Ryan Wood and Powell at Jersey Fresh. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Ryan Wood and Powell jumped clear with 2.6 time penalties across John Williams’ cross country course to narrowly hold their lead on 46.0 in the horse’s first CCI3* start. The 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Summit Sporthorses is just 0.3 points ahead of second place.
“He was awesome. He saved me a couple spots around the course. He’s a big horse and he’s got a massive stride, and he was quite good on his minutes up until about 7 minutes, and it’s sort of a bit of a twisty, hilly and climbing track,” Ryan said.
“You always sort of seem to be trying to go uphill, which is pretty taxing on them, so I just fell behind on that seventh minute and didn’t quite get the time, but still was able to sneak in 0.3 ahead of Boyd and Phillip.”
As for what he’s thinking about tomorrow’s show jumping: “I’ve never been in this position before, so I’m pretty happy to be going for the win. I’ll just do my best and see what happens.”
Powell was bred by Ilona English right here in New Jersey, and Ryan also competed another of her homebreds this weekend, Ruby, who is out of the same mare as Powell and finished fourth in the CIC2*.
“It was pretty cool to do so well on her homebreds and in her hometown,” Ryan said. “They’re both quite large, they’re big horses — 17.3 hands and they’re athletic, really good on the flat, good jumpers, and they want to do the job. They’ve got great minds and are very generous horses.”
Boyd Martin and Welcome Shadow. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Boyd Martin piloted Craig and Gloria Callen’s Welcome Shadow, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare, to one of the 11 double clear rounds in this division to remain on their dressage score of 46.3, which has them sharing second place.
Tied with them is Phillip Dutton riding Indian Mill, an 11-year-old English Thoroughbred gelding owned by David Garrett. They also made the optimum time of 10 minutes to remain on their 46.3 dressage score.
Jessica Phoenix and Bentley’s Best also went clear and inside the time, moving up from ninth to fourth place on 49.2 with the 9-year-old Trakehner gelding owned by Don Good.
Kim Severson and Fernhill Fearless bounced back after retiring on course at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and stormed around double clear to move from 13th up to fifth place on 50.9.
Phillip Dutton and Indian Mill. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Lauren Kieffer and Marie le Menestrel’s Meadowbrook’s Scarlett also made a big jump up the leaderboard with another of the double clear trips, moving from 15th to sixth on 51.3.
Colleen Loach and Qorry Blue d’Argouges picked up just two time penalties to climb up three spots on the leaderboard to seventh place on 52.2.
Phillip Dutton has another ride inside the top 10 in Z, an 8-year-old Zangersheide gelding owned by Tom Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Suzanne Lacy, Annie Jones and Caroline Moran. The horse jumped a gutsy double clear in his CCI3* debut to move from 20th to eighth place on 52.4.
Caroline Martin and Spring Easy bounced into the top 10 with a clear round inside the time to go from 20th to ninth on 52.4. Julie Richards and Sandhills Brillaire are also sitting tied for ninth in their quest to qualify for Rio, picking up just 1.6 time on course.
Frankie Thieriot Stutes and Chatwin. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Frankie Thieriot Stutes and Chatwin Retain CCI2* Lead
Frankie Thieriot Stutes made her trip from California count with Chatwin, an 8-year-old Oldenburg owned by the Chatwin Group, delivering a double-clear cross country round to also retain their dressage lead on a score of 44.5.
“I wanted to get a little more experience with this particular horse and just thought that it would be really good for us to come out here and get some more exposure to the different competitions,” Frankie said.
“I think the West Coast is phenomenal, but I wanted to do a two-star that was a difficult two-star with him, and I felt like definitely this was the one to do that at.”
Frankie said the course definitely proved to be tough: “It kept coming at you, and when I walked it I thought it was a very hard course, and not any one particular fence or combination, but just the longevity of the course and at the end there were some very technical combinations that were very short-strided distances.”
Holly Payne Caravella and Bruisyard Hall, a 9-year-old OTTB gelding owned by Shelby Godfrey, cruised around his first CCI2* to easily make the time and remain in second place on 46.3. Don’t miss EN’s profile on this talented duo.
Tamie Smith and Lagos Star, a 9-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Chuck and Peggy Moore, also jumped double clear to remain in third on 47.1.
Kylie Lyman and Sacramento. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.
Kylie Lyman and Sacramento Win CIC3*
Kylie Lyman and Sacramento, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse owned by Cristin O’Hara, jumped clear with 3.6 time penalties to move from second to first place to take the win on 55.9.
“I rode him when I was living in Ireland, and he was the first horse I had to compete and produce when I was living there, and I evented him through the two-star level,” Kylie said.
“The plan was always to sell him, and he was sold to his current owner Cristin, and I got the ride back on him a year ago this weekend. We sort of picked up where we left off last year, and our first three-star was at the Fork. It’s really exciting just to have him back and continue our partnership.”
Joe Meyer and South Paw, a 9-year-old Hanoverian/Thoroughbred stallion owned by Nora McDonald Yaney, finished second on 56.0 after picking up 1.2 time penalties.
Matt Brown and Talking Point BCF, a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by the Blossom Creek Foundation, finished third on 57.6 with a clear round and 3.6 time penalties.
Kurt Martin and D.A. Calimero. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.
Kurt Martin and D.A. Calimero Win CIC2*
Kurt Martin and D.A. Calimero, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Debbie Adams, won the CIC2* with a clear trip and just 0.8 time penalties to finish on 52.4.
“I thought he was really brave and really listened the whole way,” Kurt said. “He flew around and didn’t have a bad fence, so it was a great ride.”
Kurt catch rode “Squid” a bit over the winter, but the horse only arrived to his farm in Virginia last week, so the partnership seems to be clicking very quickly.
“He’s pretty hot; he’s a real goer — really quick footed — and I think it’s actually great to ride something so different from your own horses,” Kurt said.
“To ride that, it’s more like riding a quick-footed show jumper — the turns and the way he gets to the fence, you rock him back and it’s right there. It’s not so much about a distance; it’s just about putting him into balance. It’s a really fun horse to ride and pretty easy.”
Will Coleman and his own Off the Record, a 7-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, led after dressage and show jumping and then went clear with 7.2 time penalties to finish second on 52.5. — just 0.1 penalties behind Kurt.
Lauren Kieffer and D.A. Duras, an 8-year-old Dutch gelding owned by Jacqueline Mars and Debbie Adams, delivered the only double clear round to finish third on 54.9.
Lorraine Jackson and Jenni Autry contributed to this report.
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