Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Today’s Advanced show jumping finale at Millbrook Horse Trials proved firsthand that this sport will keep you guessing down to the wire. While we had predicted Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM to clinch their fourth Millbrook win today, that victory seemed like it might be out of reach considering they were sitting in fourth place after cross country.
But we also said that every cross country time penalty and show jumping rail would prove costly with the leaderboard so tightly bunched after dressage. Less than a rail separated the top four going into today’s show jumping, and once poles started dropping on Marc Donovan’s course, the entire top 10 found itself scrambled.
Interestingly, the horses sitting in fourth through 10th places after cross country all jumped double clear rounds over Marc’s course. The trouble only came once we cracked the top three in the reverse order of go. Third-placed Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair took a rail at the first fence of an in-and-out of two verticals that were placed immediately after a big triple bar.
Then Kim Severson and Fernhill Fearless, sitting in second place overnight, also pulled a rail, but that didn’t give overnight leaders Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights a rail in hand. Instead, three-time winners Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM kept creeping up the leaderboard after jumping double clear.
Kim Severson and Fernhill Fearless. Photo by Jenni Autry.
With just 3.7 penalties separating Colleen from Buck, she couldn’t afford a single rail down in order to win. She and CR ultimately pulled one rail at the first fence (and a second one later on the course) to give Buck and Reggie an incredible fourth victory in the Advanced division at Millbrook.
“I said to (super groom) Kathleen (Blauth-Murray) in the warm up, ‘He’s jumping good, but we’re not going to win anyways,’” Buck said. “You feel bad for those guys (that had rails down), and that’s not how you like to win, but Reggie was really good in all three phases.”
We’re officially crowning Buck and Reggie as the Kings of Millbrook. They’ve now won the Advanced division every time they’ve competed in it: 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015. And this victory was hard fought. We saw it all today at Millbrook: poles flying, refusals, multiple riders turning the wrong way and nearly crossing their tracks. Today’s show jumping track proved to be as much of a mental test as a physical one.
“I really like Marc’s courses,” Buck said. “You always see rails down and that it’s influential. The lines were all good lines, and everything rides smooth and even.” Though he added: “If you have a horse like Reggie that jumps like that, it really doesn’t matter how you set the jumps.”
Lynn Symansky and Donner. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Like a fine wine, Reggie just seems to get better at age. The 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Carl and Cassie Segal logged the first CCI3* win of his career at Jersey Fresh in May, and how he’s won Millbrook Advanced for an unprecedented fourth time.
But while you might think the U.S. All-Time Highest Scoring Horse has seen and done it all, there’s still one box Reggie hasn’t checked on the U.S. Eventing Bucket List: Fair Hill. It’s surprising to think the horse has never competed there in his 41 FEI starts, but there just always been an overseas event or major championships that has kept him away.
Reggie will have his usual post-event check-up with Dr. Brendan Furlong on Tuesday, and then Buck said he plans to buckle down on the fitness with Fair Hill in mind. The horse will target Richland Park and Plantation Field in the lead-up to the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International CCI3*. As Buck put it, “We’ll just keep taking it one event at a time.”
Kim Severson and her own Fernhill Fearless ultimately remained in second place on a final score of 33.4 after pulling one rail. Lynn Symansky and the Donner Syndicate’s Donner moved up from fifth to third place thanks to a double clear round to finish on 33.9. Maya Black and Jon and Dawn Dofelmier’s Doesn’t Play Fair finished fourth with one rail down for a final score of 35.5.
Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Buck Davidson had a bang-up day all around, finishing three of his four horses in the top 10 and jumping double clear rounds on all four. And here’s a fun fact: Buck jumped seven double clear show jumping rounds in all today, with four in the Advanced division and three double clears in the Open Intermediate divisions. (He won the B division with Carlevo.)
Buck and Debbie Adams’ D.A. Adirmo jumped double clear to finish fifth on 35.7, recording his first Advanced completion in more than two years after a lengthy rehabilitation period from an injury he sustained in 2013. Buck and Lisa Darden’s Be Mine also jumped double clear in the horse’s Advanced debut to finish 10th on 39.9.
Phillip Dutton also finished multiple rides in the top 10. Tom Tierney and Simon Roosevelt’s Fernhill Cubalawn, who finished second in this event last year, jumped double clear to place sixth on 35.9. His new ride Mr. Canydman, owned by Caroline Moran, Annie Jones and Bridget Colman, finished ninth on 39.5. (Phil also won both Open Preliminary divisions today with Z and Fernhill Singapore.)
Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights pulled two rails in total — that’s their average over Marc’s courses — to drop from first to seventh place. She said yesterday that if she had rails down today, it would send her overseas with homework to do, and she’ll continue to work to keep the poles in the cups with her talented 9-year-old Clydesdale/Thoroughbred gelding.
Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Holly Payne finished two rides in the top 15. Bethann Groblewski’s Santino placed 11th on a score of 40.0 after jumping double clear. Never OutFoxed, owned by The Fox Syndicate, finshed just behind “Sonny” in 12th place on 41.5 after also jumping double clear; the 9-year-old Thoroughbred gelding moved up an impressive 28 places after dressage.
Sara Kozumplik Murphy also finished two rides in the top 105 Debbie Foote’s Fly Me Courageous jumped clear to place eighth on 36.4, moving up from 26th place after dressage. Edy Rameika’s Catchascatchcan had one rail down to round out the top 15 on a final score of 46.3.
We ultimately saw 23 horse-and-rider combinations jump double clear over Marc’s course, which is 46 percent of the division. The time of 86 seconds proved difficult to make, which many riders racking up time penalties. Buck Davidson took a gutsy inside line with his horses to shave valuable seconds off the clock.
I still have much more to bring you to from #MillbrookHT, including lots of photos, a bazillion editions of Who Jumped It Best, and additional analysis and factoids. In the meantime, be sure to check out more photos from the day on EN’s Instagram (including this shot of Buck giving Chinch some love). Thank you to the organizers, volunteers, riders, owners, spectators and everyone who made this such a fantastic weekend.
Millbrook saw record entries this year, and it’s easy to see why. From the beautiful scenery to the quality of the competition and the hospitality to the support of the local community, Millbrook is an event everyone should attend at least once. Or, if you’re like me, you keep coming back year after year. Go Milbrook. Go Eventing.
#Millbrook: Website, Final Scores, EN’s Coverage, Instagram
