Matt Brown and BCF Belicoso Move Into First After Cross Country in Carolina CIC*

Matt Brown and BCF Belicoso. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

The CIC* competitors were the first to tackle Ian Stark’s cross country course this week at the Cloud 11 ~ Gavilan North Carolina International in Southern Pines, NC and the big, imposing course had its effect on the leaderboard.

Out of 65 horse and rider combinations to leave the start box today, eight went double-clear. One of those was Matt Brown and The Blossom Creek Foundation’s BCF Belicoso, who moved into the lead on their dressage score of 37.5.

Boyd Martin and Long Island T, the leaders after dressage, picked up 8.4 time penalties and dropped to sixth place. Boyd and Contessa, owned by Densey Juvonen, Gloria Callen, Fernanda Kellogg and Kelly Morgan, added 2.4 time penalties to sit third after cross country.

Valerie Vizcarrondo and her own Favian moved into second with a double-clear round and a two-phase score of 37.8. Clayton Fredericks and FE Vindus, owned by Clayton, Eckart Siewert, Amanda Bernhard and Diana J. Crawford, crossed the finish line only one second over optimum time and are fourth with 39.4. Jennie Brannigan and Tim and Nina Gardner’s FE Lifestyle were two seconds over time and move into fifth with 43.8.

Lucia Strini and Plain Dealing Farm’s MTF Cooley Classic added 3.6 time and moved up from 11th to seventh after cross country carrying a score of 45.5. Will Faudree and Michel 233, owned by Jennifer Mosing and Sterling Silver Stables, posted a double clear round, making a huge move from 22nd after dressage to eighth on 46.0.

Katherine Christopher riding Lisa Borgia’s Frodo of the Shire and Lizzie Snow riding Dan and Diane Snow’s West River were tied for 24th after dressage. Both went double-clear on cross country, crossing the finish in 5:46 seconds. They will head to the final phase tied for tenth place.

Tomorrow will as busy as today, with the CIC2* and CIC3* running cross country and the CIC* finishing up in the show jumping ring. Click here for a full schedule and click here for all of EN’s Coverage of the 2017 #CICIC.

Now here’s a photo gallery of the rest of the CIC* top 10 after cross country. Go Eventing.

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