Boyd Martin and Commando 3. Photo by Cora Williamson for Liz Crawley Photography.
Boyd Martin and Yankee Creek Ranch LLC’s Commando 3 (Connor 48 x R-Adelgunde, Amigo XX) claimed their third FEI win together today, leading the CCI4*-S at Stable View (Aiken, SC) from start to finish and ending on a score of 32.5.
It was a refreshed course awaiting the headlining division today, put together by Great Britain’s Helen West, who tested out some different tracks and worked with some newly-added questions. The result was a track that exerted a fair bit of influence; while time is always a factor in these short format events for multiple reasons, we also saw several questions elicit runouts or refusals throughout the field.
The most influential issue came for Liz Halliday and Cooley Quicksilver (owned by The Monster Partnership/Ocala Horse Properties), who were third following two phases and unfortunately parted ways at the severely-angled Stable View brushes at fence 10. Both she and “Monster” were unhurt; Liz later returned to pilot Shanroe Cooley to a clear round.
Boyd and Commando 3 (“Connor”) have been together for just on a year now, and he’s said all along that he knows the best is still yet to come with the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding. The horse had competed through this level with his previous rider, Swedish Olympian Louise Romeike, and it can take time to form a partnership with a horse at this stage of education. The two gelled together quite quickly, amassing multiple competitive results in their first few events together, and to know that Boyd is confident he’s yet to hit the top of the horse’s potential is an exciting prospect — especially just a few months before the Olympics.
“Commando’s feeling in fantastic condition as we do our final prep toward Kentucky and gave me a great performance,” Boyd said. “Full credit to Helen [West], I feel like she’s really done her homework on the type of fences we’re going to be faced with at Kentucky and she had all the questions there. I feel like it was a great prep event. I think she put a lot of thought into it; there was plenty of galloping, it nice flow to it and there were also some pretty tough combinations and accuracy fences and all the looks we’re going to see coming into Kentucky.”
Boyd is well-poised for a selection to the Olympic squad — though he’s got a couple competitions still to tick off on his prep tour — with not just Commando, but also stablemate Fedarman B (owned by the Annie Goodwin Syndicate), who also delivered a clear round today to finish in fifth.
“Bruno, he’s turning into one of the best cross country horses I’ve ever sat on,” he said. “He’s ultra fast, huge stride, and really could’ve jumped around with his eyes shut. I feel like with both Bruno and [Commando 3], we’ve still got plenty of work to get the dressage a bit better, but they’re jumping great and safe and reliable and have such immense quality. It’s crazy to think of how good they could be once I really have them trained.”
He’s also got his veteran campaigner, Tsetserleg, and Maryland 5 Star winner On Cue, as two additional prospects for the team. Commando 3 and Fedarman B will next compete in the Lexington CCI4*-S, while Tsetserleg and On Cue will aim at either the Kentucky 5* or Badminton (they’re each entered in both for now and could even potentially re-route if they start Kentucky and happen to have an early issue, with an extra week on the books this year between Kentucky and Badminton).
“I feel like I’m a bit of a veteran now; I’ve been through this every two years for the last couple of decades, even before I left Australia,” Boyd said on the topic of the impending team selection. “I think the biggest thing is timing, that you’ve got your horses peaking well. It is a first time for me ever that I’m not doing them all in a spring five-star, so that’s a bit unusual and that’s sort of why I wanted to give Bruno and Connor a strong run at the four-star level to prove that they’re on their A game. I feel like I’m blessed with the strongest group of horses that I’ve ever had, a wonderful team and fantastic owners. I feel like I’m seasoned now and all we can do is try to come into the big events not feeling like you have to do something extra and keep trying to improve by that one percent every time.”
Will Coleman and Chin Tonic HS. Photo by Amy Griffith for Liz Crawley Photography.
Also retaining his position after two phases is Will Coleman, who piloted Hyperion Stud’s Chin Tonic HS (Chin Champ x Wildera, Quinar Z) to a clear round with some time added to end the weekend on a score of 34.1. Will had been candidly accepting of the mistakes and bobbles that led to his assessment of yesterday being sub-par, but he was pleased with how the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding performed on cross country.
“He was good,” Will said. “You know, it’s a very different course here this year, quite twisty. I actually thought Mark had really a beautiful track set out last year. This was very different in some ways, some good new wrinkles and it’s always good to have new stuff but it was a bit on the jerky side for me. It was also good for Chin, wouldn’t necessarily be his type of course but he answered the questions well well. He handled all the questions really well. Ground was sub par, so I think I just responsible and tried to set him up for Kentucky.
Will also rode the Off the Record Syndicate’s Off the Record (Arkansas VDL – Drumagoland Bay by Ard Ohio) to a clear round, finishing in fourth overall on a score of 35.6. “Timmy” joins Chin Tonic as Will’s top prospects for team selections; both horses are entered in the Lexington CCI4*-S at Kentucky, which should be their last run before team announcements are made. Will withdrew The Diabolo Group’s Diabolo after show jumping yesterday, which was his plan for the weekend as the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding preps for his 5* debut at Luhmühlen (Germany) in June.
I asked Will how he was managing his own expectations with something like a championship team announcement. A spot on the Olympic squad would be his second such selection (London 2012 was his first), and his third championship team selection. The experience would be enough to leave one craving another, and surely at least some part of him is but at the same time, he says he’s faring well.
“Honestly I’m really trying not to put much thought into it,” he elaborated. “Really I’m looking at Kentucky as an event I’d like to go do well at, just like any year. I think you do what you do and how it all shakes out is sort of beyond your control; I can only control my preparation and what I do on the day. I was young then and you’re so hungry just to make a team, and now I’m in a much different place. I’ve got an amazing family and we have a great life, and maybe in a weird way there’s less pressure on yourself because you are in that different place. When you’re young and hungry it might matter to you too much; I’m guilty of being a bit of a perfectionist and sometimes trying too hard to ride just for an outcome and I just think I’ve tried to get better at that.”
Doug Payne and Quantum Leap. Photo by Austin Ross for Liz Crawley Photography.
Rocketing up from 20th after dressage are Doug Payne and Quantum Leap (Quite Capitol – Report to Sloopy xx, by Corporate Report xx), also making a strong case for the team with two impeccable jumping phases that brought Doug up to the podium, finishing third on a 35.1. Doug describes “Quantum” as one of the most genuine horses he’s ever had — “Vandiver 2.0” — and he’s also been one of the most consistent jumpers in the field.
He was also quick on the clock, the fastest of the day, accumulating just two seconds of time over the optimum of 6:23. Doug credits this to the 13-year-old gelding’s rideability: “you waste no time setting him up because he sets himself up, and he’s very maneuverable so you can be quite tight on the approach and quite tight on the back side.”
Of all phases this weekend, though, Doug was most pleased with the improvement he felt on the flat. It’s a confirmed fact that Quantum is likely to finish on whatever score he earns on the first day, so chipping away at his mid-30s average to give himself a better starting point has been a key focus. Doug says he’s been testing out new strategies on flat, recently focusing on achieving a greater amount of forward flow throughout the test.
“I want it to be a more actively forward ride, and that’s definitely been the right answer as he’s gone a couple points better every time out,” Doug explained. “The moment he’s started to get a bit apprehensive or tense, I’ve been trying to let him flow forward as much as possible where before I would worry more about getting him more supple, which would sometimes cause him to get tense and anxious.” Additionally, in working with Aiken-based show jumper Andrea King recently, Doug noted that she’d pointed out a tendency of his to “ride like I’m on a motorcycle”. This led him to concentrate on achieving a better balance in his turns in the dressage ring, too, which has paid off as well. “The horses would fall in and get a bit quick when I’d do that, and with this they are able to stay in better balance.”
Quantum Leap will do the CCI5* at Kentucky at the end of the month, which will be his seventh 5* start.
Other notables from today’s cross country include a clear and quick round from Julie Wolfert and Team Pivot’s SSH Playboy, who moved up to sixth after starting the weekend in 28th. Jenny Caras and Jerry Hollis’ Sommersby also moved well up the board, finishing in seventh after starting in 26th. Phillip Dutton completes the top 10 with three rides: Denim (owned by Ann Lapides, Ann Jones, Caroline Moran, and Neill Sites) in eighth on a 42.7, Possante (owned by The Possante Group) in ninth on a 42.9, and Jewelent (owned by The Jewelent Group) in 10th on a 44.9.
A couple of questions caused the most difficulty today: the newly-added Defender Columbia Coffin at 14 caused issues for four pairs, including a dropped frangible pin at the A for Liz Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker, and the new water complex at 9 also caught out eight pairs. You can view photos of the fences in our preview here.
Riders certainly noticed the difference in tracks between this year and previous years; Will Coleman noted that the beginning felt a bit more open, but that it was somewhat difficult to establish a good rhythm thereafter. Helen also focused on technicality, inviting open doors with skinny questions and angles, and also found ways to use the rolling terrain to further test the pairs. “She’s not afraid to land the horses on an awkward camber and make you take a lot of responsibility for their balance,” Will observed.
You can view the full scores from Stable View here.
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