Lynn Symansky and Donner are your CIC3* winners at The Fork.
Lynn Symansky had six seconds to play with when she left the start box with Donner as the last rider on cross country in the CIC3* at The Fork. But she didn’t need any of them, coming home double clear to maintain her overnight lead and win. Lynn posted last night on her Facebook page that she would not be going for time, as she was looking to give Donner a nice, conservative run before the two compete at Rolex later this month. But Lynn tackled the course with a vengeance, looking absolutely brilliant and very ready for Kentucky. Donner seemed full of running after crossing the finish line, and I also saw him cooling out nicely in the vet box. A huge congrats to Lynn on the win and best of luck at Rolex!
Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda finished in second in the CIC3*.
Jennie Brannigan had a less than ideal start to her weekend with Cambalda, forgetting a portion of her dressage test to sit in seventh after the first day. She moved up to fourth thanks to a double clear show-jumping round yesterday and moved up two more spots today to finish second after coming home with .8 time penalties. Jennie and Cambalda will compete for the first time at Rolex later this month and have to be feeling very confident going into Kentucky after their performance here at The Fork this weekend.
Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM put in a lightning fast round to finish third. Photo by Samantha Clark.
Buck Davidson withdrew Park Trader prior to the start of the CIC3* and retired on course with both No More Rocks and D.A. Adirmo after both horses had multiple stops on course. He understandably looked incredibly eager to get around this course successfully by the time he left the start box with Ballynoecastle RM, his final ride of the division. Buck and Reggie absolutely smoked the course, coming home double clear to finish in third place. This horse is going to Rolex, along with his stablemates Mar De Amor — who finished second in the Advanced — and Park Trader. Buck has to be very happy with two second places finishes in the Advanced and CIC3* here at The Fork with Rolex just a few weeks away. We’ll keep you updated on Park Trader’s status for Rolex.
Phillip Dutton and Atlas
While time played a major factor in the Advanced cross country this morning, there were plentiful double-clear rides over Tremaine Cooper’s CIC3* course. The cheese wedges once again caught out many riders in the CIC3*, including Marilyn Little and RF Smoke on the Water, who were sitting in second place coming into cross country. But the major problems on course came at the new coffin combination at 9ABC. Numerous riders had multiple runouts and chose to retire at the coffin or were eliminated. Sinead Halpin joined Brian O’Connor to offer commentary on the coffin, and said the challenge comes in because riders must maintain a very balanced, collected canter over the ditch at 9B before putting the leg on and taking two very long strides for the skinny at 9C. I recorded quite a bit of video at the coffin to show you exactly what was happening. You’ll see Caroline Martin and Quantum Solace and Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbott both had runouts, while Ronald Zabala-Goetschel and Master Rose had a very smooth trip through.
Kaitlin Spurlock and Expedience
It’s been a fantastic weekend here at The Fork. It’s hard to believe it was only 40 degrees and rained all day on Thursday, considering it’s sunny and nearly 70 degrees today. Many thanks to the volunteers and officials for putting on a fantastic event and persevering through the nasty weather. The spectator tent by the water complex was packed with people watching the action today. The crowd really seemed to enjoy the competition and cheered the riders and horses around the final turn for home. It’s wonderful to see so many people enjoying the sport on such a beautiful day. Stay tuned for more from the press conference, as well as more coverage of the weekend from Samantha Clark.
