Just 8 Clear Rides Saturday Morning at Rolex

boydandremington12.jpg
Photo of Boyd and Remi by Samantha Clark

Well, Rolex is not riding like a dressage competition, as they say.  Just 8 out of 21 starters came home clear in the morning session at Rolex and only two riders were double-clear.  Mary King and King’s Temptress were 4th after the dressage and moved into the lunch time lead with one of those double-clears.  The rest of the leader board was broken wide open between time penalties, stops, and falls.  Thankfully, despite the big shifts in the score board, we got through the morning without any severe falls.  Take a look at the score distribution after the morning:

Lunch Time XC Scores:

1. Mary King and King’s Temptress +0  47.7
2. Hannah Sue Burnett +0  53.3
3. Boyd Martin and Remington +12  61
4. Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan +14  62.5
5. Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz +6.4  70.4
6. James Alliston and Parker +2.8  70.6
7. Olivia Loiacono and Subway +12.4  81.6

[Full Results]

–Other than the 8 clears, there were 7 rides with at least a stop, 2 horses that retired, 3 falls, and 1 rider eliminated.   Just 15 starters from the morning finished the course.

–Mary King was the 4th rider on course but she rode masterfully and didn’t look like she pushed to make the time in one of two double clears of the morning.  Mary was rightfully ecstatic with her ride afterward.  King’s Temptress can’t finish the day in worse than 3rd.  With her second horse in 2nd place, Mary is guaranteed to go into Sunday in no worse than second and potentially with two in the top 3.

–Allison Springer and Arthur were 3rd after the dressage and looked great all the way around the course and then had a fall at 26B, the angled brush combination.  It looked like Arthur just hung a leg and Allison was rightfully very frustrated after the fall.  Both were ok and walked away. 

Hannah Burnett and St. Barths made the course look easy as only the second double-clear of the day.  Hannah was also the only rider held on course.  She had to pause while they repaired the frangible pins in the second double corner.  Despite the hold they looked rock solid all the way around.  Hannah patted Nike more than I have every seen a rider at Rolex and Nike responded by jumping great.  They move into second at the lunch break.

[USEA Morning XC Photos]

–Olivia Loiacono, one of the youngest riders at Rolex, showed maturity beyond her years by making the decision to take the option in the second and third water complex.  Subway was very strong early on the course but Olivia managed it well.  Olivia also showed good stickability several times. 

–The first water at #5ABC caused several stops, particularly at the jump in.  Exploring retired after picking up two stops there, Debbie Rosen retired after a sticky stop at 5A. 

–The skinny at the bottom of the hill in the Hollow at 13ABC by far caused the most issues today.  Phillip and Fernhill Eagle, Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbott, Kelly Prather and Ballinakill Glory, and Kelly Sult and Hollywood all picked up runouts there.  Michael Pollard and Icarus slipped coming down the hill and got off their distance, also picking up a runout.

–The footing seems to be holding up pretty well all things considered.  A few of the horses stuck a bit on takeoff and landing and the soft ground undoubtedly contributed to the number of time penalties.

Will Coleman and Twizzel popped off at the first of the double-corners.  Twizzel looked like he jut didn’t really pick his legs up.  Both were fine, but its unfortunate to see Will’s promising weekend come to an early end.  Jessica Hampf and High Society picked up a cheap runout there, and Hollywood got 21 penalties for breaking the frangible log at 15B but they did not have a stop there.

–Kate Brown and Mojito had the scariest moment of the morning when Mojito got off his line and attempted to jump the head of the second duck in the Head of the Lake.  They had a tumble but walked away apparently ok.

–Boyd Martin and Remington looked good around the course but they finished on 12 time penalties.  Remi looked tired towards the end which likely contributed to the time penalties. 

Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz delivered one of the best looking rounds of the day.  Shiraz was full of run to the end.  They are rewarded with being in 6th place at the lunch break.

–The USEA is Tweeting every ride @USEventing

–Kim managed Tipperary Liadhnan well around the course with will and determination.  Paddy looked tired toward the end and pulled both front shoes on course, but Kim has to be really happy to get around after a less than ideal spring preparation.

–Last but certainly not least, James Alliston rode like a true veteran.  I commented on the live blog that it didn’t look like James pushed very hard to finish on just 2.8 time penalties, but with all of the other time penalties that is clearly due to quiet and mature riding from James rather than the time being easy to make.

That’s all for now.  We’ll have much more this afternoon.  Go eventing.

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