Classic Eventing Nation

Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST lead the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event at the conclusion of the first day of dressage in their quest to claim a historic fourth win here in Lexington, Kentucky. (If you missed it, watch a video of their test here.)

But their score of 27.1 (which converts to 40.7 under former FEI scoring) leaves the door open for the heavy-hitters still to come tomorrow. As we discussed in the lunch update, fisherRocana, a 13-year-old German Sport Horse (Ituango xx X Rose II, by Carismo) owned by Brigitte and Joachim Jung, has scored better in the first phase in all three of her previous trips to Kentucky.

As always, Michael said the mare gave him a “very good feeling” in the sandbox today. “I think I can ride her really nice and like I wish. I had a little mistake at the halt at A before the reinback — she stood not really quiet — just a few things like this. All in all I’m happy.”

Tsetserleg checks out the atmosphere at his first CCI4*. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

The entire top five at the lunch break remained unchanged through the afternoon session. Boyd Martin and Christine Turner’s Tsetserleg delivered an impressive performance in the 11-year-old Trakehner’s debut at the level to sit in second place on 31.2.

“When you finish (the test) you always wish there was one part or another that was a bit better,” Boyd said. “Overall he did as good as he could with where we are at the moment (with his training). It will get better and better, but at this point I’m very pleased.”

Bred in the U.S. by Timothy Holekamp, Tsetserleg is a son of Olympic team bronze medalist Windfall. “Ten years ago when I came to America for the first time, I saw Darren Chiacchia and Windfall. I remember watching his test here and it was spectacular,” Boyd said. “Who would have thought that 10 years later I would be riding one of Windfall’s babies?”

Tamie Smith and Wembley. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Tamie Smith sits third with Kevin and Ann Baumgardner’s Wembley, a 15-year-old KWPN (Lester X E-vip, by Cantus), on 32.1 in the horse’s first CCI4*. She said she perhaps spent a bit too much time in warm-up, which saw him get a bit tired towards the end of the test, but overall she is thrilled.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect about Wembley because he can go into the test and be quite tense,” Tamie said. “He was very workmanlike. I couldn’t have asked him to be better.

Caroline Martin and Sherrie Martin’s Spring Easy, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Garrison Royal X Castlegrogan Clare, by Ballinvella), sit in fourth place on 33.3.

Phillip Dutton and Z, a 10-year-old Zangersheide (Asca X Bellabouche, by Babouche VH Gehucht Z) owned by the Z Partnership, sit fifth on 33.7 in the horse’s CCI4* debut.

Waylon Roberts and Kelecyn Cognac lead the way for Canada and also delivered the best test of the afternoon session, scoring 34.2 to sit in sixth place. The 15-year-old Thoroughbred owned by Anthony Connolly and Skye Levely is another horse in the field making his CCI4* debut here at Kentucky.

Waylon Roberts and Kelecyn Cognac. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

How the Scoring Stacked Up

As we look ahead to the second day of dressage, the question isn’t whether fischerRocana will still be leading at the end of the day tomorrow — she won’t. At least four horses (Cooley Cross Border, Cooley Master Class, Nobilis 18, and RF Scandalous) are expected to score better than 27.1 tomorrow, with MHS King Joules also having achieved a CCI4* personal best better than that mark.

That stat is courtesy of EN’s data analyst and all-around wizard Maggie Deatrick, who has been crunching numbers and tweeting about how the ground jury of Christian Landolt, Jane Hamlin and Sue Baxter performed today.

Overall, the afternoon sessions scored +1.68 above the expected averages for these pairs, in line with the +1.61 of the morning sessions. Thursday was scored +1.65 above expected averages, which indicates the judges are not inclined to be generous for tension or mistakes.

Jane Hamlin offered the highest marks this afternoon on six of 10 pairs, including all four in the final session. Christian Landolt gave the lowest marks on four of the 10 while the other two judges were lowest on three each.

The judges scored within 1% of each other on 9.52% (two) of the pairs who went today. They differed by 5% or more on 14.29% (three) pairs. In the final session, Jollybo received the largest disagreement of 6.04%, with Jane Hamlin offering 62.007% and Sue Baxter offering 56.03%.

Be sure to follow EN on Twitter to read more of Maggie’s stats.

Your top three after the first day of dressage: Boyd Martin, Michael Jung, Tamie Smith. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Looking Ahead

We will likely be looking at a very different top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of dressage tomorrow. Diarm Byrne of EquiRatings has made the gutsy call that aside from Jung and fischerRocana, none of the combinations in the top 10 after day one will still be in the top 10 at the conclusion of day two.

While Sam Watson, the other half of EquiRatings, wisely noted today that “four-stars aren’t won in the dressage, but they are lost there,” Kentucky is almost certainly not going to be a dressage show.

Derek di Grazia’s cross country course, which runs in reverse direction this year, is beefy and technical right up to the very end. (Click here for EN’s fence-by-fence preview.)

The top three all weighed in with their thoughts on the course in this afternoon’s press conference, and Michael Jung agreed that reversing the direction of the track has significantly changed the feel and flow of the course.

“The ground is perfect, also great weather, so I’m really looking forward to the cross country,” he said. “Really nice jumps, really nice build. You have a tough course — many different places with difficult jumps. Nice alternative jumps everywhere so you can choose your options; you can change your idea if you feel that the horse is tired … I really like it at the moment, but we have to walk it a few more times.”

Boyd said he thought the course is as tough as he’s ever seen it here. “I think that the first part of the course is quite forward and galloping, and I think the second half of the course, starting at the Head of the Lake, gets much more difficult. As we know the horses tire toward the second half of the course a bit. I think it’s actually going to be hard to make up time,” he said.

“Usually (Derek) gives you a nice long gallop somewhere in the last minute or two, and this year he’s kept the combinations. As Michael said, there’s not one fence out there that’s breathtaking. I think there will be trouble throughout the course.”

Tamie added that the course is technical the whole way. “The Head of the Lake will be quite influential going the direct route, and like Boyd said, we have a brush combination toward the end of the course that might catch out some tired horses. Hopefully mine’s not tired!”

The second day of dressage starts tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. EST and will stream live on USEF Network. Click here to view Leslie Threlkeld’s beautiful photo gallery of all the horse and rider combinations today. Click here to catch up on all of EN’s coverage from #LRK3DE so far. Stay tuned for much more from the #BestWeekendAllYear. Go Eventing.

#LRK3DE Links: Website, Ride Times, Schedule, Live Stream, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Ultimate Guide, EN’s Instagram, EN’s Twitter

Fence 1 – Red, White and Bluegrass. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event is an important competition on the North American calendar in any year, but it is all the more critical in a championship year. As a U.S. selection trial for the 2018 World Equestrian Games at Tryon, all eyes will be glued to Derek di Grazia’s cross country course come Saturday.

This year’s course runs in reverse direction, which places many of the familiar combinations later on the track. The first three fences — a log called Red White and Bluegrass at fence 1, the Market Table at fence 2, and the Double Brush at fence 3 — are galloping efforts to settle horses and riders into a rhythm, and the terrain has a steady uphill climb to start.

Fence 4ABC – Water Park. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The first combination comes at fence 4ABC, the Water Park, with horses jumping in over a set of rails before making a sharp left-hand turn to jump a boat in the water, then galloping on to a second boat as the C element. Fence 5 is the Whiskey Barrel Table.

The next combination comes at the coffin at fence 6ABCD, the Park Question. After jumping in over a hanging rail at A, horses and riders will navigate down a sharp slope to the ditch at B, then turn right to jump over a house at C. The biggest challenge by far will then be quickly turning left to jump a massive right-pointed open corner as the D element. There is absolutely no margin of error at the corner, and finding the right line and holding it will be all important.

The open corner at fence 6D, the Park Question. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Fence 7 is the always impressive Keepers Brush, then it’s on to a massive open oxer at Cora’s Crossing at fence 8, before the Ditch Brush at fence 9.

The next major question comes at the second water complex on course at fence 10ABC, the Rolex Grand Slam Challenge. Horses and riders will drop in over a rolltop at the A element, then gallop out of the water before turning right to jump a right-pointed brush corner at B and kicking on to a double brush at C.

Fence 12 and 13A – Pet’s Hollow. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Fence 11, the Picnic Table, starts a steady uphill climb to the mound complex at the furthest point of the course at fences 12 and 13. Pete’s Hollow, named in honor of chief course builder Mick Costello’s bother, begins with a massive table at fence 12 and then a very steep uphill climb to a narrow stump at fence 13A. Riders will then navigate back down the mound to a left-pointed brush corner at 13B.

Fence 14 brings the second open oxer on course, the Loblolly Pine Rails, which then leads to a combination of two angled logs set on mounds at fence 15AB, the Fallen Trees.

Fence 16, the Cedar Lodge, is set on a downhill slope that leads to the Waterview Cabin at fence 17 and then the famous Land Rover Head of the Lake at fences 18 and 19. The direct route has riders drop in over a brush at 18A, then kick on to a left-pointed brush corner at 18B. Fence 19 requires riders to turn sharply right to jump a double brush at 19A, then gallop back into the water to an arrowhead brush at 19B.

Fence 18AB – Land Rover Head of the Lake. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Fence 20 is a new Trakehner, and then it’s on to the Normandy Bank at fence 21ABCD. Horses and riders will jump up the bank at 21A, bounce over the goose at 21B, then jump off the bank and turn left to a combination of two angled brushes set on one stride as the C and D elements.

The Stepped Table at fence 22 leads to the fourth and final water complex on course at fence 23, the Frog Pond. Horses and riders will jump in over a table at 23A, splash through the water and then jump a left-pointed corner at 23B.

Fence 26AB – Mighty Moguls. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The Victory Brush at fence 24 and the Wattle and Daub Cottage at fence 25 lead to the Mighty Moguls at fence 26AB. Horses and riders will jump the brush at A and then navigate the undulating terrain before jumping a sharply angled brush at B. Once again, there is little room for error at B, and this will almost certain catch out pairs late on course.

The final combination comes at fence 27AB, the Cabins and Boathouse. Riders will jump the cabin at the A element before turning right to jump a massive table set on an angle over a ditch. This is far from a let-up fence late on the course, and horses and riders will need gas left in the tank here. Fence 28, the Lucky Horseshoe, is the final jump on course.

Fence 27AB – Cabins and Boathouse. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Derek di Grazia’s course is 6,295 meters in length with an optimum time set at 11 minutes, 3 seconds. It is beautifully presented, and all credit goes to builders Mick Costello, Tyson Rementer, and Levi Ryckewaert, as well as chief course decorators Sheila Woerth and Rita Boggs and the 100+ volunteers who worked on decorating the course. Go Eventing.

#LRK3DE Links: Website, Ride Times, Schedule, Live Stream, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Ultimate Guide, EN’s Instagram, EN’s Twitter