Marilyn Little and RF West Indie. Photo by Jenni Autry.

With just .7 penalties separating Marilyn Little from James Atkinson in the CCI2* at Galway Downs, she had to jump a fast, clear round with RF West Indie to seal the deal on a day when riders struggled to make the time over Marc Donovan’s show jumping course.

“It was a lot harder to ride right after watching James go clear and fast,” she said. “It was one thing watching the time allowed being hard to make but no one really getting it done. Then he laid down a beautifully executed, fast, clear round and made it look very easy. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy, and I was right. He added a lot of pressure, and he made it a fun day.”

Marilyn’s clear gave her the win on a score of 56 over James Atkinson and Gustav, his 2011 Guadalajara Pan American Games team silver medal partner, who finished on 56.7 and agreed the tight scoring made for an exciting finale.

“I had a rail in hand before third, so I had to go in and try to make time and keep the pressure on Marilyn,” he said. “It made it a great competition, didn’t it? Time was really tight in there. We planned our inside turns when we walked the course not knowing it would be that tight. It was a good thing we did, because it was all I could do to be inside of it.”

The win gives Marilyn the redemption she was looking for to cap Indie’s season after they parted ways on cross country at the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International last month. “Indie has been incredibly consistent,” she said. “Things do happen when you’re trying to win and you’re taking chances, like Fair Hill. That’s the game, and she’s been a wonderful, consistent competitor, even as a young horse.”

The win validates Marilyn’s decision to re-route following the blip at Fair Hill, and though she’s never competed at Galway Downs, she said the event absolutely lived up to her expectations, and she’s very glad she made the trip west.

James’ cheering section celebrates! Photo by Jenni Autry.

“I think it’s one of the friendliest events I’ve ever been to, from the competitors to the organizers to the people who have been working to make the footing the best it can be to moving the jumps — everything has been done with the utmost care for the horses’ welfare in mind,” Marilyn said.

The East Coast contingent that traveled west helped boost entries in the divisions and also upped the ante from a competitive standpoint, James said. “It’s great to have the exposure for the West Coast riders all the way from Novice to be in the same competition with Marilyn, Buck (Davidson) and Boyd (Martin).

“I think it encourages them to see the highest level, the best quality in the sport,” he said. “It grows our entries and keeps these people excited about the sport. For us as competitors, it just makes us better. These guys came and took home the money, took home the blue ribbons. It just makes us keep working harder and trying harder and getting better.”

Though she’s one of the East Coast riders who ended up with a ribbon, Caroline Martin said she didn’t expect to finish near the top of the leaderboard at the start of the weekend, as 7-year-old Spring Easy is still green and learning, and they primarily came here looking for experience. “This is the happiest I’ve been in a long time,” she said of their third-place finish in the CCI2*.

Caroline imported the horse, who had previously done a few lower-level events with Tim Price in Europe, last year with the idea that they could move up the levels together, “with both of us getting to know each other, learning from each other’s mistakes and growing together,” she said.

Caroline Martin and Spring Easy. Photo by Jenni Autry.

He did the CCI* at Ocala and then the CIC2* at Chatt Hills this year, and she decided with her coach Buck Davidson that aiming for Galway Downs would be a good learning experience for him. Considering the way “Paddy” went out and attacked Ian Stark’s cross country yesterday, it seems like they made the right decision.

“I knew going out there that the footing was great and also that I wanted to come home with a few time faults,” she said. “Ten was probably a larger number than I was looking for, but every time he came off a jump, he was looking for the next one. I’ve never sat on a 7-year-old that was always looking ahead like that.”

And the horse rose to the occasion again today in show jumping, delivering one of the four double clear rounds in the division. “The thing about this horse is he has so much heart,” Caroline said. “He was tapping the jumps in warmup, but he’s a competitor. When we went in the ring, he knew it was time to show off.”

As for what’s next for Paddy, Caroline said the plan is for him to follow the same path as her 2013 NAJYRC gold medal partner Quantum Solace. “He’ll run a few more Intermediates and then go to Young Riders so we can keep building confidence,” she said.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better year, and I don’t want to bump him up to Advanced yet. We’ll go to Young Riders where he can learn in that type of atmosphere and get used to competing in a big arena,” she said. “The goal is to keep learning together.”

Leah Breakey and Master Plan delivered the only other double clear in the division. Lauren Billys and Castle Larchfield Purdy had one rail and 7 time penalties to finish fourth, and Bea di Grazia and Lad’s Night Out jumped clear with three time penalties to finish in fifth place. Alyssa Phillips and Bliss III jumped clear with four time penalties.

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Barb Crabo and Eveready II. Photo by Jenni Autry.

No one had delivered a clear round over Marc Donovan’s CCI3* show jumping course when Barb Crabo and Eveready II entered the ring. Sitting in second place overnight with just 3.2 penalties separating her score from leaders Buck Davidson and Copper Beech, Barb and “Ready,” a 15-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding she’s known since the day he was born, needed to leave all the poles in the cups to put the pressure on Buck.

And that’s exactly what they did, delivering what ultimately proved to be the only clear round in the division to win their first CCI3* on a score of 53.2. “There’s alway that cheap rail that I think just about everybody experienced out there today, and I was just hoping we wouldn’t get tagged by one,” she said. “He was breathing fire and putting on a show today. When it really matters, he jumps clear, every time.”

But it hasn’t always been like that with this horse. “Ready and I have been working together so hard for so long, and I think, ‘Wow, he’s 15; I probably only have a couple more seasons with him. Why couldn’t he be 11?’ Because when he was 11, he was unrideable. We’ve paid our dues. It feels amazing; it means everything,” she said.

The win is made even more special by the fact that she had decided to retire him from CCIs several years ago due to concerns about how he would hold up long term. After a fifth-place finish at the Nutrena American Eventing Championships in September, she made the call to give a CCI3* another shot.

Buck Davidson and Copper Beech. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Considering the outcome this weekend, you can’t help but wonder if Barb and Ready will return to Lexington for another shot at completing a four-star after things didn’t quite go their way in 2012. But for now, she said she’s just savoring the victory. “You want to say the ‘R word’ for spring, but I won’t,” not yet, she said.

Though 8-year-old Copper Beech pulled one rail to finish in second place on 54, just .8 penalties out of the lead, Buck Davidson said the horse delivered the best three phases of his career this weekend, so he can’t be disappointed with the outcome.

“I think it’s so cool Barb has done everything with the horse, made the horse; she deserved to win … It’s a tribute to the hard work and dedication and what this sport’s about,” he said. “It’s what my dad talks about all the time; it’s a dream. I couldn’t be happier for her.”

Buck actually didn’t realize he had a rail down at first; he saw it on the ground when he turned the corner after and knew he’d lost it at that point. “I got there the way I wanted to … I knew we touched it but didn’t think I touched it hard enough for it to fall. At Jersey (Fresh), I think we moved a few standards; we got lucky. It’s the way the sport goes; we’ve all been on both ends of it.”

Buck thought the round was much improved from Jersey Fresh, and that’s what he’s focusing on, he said. “He’s a bit of a baby, so it’s about trying to get him relaxed,” Buck said. “He jumps well; it’s just sometimes he loses his form … Maybe on the scoreboard it doesn’t look as great as it is, but I’m really excited about how he went yesterday and how he finished up.”

Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Though Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair pulled the final rail to finish in third place on 59.2, it wouldn’t have changed her place in the standings, and she said she was very pleased with how he jumped.

“He went out there and was jumping really well,” she said. “I really couldn’t have asked for him to be any better. I had the very last fence down, which is a bit of a bummer, but I feel like we’ve come a long way this year, and I was pleased with how he handled it. I was able to ride him forward through my turns. I think that it’s definitely going in the right direction.”

Maya said in yesterday’s press conference that she’s been searching for consistency this season after great runs at Bromont and Plantation Field and running into trouble at Richland and Fair Hill. “Cody” will now enjoy a vacation with his owners Jon and Dawn Dofelmier in Washington State before Maya hauls him back east for next season, when she’ll be another rider considering the “R word.”

Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek pulled one rail to finish in fourth place on 61.6, and Bonner Carpenter and Basco also pulled one rail to round out the top five on 71.8. We also have to send a big shout out to Jordan Linstedt, who is now officially qualified for Rolex next year with Revitavet Capato after finishing in sixth on 74.6.

You can watch the full replay of CCI3* show jumping over on PRO TV, which also includes highlights from dressage and cross country. Stay tuned for much more from Galway Downs.

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Boyd Martin and Trading Aces just before retiring. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Boyd Martin set out today at Galway Downs International looking for redemption after Trading Aces quit at about the 8-minute marker at this summer’s World Equestrian Games with Phillip Dutton in the irons, hoping the flatter ground, faster footing and smaller jumps would help the horse find his mojo again.

But it just wasn’t meant to be today, as the horse stopped at 19a, a brush jump going into the third water complex; Boyd retired shortly after. “Oscar,” a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by the Trading Aces Syndicate, looked full of running pulling up the hill to the second water, and he stumbled a bit on the landing off the bounce into the complex. The refusal occurred at the next combination.

“He set out very positive. In hindsight, maybe I was a bit too quick in the beginning,” Boyd said. “I really wanted to see where the horse was and came here trying to win. I think, at the same place at the course (as WEG), around the 8-minute mark, he definitely started to tire.”

Boyd addressed Oscar’s cross country struggles in yesterday’s press conference, when he sat tied for the lead following dressage, saying at this point he thinks the issues are more mental than physical, as the horse has galloped, swum and jogged to the point where he’s extremely fit. As Boyd put it: “When the going gets tough, he mentally struggles.”

Would the outcome have been different if Boyd had set out at a slower pace? “In hindsight, I was riding him maybe a little too quick. I was 20 seconds too fast on some of the minute markers,” Boyd said. “If I had my time over again, I might have set out cautiously. At the same time, it’s pointless running him around with 18 times penalties like he did at Boekelo. We’ve proven he can go slowly. He’s at the point in his career where we want to win with him, and today we didn’t.”

So what does this mean for Oscar? “It’s too early to make a concrete plan,” Boyd said. “It’s very disheartening because the horse is so awesome at everything but this very important part. So we’ll check medically that there’s nothing else wrong with him, and we’ll figure out a plan,” Boyd said.

“He’s very hard to beat at a CIC, and I think he would make a very good Pan Am horse,” Boyd said. “The good thing is that we’re all in one piece, and that’s the nature of the sport. At this level, if you won every time you went out, it would be boring.” Read the full CCI3* report here, and stay tuned for much more from Galway Downs.

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Buck Davidson and Copper Beech get it done at the bounce into the water. Photo by Jenni Autry.

It proved to be a day that required aggressive, accurate riding to conquer Ian Stark’s CCI3* track at Galway Downs International. With the dust — or mud — settled, Buck Davidson and Copper Beech are the overnight leaders after turning in one of the fastest rounds of the day, crossing the finish with just 5.6 time penalties to move forward to show jumping on a score of 50.

Barb Crabo had the fastest round of the day with Eveready II, coming home with 3.6 time penalties to move from fifth place up to second on 53.2. Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair, who hauled across the country looking for redemption following a mishap at the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International, got their groove back today and remain in third place on 55.2 after jumping clear with 7.6 time.

Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek win the round of the day in our book, skipping around and making it look easy on a day when things didn’t go as planned for several pairs. Their clear round with just 7.2 time moves them up from seventh to fourth place on a score of 57.6. Jordan Linstedt and Revitavet Capato also stormed around with 6.4 time penalties to move them from 13th to round out the top five on 63.6.

Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Buck came into the day hoping for a smoother round with Copper Beech than he had at Jersey Fresh in May in the horse’s first CCI3*. Though they ended up winning, Buck said it wasn’t the ride he wanted, and he actually moved the horse back down to Preliminary at Morven Park last month to get him more relaxed and jumping smoothly.

“Mentally he gave me so much at Jersey, but he had no idea what he was doing,” Buck said. “I was aiming and kicking and holding and trying to do whatever I could to get over the jumps. I thought it was important to go back.”

Buck and the owners, Carl and Cassie Segal and Sherrie Martin, planned for Galway Downs to conclude the horse’s season, and the round today proved they made the right decision. “He’s a very brave horse, and he’s very honest,” Buck said. “When he relaxes and lets me ride him, he’s a much better jumper.”

Though the start of cross country was delayed two hours this morning to allow the grounds crew to work on the footing, Buck said it dried out nicely, and he actually deemed it much better than last year, with the course proving to be trickier than he thought it would be.

“I thought walking the course that the Fair Hill two-star was harder than this with a couple of exceptions,” Buck said. “But the ground is quite trickier here; it’s a very twisty, turny course, so it rides a lot harder than it walks.”

Barb Crabo and Eveready II. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Maya Black said the footing was on everyone’s mind before the start of the division, and while Doesn’t Play Fair had one or two little slips here and there, she thought the ground held well considering how messy it looked this morning.

“There were a few deeper spots that I just let him cruise through,” Maya said. “I didn’t really kick him at all hardly. I maybe put my leg on in a few places, but he picked his pace through some of the footing.”

Though “Cody” is the smallest horse in the field at just 15.3 hands, he has a big horse stride, and he held his own on the course. “I wanted to go out and have a consistent round with good jumps all the way around,” Maya said. “It’s great going out on a horse that you know will jump anything you point him at.”

The show jumping has been a work in progress this year as Maya and Cody have stepped up to the Advanced level. They lost the CCI2* here last year after a rail at the second fence, so she’s focused on having the best round she possibly can tomorrow.

“Every day is a new day,” she said. “It has definitely been improving, and I’m feeling more and and more confident about it. I’m here this weekend to get all three days as good as I can, so I hope to go in and do the best we can do.”

Lizzie Snow and Coal Creek. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Eveready II gets better with age

Barb Crabo said she made the decision about three years ago to forgo CCIs with Eveready II, a 15-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding she owns, but the horse has been feeling so good that she decided to come back to this event, where he finished third in 2011. “He keeps getting better with age; he’s been sound and healthy all year, so we decided to go for it. He loves it so much, and he felt absolutely amazing out there.”

Though Barb’s 11-year-old daughter has called dibs on “Ready” as her future Young Rider horse, Barb said she isn’t ready to hand over the reins just yet. “He’s made it clear that he’s not ready for that, and I’m not ready either,” Barb said, emphasizing that he felt fantastic in placing fifth at both the Rebecca Farm CIC3* and Adequan USEA Gold Cup Final this summer.

As if the fastest cross country trip of the day wasn’t enough to leave her over the moon tonight, Barb said she’s also thrilled that they broke into the 40s in dressage yesterday, a goal she’s been chipping away at for quite awhile now. “That made my year,” she said.

What else went down in the CCI3*?

Half of the division ultimately jumped clear, with three riders completing the course with jumping penalties on their score cards: Gina Miles and S.V.R. Ron, Mackenna Shea and Landioso, and David Acord and Reins for Justice.

Boyd Martin and Trading Aces were the only pair to retire on course when the horse stopped at 19a, a devastating conclusion to their weekend at Galway Downs, as he hoped to prove the horse could conquer a CCI track after the World Equestrian Games. We have another post coming with comments from Boyd, so check back later to read that.

Jen McFall and High Times. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Kaitlin Veltkamp parted ways with Flashpoint D early in the course, and Ellen Doughty-Hume had a heartbreaking fall toward the end of the course from Sir Oberon, when he left a leg at the final water and she couldn’t quite save it. Bunnie Sexton and Rise Against and Jolie Wentworth and Goodknight both withdrew before the start of cross country.

Marilyn Little is currently riding in the CCI* after holding the lead in the CCI2* with RF West Indie by just .7 penalties over James Atkinson and Gustav. We’ll have the full two-star report coming your way shortly as soon as we get comments from Marilyn. Keep checking back for much more from Galway Downs.

Go Eventing.

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Robert Kellerhouse walks the new path for the CCI3* course.

It only rained four-tenths of an inch overnight here in Temecula, Calif., but the water has created quite a mess on Ian Stark’s cross country course at Galway Downs. There’s a lot of standing water on the course by the trade fair and main arenas. As a result, some minor changes have been made to the CCI3* and CCI2* courses, while the CCI* track remains the same. The riders met for a briefing at 10:15 a.m. PST to discuss the changes.

In the CCI3*, a new path has been outlined for fence 20, a bus jump in the corner of the track on the far side of the main arenas. The new path avoids the muck and standing water. The CCI2* will also follow the new path at this jump, which is fence 16 on their course.

Fence 20 on the CCI3* course and 16 on the CCI2* course

In the CCI2*, 290 meters have been removed from the track, which makes the course 4,440 meters with a new optimum time of 8 minutes, 5 seconds. The steeplechase jump at fence 11 has been moved from the racetrack down to the lower field where the footing is better.

The consensus from the riders seems to be that the first part of the course and the infield are in good shape. The problem is mud and standing water on the back part of the course near the road and main arenas. The final water complex is also quite a bit deeper now.

While it did rain before cross country several years ago, there’s never been standing water and mud quite like this before, so it remains to be seen exactly what kind of toll that will take on the horses. The sun is out now and drying things up, and there’s a good chance the footing will become sticky and holding.

Carving out the new path for fence 20 on the CCI3* course.

Ian Stark told riders in the briefing that “the ground might be a bit stickier than it was, so your horses might get a little more tired. Please look after them because the ground jury will stop you” if they look tired.

CCI2* cross country will start at 11:20 a.m. PST under the new time, which has been delayed two hours to allow these modifications to be made to the course. The CCI3* and CCI* will run after. We’ll be running live updates here on EN, and you can also follow along via PRO Tour Radio at this link. Be sure to follow EN on Twitter for further updates.

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Amber Levine and Otter Pop. Photo courtesy of Galway Downs.

The top of the leaderboard remained virtually unchanged in today’s finale of the USEA Young Event Horse West Coast Championships, with Amber Levine and Otter Pop clinching the win in the 4-year-old division on 83.2 and Tamie Smith and Fleeceworks Royal taking the title in the 5-year-old division on 80.9.

Otter Pop, a lovely gray Thoroughbred gelding bred in California by the Vadnais Family Trust, raced six times last year under the Jockey Club name Ought to Win (Sought After X Mother of Frank, by Seattle Bound) before retiring in August. Shirley Aronson pulled the horse off the track and gelded him, and once Amber laid eyes on him at Chocolate Horse Farm in Petaluma, Calif., she knew she had to have him.

Though “Otter,” as he’s affectionally known in the barn, is still very green with just two Novice events under his belt before coming to the championships, Amber said he’s also incredibly game. “He’s never said no — water, ditch, jump on a hill, down bank into water. If you point and you say its OK, he believes you, and he tries,” she said.

Amber had never participated in the Young Event Horse program before this year, and she said she thinks it’s a wonderful opportunity to get young horses in the ring and jumping around. Otter is also competing in the Novice division at Galway Downs, and competing in YEH has taken the edge off now, she said, as “he’s already been in the water and jumped a ditch.”

Fleeceworks Royal, a Holsteiner mare by Riverman out of Marisol bred and owned by Judy McSwain, is a full sister to Kristi Nunnink’s four-star mare R-Star, who retired from the upper levels earlier this year due to an irregular heartbeat. “She’s very different looking than Rosie, much smaller in size, but she has the same larger than life attitude,” Tamie said.

The mare’s road to the YEH championships hasn’t been an easy one, as she got her foot stuck in a feeder earlier this year and had to take time off to recover. Then she and Tamie fell in the water complex at the American Eventing Championships when the mare misread the question. But though Tamie only had a few weeks to prepare her, “Rory” ate up the course today.

Their final score of 80.7 just narrowly missed besting the two top scores from the YEH East Coast Championships. Will Coleman and Vagabon de Champdoux scored 81.5 to win at Fair Hill, with Lauren Kieffer and Landmark’s Jungle ROC scoring 81.2 for second place, so both of those horses will be in consideration for the Turner/Holekamp grant to Le Lion d’Angers in their 7-year-old years.

But Tamie has Sunsprite Syrius, last year’s YEH 5-year-old West Coast reserve champion, up for consideration for the Le Lion grant next year. She agrees the grant, which offers $17,500 to North American-bred horses and $8,000 to imported horses, is an incredible incentive to participate in the YEH program.

“That’s huge because I’m trying to produce horses that go to the top. I think it will be really good for the American horses to be able to go over there as a 7-year-old to compete and not have it be their first time” going to Europe later in the careers for a three-star or four-star, she said.

And while the FEH champion doesn’t get a shot at a ticket to Europe, Robert Kellerhouse kindly donated a free entry to the Galway Downs Training Three-Day in the winner’s 5-year-old year, and Dragonfire Farm’s Let’s Go DF, handled by Earl McFall, is the lucky recipient of that prize this year.

“Ten years ago, you didn’t have people who were breeding event horses,” Earl said. “They were breeding jumpers and dressage horses, and we would get their rejects.” That’s changed now with farms specializing in breeding event horses, and Earl said it’s important to have programs like FEH and YEH that recognize breeders for their achievements.

“People need to get the recognition they deserve, and this is one way to do that,” Earl said. “They’re not doing it for the money. But when our babies go out there and have success, that makes it worth it to the breeder.”

Terry Paine, who bred the FEH 2-Year-Old champion Cheers with his wife Linda, agreed. A colt by the Holsteiner stallion Blauer Vogel and out of the Thoroughbred mare Qtrapastree, also the dam of four-star mare Gin & Juice, Terry said he and Linda are “just tickled” that their colt earned the highest FEH score.

“There’s a great joy for us, and it makes it worthwhile for us to do what we do to see the horses making progress and how they change and morph into a more educated, capable horse,” Terry said. “That’s why I’ve stayed in the horse business all my life. I’ve really enjoyed watching young horses go on to be something great.”

Congrats to all the participants in the FEH and YEH West Coast Championships, and thank you to the USEA for supporting the concept of producing top eventing prospects here on U.S. soil. Click here to read more about Earn and Jen McFall’s Dragonfire Farm breeding program and here to read more on the “Buy or Breed? Made or Green?” debate.

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As promised, here are your five finalists for Dubarry Best Dressed from this afternoon’s first horse inspection at Galway Downs! To vote, “like” the photo you think should win over on Galway’s Facebook page. There’s a pair of brand new Dubarry boots on the line! Many thanks to our awesome sponsor Dubarry for sponsoring this contest.

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Jalin Coert and Fail Safe, Training Three-Day B.

Madelyn Holtzman and Caddilac FS Z, CCI*.

Tommy Greengard and Colonial Art, Training Three-Day B.

Alyssa Phillips and Bliss III, CCI2*

Ashlyn Dorsey and RF Kinetic, CCI*.

Click here to vote by “liking” your favorite photo on Galway Downs’ Facebook page.

Fence 23

Hello from Galway Downs! It was a beautiful morning to walk Ian Stark’s CCI3* course, which is every bit as big and bold as you’d hope it would for the finale of our eventing season here in the U.S. In the past at this venue, Ian has been limited to only using the area around the flood plains for the course, leaving it without much terrain.

But being able to incorporate the berm around the racetrack and getting creative with utilizing a variety of different types of terrain — like sending riders up a hill, over a keyhole and through the trade fair — has significantly upped the ante on this track. It’s signature Stark with California flair.

“The extra terrain can make riders think about how their horses will cope and when they will have to prepare for each fence: Prepare too early and waste time; prepare too late and things become risky and dangerous,” Ian said in his comments on the course. “So the terrain can put the onus onto the riders to make the proper decisions.”

The course starts out with two straight forward galloping fences helping riders settle into the rhythm. But then the first major question comes at fence 3, which is earlier in the course than in years past, with horses and riders going under the commentators’ tower through a downhill turning combination.

Another new question this year comes at the moat, where riders will go over a big ditch and brush at fence 14 before tackling an open corner combination at 15. That combination walks in an exact four strides, and riders will need to commit to an aggressive line to make it work, as the door is wide open to the right at the corner at 15b.

One of the biggest changes on this year’s course comes at the final water complex, which riders will actually go through twice, once for fence 18, a bounce into the water, and again for fence 22. “So we now have four water combinations on the course — I do hope the riders have brought a change of clothing,” Ian said.

The first horse inspection is underway now, and we’ll be back later today with a full report, photos and the lineup for Dubarry’s Best Dressed. Remember we’re posting on West Coast time, so be sure to check back late each day if you’re on the East Coast so you don’t miss any of our coverage.

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