Cue the music; it’s time for show jumping at Rolex. Some competitors are worried about getting a top finish, others just want a good educational ride for their horses, and still others just want to end the weekend on a positive note. I hope that all of the competitors riding this afternoon, no matter who they are, remembers what an incredible achievement it is to just finish a 4*. Good luck to all and here’s to the cups being nice and deep.
Here are a few notes looking ahead to the show jumping.
–Not to state the obvious, but it’s hard to imagine Mary King not winning this afternoon. She has a one rail lead over Clayton with King’s Temptress and of course Fernhill Urco is in second. The leader board has spread out quite a bit after the cross-country and there are only 4 riders within two rails of the lead. On top of it all, Mary will have had a chance to ride the course once with Fernhill Urco by the time she rides King’s Temptress. I believe Mary’s last 4* win was in 2000 when she won Badminton. That being said, it’s eventing so anything is possible and Clayton’s mare is an excellent show jumper.
–I am interested to see if the muddy conditions yesterday make the horses especially tired for the show jumping. It’s impossible to mention show jumping at Rolex without saying something about Tipperary Liadhnan, especially because they are in 10th. Kim rode really well yesterday and they had one of the better rides despite having a very thin preparation this spring and the fact that Paddy pulled both front shoes on the course. Towards the end of last year it really looked like Kim had things figured out in the show jumping and I’ll be rooting really hard for this pair today.
–USA’s weekend rests in the hands of two of our most promising up and coming riders–Sinead Halpin and Hannah Burnett. They added 4.4 time penalties yesterday between them and jumped a collective 19 places up the score board. There’s a lot of pressure on these girls from a incredible number of directions, not the least of which is competing on national TV. When we talk about riders of the future, they are who we mean and it would be a nice step in their trip up the ranks to have good show jumping rounds today.
–The reality of how well the international riders are doing this weekend really struck me at the jog this morning. The quarantine horses jog first so they clear out before the local horses jog. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th placed horses all traveled to the US to compete at Rolex and I’m glad that they are having a good weekend in Kentucky although I would like to see more USA pairs in the top 10.
–Canada had mixed results yesterday but they have two horses in the top 11, Exponential and Riddle Master.
–It’s worth saying again that Derek di Grazia’s first 4* course was a tremendous success yesterday. Against all odds they got it dried out enough to be safe for the horses, which was a big success in and of itself. With the only injury of the day being Kristi’s dislocated elbow, I think that we can say that the course was a big success from a safety standpoint. There were falls, but I think the jumps were designed such as to allow for less dangerous falls and to let the horses slide over them when they might have fallen over with different jump geometry. The course played a significant role in the competition without being unsafe which is perfect.
–The show jumping is scheduled to start at 1:06pm ET. We’ll have the live blog starting around 1 and of course USEF Network will be showing the live video for free. At 2:00pm, NBC’s coverage will start on your television with a little dressage and cross-country coverage and then I believe the last 6 show jumpers, beginning with Mary’s first ride at 2:16 and ending with Mary on King’s Temptress at 2:48. The times are so rigid because of the television schedule. Go eventing.
