Heather Morris and Charlie Tango. Photo by Sally Spickard.
It’s a lovely morning for cross country here at Rebecca Farm, and we’ve just completed a very exciting CCI2* division. The course seemed to flow well, but it was not without its troublesome spots. One pair with no such trouble, though, was overnight leaders Heather Morris and Charlie Tango.
Heather and Charlie Tango, who is contesting his second CCI2*, made short work of the course with a start time about mid way through the field. The 7-year-old gelding owned by Team Express Group LLC is looking solid to win his second CCI2* in tomorrow’s show jumping, and he certainly looked like an old pro out there today. They’ll remain on a score of 42.7 as they look ahead to tomorrow.
Charlie Tango actually won the Training Three Day here two years ago, and now that Heather is ramping him up she feels he’s gaining more confidence every day. “I’ve been a little bit patient with him,” Heather said. “We’ll aim him for AECs and then keep going East and (do the CCI2*) at Fair Hill.”
Tamie Smith and Fleur de Lis. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Tamie Smith and her two rides in this division, Fleur de Lis and Dempsey, fill in the top three after both going double clear today. Tamie survived a hairy moment at the moose which was the C element of the water at 14 when Dempsey tripped up the bank. Both Tamie and Dempsey gritted their teeth and made it out over the C element unscathed.
Meanwhile, Fleur de Lis will also remain on his dressage score of 46.5 for second place overnight as one of the first out this morning. We’ve said it before, but Tamie is developing herself a very nice string of horses for the future, and we saw some impressive riding today.
Amber Levine and the first of her two rides, Carry On, will take fourth place overnight after a double clear round to remain on their dressage score of 52.7. This was another pair who was early out on the course and made the 8 minute and 39 second optimum time look easy.
Rounding out the top five are Barb Crabo and Over Easy, who added 2.4 time penalties to their score for a two-day total of 52.8. This is another experience pair who made Ian’s course look like child’s play today, and the mare was still full of run as she came to the Halt at X finish line.
As we stated before, the course was not without its troublesome spots. Fence 19, the final water consisting of three elements, caused the most trouble — three falls and one retirement. Sabrina Glaser and Aid and Abet are listed with a Mandatory Retirement; initial reports said they were both ok, but we will provide more updates as they are made available.
[UPDATE]: We do know that Aid and Abet was vanned off after his fall at the final water. We are currently awaiting further updates on his condition.
[UPDATE 2:45 p.m.]: We’ve just been informed that Aid and Abet is resting comfortably in his stall after his tumble this morning. We hope to see him and Sabrina out and about soon!
Aside from that, the corner in the water at 12 also rode a bit sticky and caught David Acord out on his second ride, Sasha Fierce. Unfortunately he’d picked up another refusal earlier on course, so he ended his day early with two at this corner.
The moose at the C element of 14 also rode a bit tricky towards the end, with a couple of runouts and sticky moments. There is a small crowd gathered here at the water to cheer on the scrappy rides that were getting the job done through the water.
In all, 12 out of 20 horses completed the division, five of which were double clear. I have more photos to add later on, so keep checking back. In the meantime we’re gearing up to start the CCI3* cross country in just about 15 minutes! Follow us on Twitter @eventingnation for live updates!
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