Las Vegas, Nev. – The nation’s best reining talent will descend upon the South Point Event and Equestrian Center in Las Vegas Thursday night for a shot at the 2015 $25,000 Adequan/USEF Open Reining National Championship. The event is part of a series of competitions offering huge cash prizes during the High Roller Reining Classic running September 11-20. The field of 13 combinations will get one chance to demonstrate their best circles, spins, and sliding stops to the judges. This year’s national championship will feature five riders returning to stake their claim on the title for the first time.

This will be Casey Hinton’s (Whitesboro, Texas) fifth national championship as he returns after competing in 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2012. He will ride Top Gun Tonite, owned by Tracey Tuttle-Bryce and Roberta Faga. Matt Mills (Cave Creek, Ariz.) is part of a contingent of these riders who competed at the 2010 championships. He also competed in 2007 and enters this year with Freckles Got AShiner, owned by Dealer Auctions, LLC and Vincent and Lynn Maffucci.

Jordan Larson (Whitesboro, Texas) took third place at the 2014 Kentucky Reining Cup. He will look to Andre De Bellefeuille’s Its All About Smart to help him to victory in this championship after competing in 2005 and 2010. Andrea Fappani also returns after competing in 2010 with two horses and with three horses in 2014. He will ride Custom Spook, owned by Rancho Oso Rio, LLC. Pete Kyle (Whitesboro, Texas) enters these championships after competing in 2009, 2010, and 2012. He will ride his own and Tamra Kyle’s Gunner Git Ya Dun.

Fappani and Larson were part of the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) Gold medal winning Adequan U.S. Reining Team. They will be joined by Troy Heikes and Tom McCutcheon, who competed at the 2014 WEG as individuals.  Heikes has entered three horses in this competition, including Denise Bixler’s Lil Gun Dunit, who he rode in the 2014 WEG. McCutcheon brings Jennifer Greenleaf’s Dun Git A Nicadual, also his partner at last year’s WEG.

The 2015 $25,000 Adequan/USEF Open Reining National Championship will air live on the USEF Network beginning at 7:00 p.m. PT on Thursday, September 17.