Photo of Mary and Urco by Samantha Clark
The cross-country was incredibly influential today and Mary King took advantage by adding just 8 penalties between two horses. Mary now leads Rolex aboard King’s Temptress behind one of only 3 double-clear rides today, and she is in second with Fernhill Urco after adding 8 time penalties to the gray gelding’s dressage score. To put things in perspective, Mary added fewer penalties with both of her horses combined than all but 8 other riders with just one horse each.
XC Scores:
1. Mary King and King’s Temptress (GBR) +0 47.7
2. Mary King and Fernhill Urco (GBR) +8 49.7
3. Clayton Fredericks and Be My Guest (AUS) +2.4 52.6
4. Sinead Halpin and Manoir De Carneville (USA) +4.4 53.1
5. Hannah Sue Burnett and St. Barths (USA) +0 53.3
6. William Fox-Pitt and Neuf De Couers (GBR) +0.4 53.6
7. Oliver Townend and Sonas Rovatio (GBR) +2.4 58.2
8. Jessica Phoenix and Exponential (CAN) +0 60.0
9. Boyd Martin and Remington (USA) +12 61
10. Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan (USA) +14 62.5
–Overnight leaders Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister had a heartbreaking day. They picked up a quick stop at the second water when Finian jumped past his line to the second element, and then another when he ran past the narrow in the hollow. To make matters worse, they got too close to 24A, the wide table at the Farm Yard, and they fell there. There were parts of the ride that looked brilliant and there’s no doubt that Finian has the talent that makes their return to this level soon inevitable.
–Mary’s ride with Fernhill Urco was less smooth than her round on King’s Temptress. As the gelding started to get tired, she had to ride him more and more forcefully to the takeoff. They stood way off of #24A and Mary sat way back in the saddle. Mary did a great job getting him over the last few and home.
–Clayton Fredericks was fantastic on his lovely mare Be My Guest. They had 2.8 time penalties and move into 3rd place behind Mary King’s two horses. Like the dressage, they were one of the most relaxed pairs around the course.
[XC Photos from Leslie Threlkeld]
–Allison Springer’s bad day continued into the afternoon session. After falling from 3rd placed Arthur late on the course at the angled brushes this morning, Allison was eliminated after three stops on Destination Known.
–On a positive note, Sinead is the leading US rider in her first 4*. She had a gutty and strong ride that she is quickly becoming know for and she is just 5.4 points out of the lead in 4th. I spoke about younger riders stepping up here at Rolex and Sinead is proof of that for the USA.
–In addition to Sinead, Hannah Burnett had a really positive performance for the US this morning. She moved up from 20th to 5th going into the show jumping and had the only double-clear of the day for the US.
–The only really tough fall of the day was Krtisti Nunnink and R-Star at #15A, the first of the double corners. Like Will Coleman and Twizzel’s fall there, R-Star never got all of her legs up. She tipped sideways over the jump and both her and Kristi fell. R-Star quickly got up and her grooms led her back to the barns. Kristi was taken to the on-scene medical center for about 15 minutes and then to the hospital in an ambulance. The official statement from the doctors is that she was transported to the hospital with a right arm injury. Hopefully we’ll have good news soon and we wish her a speedy recovery. It was a tough end to the weekend for a beautiful horse and they had a good round going up until the fall.
–As expected, the international riders moved up big time today. Great Britain has 4 horses in the top 10, Australia 1, Canada 1, and the USA has 4, but only 2 in the top 8.
–All told, only 18 of the 41 starters got home clear and only 3 were double-clear. 12 riders had at least one stop, 6 fell, 2 were eliminated, and 3 retired. Only 8 horses had less than double digit time penalties.
–The footing worked out pretty well thanks to the hard work by Derek di Grazia and the great KHP ground crew to get the water drained out. Clayton said in the press conference that he thought the footing was almost ideal as of this morning and Mary said that the later horses had to struggle more with torn up footing.
–Karen used all of her experience to nurse Quintus 54 around the course. Quin looked like he got tired towards the end of the course but Karen coaxed him around with efficient and encouraging riding. They moved up from 24th to 13th with 14 time penalties.
The normandy bank caused a few issues this afternoon. Susan Beebee and Prowler had a stop at the rail on top of the bank that marred an otherwise wonderful round. Allison Springer and Destination Known were eliminated there.
–James Alliston and Jumbo’s Jake had 20 at 19A, the second jump into the Head of the Lake.
–The most influential jump of the day was the narrow at the bottom of the hill in the hollow. 9 horses had problems there. Hamish and Sandhills Tiger had two stops at the complex in the afternoon session.
–There are two mares in the top 3.
–The HRN is broadcasting from Rolex until 5:30pm, click here.
–The afternoon sun really warmed things up at the Horse Park and the later horses looked to get more tired as the afternoon progressed.
–We can’t say it enough, but many thanks to the incredible volunteers, organizers, officials, and of course fans who showed up today to make a great Saturday of eventing.
–The day finished on a very positive tone with the last 4 riders having clear rides and William Fox-Pitt finishing things up with a very positive ride on Neuf Des Coeurs. 4 of the 6 riders with two horses here finished with clean rounds on their second rides.
–Update: How could I have done a XC recap without mentioning Toddy. Sadly, Grass Valley had a runout at 24A, the first of the challenging angled vertical brush combination. I was shocked to see it happen, but it goes to show that anything can happen in eventing.
That’s all for now. The jog is at 8:30am and show jumping will begin at 1pm. Stay tuned this evening for much more from Rolex. Go eventing.
