Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz
Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz have gone from first left off to first on the Pan American Games short list by winning the selection trials today at Richland. They were just added to the Pan American Games short list from the list of ranked substitutes in early August when Alexandra Slusher and Last Call withdrew. Now, just three weeks later they have virtually booked their ticket to Guadalajara, Mexico and the Pan American Games by winning the mandatory outing selection trials. Shannon and Ballingowan Pizazz, from California, jumped a nearly perfect clean round and capitalized on a costly two rails from overnight leaders Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot.
–In my morning recap of the CIC3* division I mentioned that the show jumping was riding surprisingly easy and I obviously spoke too soon. Both the advanced horse trials and Pan American selection division were influenced heavily by the show jumping.
–The advanced height in the show jumping was meant to test the short listed horses and it did just that. One of the goals of making the riders go advanced was to make sure that all of the horses sent to the Pan American Games have the upside to continue on and go advanced after the games. Hopefully all of the riders are going away from this weekend feeling proud of themselves and their horses because absolutely everyone showed moments of brilliance throughout the competition.
–Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot had a disappointing two rails to drop them to 4th in the final results and they had a rub that easily could have been a third rail. Hannah got Harbour Pilot to the right spot but he simply didn’t jump high enough by one centemeter over several of the fences. That being said, his show jumping has never been a big issue for them and I don’t think this will stop them from being selected for the Pan American Games.
Pan American Games Mandatory Outing Results:
1. Shannon Lilley and Ballingowan Pizazz +0 47.1
2. Michael Pollard and Schoensgreen Hanni +0 49.1
3. Lynn Symansky and Donner +0 50.5
4. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot +8 52.4
5. Kristin Schmolze and Ballylaffin Bracken +4 52.4
6. Buck Davidson and Asbolute Liberty +0 53.6
—Michael Pollard has had a great day of show jumping. He jumped a beautiful clean round with Schoensgreen Hanni to move up from 5th to second in the Pan American selection trials. He also moved up from second to win the advanced on DV8 with a one-rail round. The advanced division hasn’t gotten much coverage this weekend because it keeps getting sandwiched between the CIC3* and PAG divisions. Sara Kozumplik and Manolo Blahnik finished second with a one-rail round and Katie Ruppel and Sir Donovan finished in third.
—Lynn Symansky and Donner moved up to third in the selection trials with another of the double-clears today. Donner is an excellent jumper and Lynn has made a great case for her selection with a third place finish this weekend. Donner was one of only two horses to finish on his dressage score in the PAG division.
–The second horse to finish on their dressage score was Absolute Liberty, ridden by Buck Davidson. Buck had to work really hard for that clear round but he got it done. They moved up 6 places on the weekend with that performance and finished in 6th.
–My guess is that the USEF will want to send at least one experienced team rider to the Pan Ams, and that comes down to either Buck or Boyd. Buck likely put his name at the top of that list with today’s performance. Boyd of course is on the short list but received special permission not to compete here because he is in England for Burghley.
—Good Knight and Upper Crust D began the day tied for 10th and they both had really nice clear rides. Good Knight finished just ahead of Upper Crust D because he was closer to the optimum time on the XC.
—Veterinarian and short lister Keven Keane had a tough Saturday with a stop on the cross-country yesterday, but he made up for it with a beautiful ride today and only one rail. Kevin rode in a hackamore. He will surely go away from this weekend very proud of his horse.
–The rider with the grittiest performance of the weekend has to go to 19 year old Max McManamy, who, incidentally, is one third of Kevin’s age. Project Runway had a stop at the first show jumping fence, which was a triple bar that they were never quite right to. Max put things back together and jumped a solid rest of the round. This year probably isn’t their year for the Pan American Games, but the selectors will definitely go away with a great impression of Max for future team selection. Doug Payne and Running Order also had a stop at that first fence in the 3*.
—Tamra Smith and Mar De Amor needed a good show jumping ride and they got a solid one with two rails. Mar De Amor has as much jump as any horse in the field, but just barely pulled two today.
–The selection process is starting to look a lot clearer. Next up for the US will be a round of vet examinations on Monday, starting with the first placed pair. By no means would I expect the top 5 pairs from the selection trials to get sent to Guadalajara because the selection decision will depend on a lot of factors. But, of course, the pairs that did well here this weekend took a huge step in the right direction. The US Pan American Games squad is scheduled to be released on Tuesday and my guess is that we will see a Canadian list on Tuesday if not before.
It has been a great day of show jumping here at Richland as the CIC2* is just wrapping up. I want to thank all of the organizers, volunteers, and officials for putting on what is truly a spectacular event here at Richland. The footing is wonderful, everyone is extremely nice, and the event has a big-time feel to it–Michigan eventing is doing it right here at Richland Park. Go eventing.
