Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z Hold Tight to CIC2* Lead at Carolina International

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Liz Halliday-Sharp and her 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Deniro Z jumped double-clear over Marc Donovan’s show jumping course this morning to retain their lead in the Matt Faudree & Attwood Equestrian Surfaces CIC2* at Carolina International. They will move forward to cross country on a 41.7.

“Dinero was great. He went in and sort of lit up in the ring. I don’t think he breathed on a pole,” Liz said. “He’s quite a forward moving horse so I think the course really suited him. He’s obviously a big jumper and really scopey so you do have to make sure you keep the back end coming. He’s a great horse, he tries really hard.”

Liz and Elarona, a 7-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, sadly did not repeat their clear round effort from the CIC2* at Pine Top last month, and they dropped outside of the top 20 after dropping three rails in show jumping today. Liz said she still believes she’ll be a big time horse for the future.

“She was just hunting at the front rails a bit. She is very tricky anyway; she’s a very difficult horse to ride. She jumped amazing in warm-up. I thought everything was good to go and then she was quite a different ride in the ring. It would be a lot more atmosphere and everything than she’s ever seen. I’m not worried. She’s a great jumper and there’s a lot more to come from her.”

Hannah Sue Burnett and RF Demeter posted a beautiful double-clear to move into second place on 45.2. Hannah Sue and the 15-year-old Oldenburg mare owned by Jacqueline Mars are a new partnership, but you wouldn’t have known it watching their lovely, fluid round today.

“She’s so fantastic in the show jumping. It’s really fun. She was jumping so high in warm-up and then got in the ring and got a bit tense, but she knows her job and reads the rails really well. Marilyn (Little) has obviously done a really good job training her in that phase.”

On cross country tomorrow, Hannah Sue plans to take it easy and continue working on their partnership. “I’m going to start out slow and make sure we have communication. It’s not the goal to win this event. We’ll see how she feels. If we’re gelling really easily right off the bat then we’ll pick up the pace a little bit. It’s all just getting to know each other.”

Hannah Sue Burnett and RF Demeter. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Cornelia Dorr and her 12-year-old Rheinlander gelding Louis M dropped a single rail that moved them down only one placing. They are now tied for third on 48.4 with Phillip Dutton and Corazon, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood owned by David Garrett, who jumped a clear round to move up from sixth.

Kylie Lyman and Joan Nichols’ 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse Cooley Ice had a fault-free trip to move up two places to fifth place. They move forward to the final phase on a 49.2. Close behind on 49.7 is Emily Beshear and the Deep Purple Eventing’s 11-year-old mare Silver Night Lady, who moved up from tenth to sixth with a lovely clear.

Boyd Martin and Tura Lura, a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare owned by Gloria Callen and Nancy Hathaway, are seventh on an even 50.0. Allison Springer and Lord Willing, a 9-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by the Lord Willing Syndicate, moved up from 14th to eighth and move ahead on their dressage score of 50.6.

Lauren Kieffer and Landmark’s Monaco, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse owned and bred by Jacqueline Mars, are ninth on 51.1.  William Coleman and the Conair Syndicate’s 11-year-old Anglo Arabian gelding Soupcon du Brunet round out the top ten with a clear round for a 51.6, moving up from 17th after dressage.

There were 23 double-clear rounds out of 61 horses that jumped in the CIC2*. Laura VanderVliet’s Magnum’s Martini pulled up halfway around after he partially dislodged a front shoe. Laura’s partner Nilson Moreira da Silva dashed into the ring and had the shoe off in seconds. Morgan McCue unfortunately parted ways with Abecca GS at the second element of the triple combination, but she was up quickly and horse and rider walked out together.

The CIC3* is show jumping right now and the CIC* cross country will get underway at 3:00 p.m. Stay tuned for more from Carolina International!

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