clear in the first round.

Back for the jump-off.

Then the accelerator went down.

Morrissey attacked the short course and stopped the clock at 30.891 seconds, taking more than two seconds off the early leading pace.

Now came the waiting.

And then came Kelli.

Not just on another horse.

On Shamonix SF — the mare that won this very class one year earlier.

They jumped clear.

The crowd knew what was coming.

So did Morrissey.

Cruciotti-Vanderveen and Shamonix SF came through the timers and immediately went hunting. Fence by fence, stride by stride, they matched Morrissey’s pace.

Michael and his team watched from the sidelines.

The margin disappeared.

Then came the final lines.

Cruciotti-Vanderveen found one fewer stride in the second-to-last line.

Then one fewer again coming home.

She crossed the timers.

31.542 seconds.

Just 0.651 seconds separated them.

Morrissey was still in front.

But the class was not over.

More riders came.

More clear rounds.

More attempts at the time.

And still, 30.891 remained at the top of the board.

Finally, the last horse entered the ring.

Morrissey and his team watched.

One final round.

One final chance for someone to rewrite the ending.

The last horse crossed the finish.

The time held.

And Michael Morrissey had done it.

Three times.

Morrissey and Dolce Gusto From Second Life Z were the champions of the 2026 Rood & Riddle Babington Benefit Classic — earning the blue ribbon, a Windstar Cruises voyage for two, and a place in the history of one of Silver Oak’s most meaningful traditions.

Rood & Riddle Babington Benefit Classic — Podium

1st — Michael Morrissey (USA) / Dolce Gusto From Second Life Z
Double clear — 30.891 seconds

2nd — Kelli Cruciotti-Vanderveen (USA) / Shamonix SF
Double clear — 31.542 seconds

3rd — Michelle Carnes / Mescandro PS
Double clear — 32.689 seconds

But on this Saturday, the scoreboard only told part of the story.

The Babington Benefit Classic has become a fixture of the Silver Oak Jumper Tournament because it represents something increasingly rare in sport: a moment when competition and community become almost impossible to separate.

Twenty-three riders came to win.

Twenty-three riders came to honor Kevin.

And for a few unforgettable hours in Traverse City, they reminded everyone watching that courage does not always mean getting back up after you fall.

Sometimes it means showing up.

Sometimes it means standing beside someone else.

And sometimes it means pointing your horse toward the first fence, hearing the buzzer and riding like hell.

Michael Morrissey did exactly that.

And when the final rail stayed in the cups and the final clock stopped, history belonged to him.