Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen at Barbury. Photo by Samantha Clark)
As Burghley is now finished for 2013, we have about two days to recover before the excitement of the Fidelity Blenheim Palace Horse Trials, which boasts a CCI3* and a CIC3*. The U.S. has quite a few representatives at this even, as part of the new initiative to get our best riders over there experiencing the competitive atmosphere of European events. Thanks to both the Jacqueline B. Mars Competition & Training Grants and the USEF Land Rover Competition Grants, we are going to send a lot of riders this fall to compete not only at Blenheim, but also Boekelo and Pau. This marks the beginning of the fall European season for our U.S. riders.
[Blenheim Website] [Entry List]
Three riders received travel grants to compete at Blenheim CCI3*: Meghan O’Donoghue with Pirate, Clark Montgomery with Loughan Glen, and Sharon White with Wundermaske. Sharon has since withdrawn Wundermaske, as I believe the horse had a bit of an accident at Millbrook in the Advanced and she’s taking her time building his confidence back. We have several UK based riders representing the U.S. this weekend, as well as Phillip Dutton & Ben. I have included Jessica Phoenix & Pavarotti in the list because we love Canadians here at EN, and she’s always here in the U.S. smiling and kicking our butts anyway! Without further ado, the preview of North American riders at Blenheim CCI3*.
Phillip Dutton and Ben: Ben is a 12 year old bay Holsteiner gelding owned by Team Rebecca and ridden by Phillip. After taking 2012 off due to injury, Ben has returned to the top of the sport with great success this year. He consistently scores in the low 40’s at the CIC3* level and usually jumps clean cross country with time. He doesn’t seem to be the fastest horse on cross country, but he has been clean of jump penalties minus a mishap this year at Rebecca Farms where he fell at a table. He has since come back from that event and most recently placed 5th at Richland Park CIC3*. Ben has completed a CCI3* before, but not since 2011, where he was 13th overall at Fair Hill. Ben also has a tendency to be a “one rail wonder”, so I expect him to put in a lovely dressage test, but his time penalties on cross country and show jumping rail will put him out of the very top placings.
Julian Stiller and Sinatra BK: Jules will be riding Sinatra BK in only their 4th event together this weekend, as she only just recently got this lovely 8 year old mare from Andrew Nicholson. This mare did recently complete Saumur CCI3* with Andrew, finishing with only a rail to add to her dressage score of 61, which was good enough for 14th place. I think, considering the new relationship of the pair that Jules will be looking to simply finish safely between the finish flags with a good learning experience for her talented young horse.
Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti: Jessica and Rotti crossed the pond earlier this summer to compete in the Haras du Pin CIC3* in France in preparation for Blenheim, as well as to gain a sneak peek at World Equestrian Games course designer Pierre Michelet’s handiwork. They finished 17th at Haras du Pin in a competitive field, adding another solid placing to their 2013 record. Jessica and Rotti were second in the Bromont CIC3* in June and sat in second overnight in the CIC3* at Jersey Fresh before retiring on cross country. Rotti, Jessica’s Pan Am Games gold medal partner, is notoriously strong on cross country, and she’s been experimenting with different bits and bridles. If they can get it dialed in at Blenheim, I expect we’ll see a very good performance.
Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti at The Fork. Photo by Samantha Clark.
Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen: After spending time in England prior to the London Olympics, Clark and his wife Jessica decided that in order to really step up their game in the Eventing world, they had to permanently move across the pond. So, they packed up all their stuff, sold their horse trailers and bought a lorry. But, their leap of faith paid off, and Clark has had some of the strongest placings of any competitor all year on his small group of horses. Glen was second at Barbury CIC3* in the spring in a very competitive crowd, and was well-placed at Halperton CIC3*, only to have his rider point him at the wrong fence in stadium halfway through! Clark came back to prove that the brain fart wasn’t permanent by winning his Advanced at Wellington just a few weeks ago. I expect this pair to put in a top 10 dressage test, smoothly cruise around the cross country and jump clean in show jumping to place right up there on the leaderboard. Keep an eye on them!
Meghan O’Donoghue and Pirate: Meghan & Pirate will be thrilled to be participating in their first overseas trip for the U.S. and will be looking to get the most education possible out of the experience. They captured the heart of the nation with a beautiful performance at their first CCI4* this spring at Rolex for 12th place. Unfortunately, Meghan has had a bit of bad luck follow her this summer on her return to competition, with a TE at Millbrook (because she mistakenly jumped the wrong last jump on cross country) and fell victim to the tricky keyhole and corner combination at Richland CIC3* that caused so much trouble. However, I know Meghan has viewed both of these things as a bit of a rude wake up call to get her act together, and I don’t think she will disappoint on the international scene. Pirate’s dressage still won’t put him up with the leaders after the first day, but I think they’ll smoke the cross country and show the spirit that put them on this list in the first place.
Cindy Rawson and Mocharabuiee: Cindy Rawson is an American event rider who has been based in the UK for the past 12 years, so she’s way ahead of the rest of us on that notion! I couldn’t figure out how to pronounce her horse’s name, so I looked up her website and it turns out his stable name is “George.” George is a super jumping 12-year-old chestnut gelding who has been with Cindy for two years now, and has quite a lot of experience at the Intermediate level. He recently moved up to Advanced at Aston-Le-Walls in June, and also completed Hartpury CIC3*. I expect these two to find themselves in the middle of the pack after dressage and jump around clean with time for a good first CCI3* experience.
Julian Stiller and Pandora X: Pandora is Jules’ second lovely young ride of the day, and also a mare! This pair have been together since late 2012, and have had quite a bit more experience with one another than her previous mount. However, this will be only Pandora’s third competition at the Advanced level to date. They competed at Barbury in the CIC3* earlier this spring, and added only cross country time to their dressage score of 74, and also competed at Hartpury CIC3*, adding a rail and some time to their improved dressage score of 56.3. I think that Jules will be pleased to get this mare around her first CCI3* safely and with a confidence boosting cross country so that she has a great horse for the future.
