Allison and Arthur performed a beautiful test to lead Rolex Friday morning on a 39.8
William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk took the Thursday night lead from Boyd and Remington early this morning and the British pair stood atop the Rolex leader board all the way up until the last pair of the Friday morning session–Allison Springer and Arthur. Allison and Arthur combined their great talent with their by now considerable experience for a very impressive performance. Arthur showed three great gaits and kept his calm throughout the test. Arthur can certainly be a bit spooky but he stayed relaxed and really let Allison ride him today. They scored a 39.8 to take a 1.5 point lead at the Friday lunch break.
We knew we would get a special test out of William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk. The Bughley 2011 champions didn’t disappoint. In the trot and walk work, Parklane Hawk was fluid, relaxed, and supple and he listened to William’s almost invisible commands to perfection. The pair lost a few points as Parklane Hawk started to anticipate the flying changes in the canter work. William rode through that anticipation well and the pair finished on a 41.5.
Friday Lunch Break Dressage Scores:
1. Allison Springer and Arthur 39.8
2. William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk 41.5
3. Boyd Martin and Remington 45.3
4. Lucy Wiegersma and Granntevka Prince 47.5
[Full Rolex Live Scores]
William and Parklane Hawk
As expected, the scores Friday have been lower than on Thursday. Great Britain’s Lucy Wiegersma and Granntevka Prince jumped into 4th with a 47.5. Granntevka Prince is a beautiful horse and Lucy did a good job riding through a few tiny early bobbles to finish with a nice test.
Amateur Amy Ruth Borun rode a few minutes before Lucy and she put together a really quality test aboard Santa’s Playboy. If you read Abby’s amateur spotlight on Amy, you know she has worked so hard to get here and it’s great to see her representing all of us amateurs. Kate Hicks and Belmont have also worked hard to get to Rolex. Kate squeezed every point she possible could out of Belmont’s gaits and they have to be happy to sit in 9th place on a 49.5 at the break. Keep an eye on this pair over the weekend.
The lovely mare Pepper Anne wowed the crowd with her lovely light gaits. She was impeccably turned out and just presented such a nice picture with Oliver Townend aboard. I really felt that this mare deserved a better score than the 48.8 (tied for 7th currently) that she received. The judges must have really knocked her for being perhaps just a tiny bit behind the vertical.
Oliver giving a nice thanks to the Pony Club volunteers
Friday morning continued this great group of wonderful mares we have competing at Rolex with nice tests from Pepper Anne and Sally Cousins’ Tsunami. Marcia Kulak commented on our live blog that Sally must enjoy not having her normal allotment of 8 horses to ride this weekend. Sally delivered a great ride on the normally tense Tsunami.
We are 40 rides into the competition and there have been 5 errors of course given in the dressage so far here at Rolex.
The Governor and First Lady of Kentucky are attending Rolex this weekend in part I’m sure to support their daughter-in-law Emily Beshear, competing in her first 4*. We have featured Emily, her husband/vet Jeff, and the rest of their family on EN before –it’s a great reminder that eventing is very much a family sport. Emily rode with her typical, great accuracy and “Quincy” listened well for a 53.8.
Debbie Rosen and The Alchemyst as well as Kate Brown and Mojito are looking to step their performances up at Rolex from last year. I thought they both deserved better scores than they received but now it’s time for them to focus on the cross-country.
The judges have been really consistent in their scoring of horses–all three judges are typically within just a couple of percentage points of each other, which is a credit to their judging and gives the riders confidence in the scores.
Thanks to Gina Miles and Marcia Kulak for joining our live blog this morning and to PRO for helping with organizing our guests. We’ll be back after lunch at 1:00PM ET for our live blog and the last 17 Rolex 2012 dressage rides. Go eventing.
