Buck Davidson and Cooley Candyman. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography.
After dressage, Buck Davidson secures the lead in the CCI4*-L at the Morven Park Fall International Horse Trials & CCI in Leesburg, Virginia!
Davidson scored 29.6 in the CCI 4*-L while riding Cooley Candyman, owned by Cassandra Segal and Rolo 7 LLC. Phillip Dutton on Quasi Cool and Colleen Loach on FE Golden Eye tied for second in the division with a score of 29.8. Will Coleman maintained his lead in CCI4*-S, with a score of 27.7, while riding Chin Tonic HS owned by Hyperion Stud.
“The cross-county course is as good as I’ve seen anywhere in the world,” said Davidson, “We are all missing Tremaine [Cooper] this year and I think he would be proud to see this course.” Tremaine Cooper designed and built the Morven Park Horse Trials & CCI courses for over 30 years and tragically passed away in 2021. Coleman added, “It is sad that Tremaine is not here to see the running of the 4*-L. He loved this place and he loved cross-country, so it is bittersweet to be on course without him.”
After no faults in show jumping, Clayton Fredericks remains in second and third place in the CCI4*-S, riding FE Stormtrooper and FE Ophelia, both owned by Kingfisher Park. “I started off slightly disappointed because the horse I intended to bring was injured in the 4*-S at Stableview, but these horses I brought for short format did remarkably well on a tough track today,” said Fredericks. “I’m quite happy with how they performed today, and this is good preparation for Stormtrooper who’s competing at Maryland next week.”
Phillip Dutton and Quasi Cool. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography.
At the end of the first day of dressage for the CCI3*-S competitors, Matthew Brown leads riding Super Socks BCF with a score of 26.4. Lillian Heard leads in 3*-YH-S after scoring 27.4 on Absolut Cooley. Brown, who was eliminated at Unionville for going off course, said “Today felt like redemption for me. After the pandemic year, I knew I really needed to refocus for this horse trials.” He continued, “I am excited to compete on one of Derek di Grazia’s courses.”
Arden Wildasin maintained her lead in both of the CCI2*-S divisions, riding Southern Sun and Tokyo Drift, and scoring 27.7 and 27.2 respectively. Caroline Martin, riding Galwaybay Blake, is placed first in the CCI2*-YH-S with a score of 25.1
CCI3*-S competition continues tomorrow with show jumping at 8:00 a.m. while the CCI4*-L, CCI4*-S, and CCI2*-S divisions begin cross-country at 9:00 a.m. In addition to the FEI competition, the national horse trials kicks off with dressage at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and features almost 200 riders.
The tentative schedule, ride times, show program, and live results are available at MorvenPark.org/HORSETRIALS. Spectators are welcome to attend Morven Park Fall International Horse Trials & CCI, and admission is free.
The Morven Park Fall International Horse Trials & CCI are made possible by many generous sponsors. This year’s Official Sponsor is SmartPak, a popular equine supplement and supply company. The 2021 Gold Sponsor is Taylor Harris Insurance Services; Silver Sponsors are Adequan and CWD; and Bronze Sponsors are Coat Defense, Total Equine Veterinary Associates, and Arden.
Morven Park International CCI4*-L (Leesburg, Va.): [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores] [Schedule] [Volunteer]
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