Caroline Pamukcu and King’s Especiale. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography.
Quite a few changes were made to the leaderboard today at the MARS Great Meadow International in The Plains, VA, where we saw the top divisions tackle Chris Barnard’s show jumping course late in the afternoon to beat some of the notorious summer heat. When the dust settled, the lead had changed hands, and then changed hands once more after the top two 4* pairs opted to withdraw their horses for another day.
After the withdrawal of both Boyd Martin with Luke 140 and Will Coleman with Diabolo, who had initially tied for the lead following show jumping, Caroline Pamukcu now moves into the CCI4*-S lead with the 8-year-old King’s Especiale (Connect – Cha Cha Cha Special). A part of Caroline’s string since his five-year-old year, “King” was Caroline’s first major syndication, now owned by Redfield King’s HX Group made up of Gayle Davis, Paul Hendrix, Emil Spadone, and Derek Strine.
“He’s my first real syndication horse and I just think the world of him,” Caroline said. This year, she’s taken a new approach of splitting her entries up at more shows, meaning she has fewer horses to ride each time. “It’s so I have more time to focus on each horse because they’re so individual,” she explained. With three here this weekend (newer ride Cascadella 8, owned by Sherrie Martin and Derek Strine as well as HSH Vamanos, who’s come back from an injury sustained on his first gallop in England last year and is preparing to go up to 4* to close the year), Caroline says it’s been a useful approach for giving each horse the attention they need.
Following show jumping, 12 pairs withdrew, many citing hard summer ground as the incentive to do so. Boyd’s horses, Luke 140 (owned by the Luke 140 Syndicate) and Fedarman B (owned by the Annie Goodwin Syndicate), who each had a strong showing at Luhmühlen’s CCI5* in June, will be saved for their respective final fall 5* preps — Luke 140 is aiming at the Maryland 5 Star along with stablemate Contessa, while Fedarman B will travel to France for the 5* at Pau at the end of October.
Will Coleman and Diabolo. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography.
Will Coleman also opted to withdraw Diabolo (Diarado – Roulette M), who’s only recently been acquired from Australian 4* rider Gemma Tinney and this week would have been his third event with Will in the irons. “He’s a new horse, we got him in February from Australia,” Will commented. “The transition from Australia is pretty tough on them, and we’re giving ‘Dab’ time to adjust as needed. We’re very much a work in progress, but I’m excited about the horse and hoping for a big future with him. I’m very thankful to the people who made it possible for me to acquire him — they’re a wonderful group of owners to have involved in him.”
With those withdrawals, Lillian Heard Wood now moves into second position with Debby Greenspan’s Dassett Olympus (36.4), and Lucia Strini and Plain Dealing Farm’s Excel Cool Quality move into third (37.6). We can anticipate the remaining pairs to take the pressure off making the time, so the competition remains anyone’s game at this stage and will be primarily used to set these horses up for their fall seasons.
Lizzie Hoff and Cooley On Show. Photo by Erin Gilmore Photography.
Looking to the other divisions, here’s a breakdown of your leaders and the winners crowned on Saturday:
Lynn Symansky and Katherine Coleman’s Idefix Van De Crumelhaeve (going to have to work on the pronunciation of this one!) currently lead the way after two phases in the 3*-S competition on a score of 26.9. “Iddy” is a newer addition to Lynn’s program as of last year.
Mike Pendleton and Kara Angulo’s Adorrado were crowned 2*-S winners, adding just a few seconds of time on cross country to finish the weekend on a score of 29.4.
Lizzie Hoff took home the Preliminary A win aboard former Sharon White ride Cooley On Show, who’s now been partnered with Lizzie since earlier this year. The pair moved up from ninth after dressage to collect the win on a score of 38.3.
EN’s own Ema Klugman was victorious in the Preliminary B with FVF Wildflower, one of the youngest on Ema’s growing string of #supermares. They finish their weekend on a score of 31.6.
Katie Lichten and her own HTS Jenson R were the winners of the U-25 2*-S division, earning the win on a score of 31.4. Ben Noonan and Street Fighter are currently in charge of the U-25 3* and 4* combined contest, with the winner determined tomorrow following cross country.
Cross country for the 3* and 4* divisions will be streamed live on Horse & Country — you can access the live stream with your H&C+ membership or one-time viewing pass here. The 3*-S division will run first beginning at 9 a.m. EST, following by the 4*-S at 12:41 p.m. EST. You can find the schedule and orders of go here.
We’ll be back tomorrow with a final report! Until then, keep cool and Go Eventing.
EN’s coverage of MARS Great Meadow International is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products. Click here to learn about just one of their science-backed nutritional supplements, Equi-Jewel, for the hard keeper in your barn who needs the calories but not the extra grain.
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