Classic Eventing Nation

Will Coleman and Chin Tonic HS. Photo by Shelby Allen.

It’s always a safe bet that the cross country finale of the annual Conceal Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase at Bruce’s Field, presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services stands to shake up the standings. Indeed, this year’s course — beefed up by Capt. Mark Phillips to up the ante for the increased $100,000 prize fund — held true to tradition and exerted its influence to ensure a nail-biting conclusion to the weekend.

Despite this influence, though, one pair stood above the rest: Will Coleman and Hyperion Stud’s Chin Tonic HS. After earning the lead after dressage with a flowing test worth a 26.5 from the judges (Paris Olympics Ground Jury member Xavier Le Sauce and the USA’s Valerie Pride), Will and “Chin” never looked back.

Will Coleman and Chin Tonic HS. Photo by Shelby Allen.

A hard-to-come-by double clear over Michel Vaillancourt’s show jumping course yesterday in the rain set them up for the win today, and though Will was cagey all week on how hard he’d try to make the time, he needn’t have worried much about that element. As the last to leave the start box today, he had a luxurious 16 seconds in hand and a guaranteed win after piloting the Off the Record Syndicate’s Off the Record to a quick clear that secured him a lead that could only be beat by “Timmy’s” stablemate.

He needed about 10 seconds of that time in hand, coming home handily with the all-class Holsteiner gelding by Chin Champ to earn his first Grand-Prix Eventing victory — and $53,000 worth of the prize pot.

“It was a pretty good week at the office,” Will commented. “A little different for us. We aren’t used to doing that [type of course], but it’s great. It’s good for the sport, I think, for other events to see that as possible. And what they’ve been able to create here is pretty, pretty cool. So it’s an awesome legacy for Bruce [Duchossois].”

Will Coleman and Off the Record. Photo by Shelby Allen.

“I think for everyone it’s probably a little outside their comfort zone,” he continued. “It’s 28 fences, packed into four minutes. You feel like you’re in a tumble dryer. You have to think fast, and the horses have to react. And I think it was helpful, I mean, even just the crowds, and some of the technicality that Mark laid out, I do think that there’s something the horses will take away from it, that’s very positive. So I was really pleased with both of my guys, and it served its purpose 1,000% coming here. I mean, it’s nice to win as well, but I think even if they hadn’t won, I still feel like I got what I wanted out of coming here. I do think championships are becoming a bit more like that — the modern sport is going a little bit more that way. I still really love the five-stars, but this is going to be a part or at least a taste of what the maybe the sport might be trending towards.”

With two horses well-positioned to make a bid for the U.S. team heading to the Paris Olympics this summer, Will circled this event on the calendar early on as he was making his plan for the season. Ordinarily, he told us this week, he wouldn’t necessarily put this event on his calendar when preparing for a 5* event. This year, he’s setting his horses up with strategic runs to help them peak just in time for a team selection, should that be how the cards fall.

Will Coleman and Off the Record. Photo by Shelby Allen.

“I still had a job to do for the last horse, for Chin, to give him a good ride and be responsible about how I took him around. And this is something we’re using for preparation for things down the road. So there was really no change in approach. It was more just, I probably backed off a little bit, given the fact that I had a little cushion with the time but I still wanted to go out there and give him a bit of a strong ride so that I could learn and see how he was thinking.”

Off the Record had one of the classiest rounds of the day, displaying just how strong his partnership is with Will. “Yeah, he’s just an amazing horse,” Will agreed. “He was really thinking with me the whole way. And I felt like he was on autopilot. Honestly, it was a really cool experience just how he was just almost reading the questions before I did. And you don’t often have those opportunities, but I think as horses get older, and they’ve been with you for a long time, you do start to feel like it’s kind of one mind out there. And it’s sort of what we had today. It was very, very cool.”

The extra dollars in the bank account certainly make the drive home tomorrow that much more enjoyable — after Will enjoys a round of golf as a part of the GPE Silent Auction put on over the weekend. As an extra and very well-deserved addition to the monies won, #supergrooms Hailey Burlock and Erin Jarboe took home the Groom’s Prize this weekend, which was funded by several generous donors from the Aiken area. Well done, ladies!

Boyd Martin and Fedarman B. Photo by Shelby Allen.

Finishing in the money again with the Annie Goodwin Syndicate’s Fedarman B is Boyd Martin, who bases in the Aiken area at Stable View this time of year. Boyd had a shot to finish second, but picked up 10 seconds of time with “Bruno” to finish on a score of 35.3 in third place overall. Boyd’s also taken a similar approach to Will with his season planning, as he’s well-sat this year to make a strong run at the Olympic squad. Fedarman B would be one horse he’s preparing to make a bid with, and en route to a potential team selection the 14-year-old Dutch gelding by Eurocommerce Washington. He’ll aim for the Lexington 4*S at the end of April.

“It was for sure a much more challenging, demanding course this year and it took a fair bit of riding actually,” Boyd said. He finished in 17th with Yankee Creek Ranch’s Commando 3, who activated a frangible pin at fence 8. The Turner family’s Tsetserleg TSF had a trip up the bank at fence 21, after which Boyd opted to retire.

“I was on three top horses and my green one sort of misread the corner, but then jumped the rest of the track well and then Thomas had a bit of a mishap at the bank. I dusted myself off and Bruno had a fantastic round. He’s such an honest horse. He’s light in the mouth, and he’s quick and he’s agile. I sort of went about the speed that I felt comfortable at without sort of taking too many risks.”

Liz Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker. Photo by Shelby Allen.

Though she couldn’t quite get the hat trick of victories done, 2022 and 2023 GPE winner Liz Halliday secured a fourth place finish in the money with Ocala Horse Properties‘ and Debbie Halliday’s Cooley Nutcracker, who handily jumped around with 7.2 time penalties for a finishing score of 38.8.

“I was absolutely thrilled, he’s still young and he’s never done anything like this before,” Liz, who had the chance to ride in front of her full group of owners (“That never happens that we’re all in the same place!”), said. “It’s his first run of the year, and I sort of of said to his owners that I was just going to listen to him and give him a good run today rather than chase the time like a madwoman, and he was just absolutely brilliant. I think it was a great experience for him to have to do the twists and the turns with the crowds. I was really over the moon with how he jumped that drop — he’s a very careful, good jumper and in the past he would have really over-jumped everything, and so I was just thrilled.”

Cooley Quicksilver has a neat trip down the Broken Bridge question. Photo by Shelby Allen.

Liz admits she was one of the critics of the Barton’s Pond Broken Bridge jump that had everyone buzzing all week as the newest addition to Capt. Mark Phillips’ arsenal on course this year, but was pleased to find all three of her horses read and jumped the question quite well. The advice from the designer was not to bounce the bank, which was set to be a short one-stride, but after the first few horses bounced the drop neatly, almost everyone went on to do the bounce.

“I ranted and raved about hating the bank but then all my horses jumped it great!” Liz laughed. “We all learned something this week — what we all learned is that the longer distance gave them enough room and they all jumped it really well.”

Liz has a busy few weeks ahead of her with her string, with all three horses heading next to Carolina International in two weeks’ time. Cooley Nutcracker is preparing for his 5* debut at Kentucky at the end of April, while Cooley Quicksilver will hit the Tryon 4*-L and Miks Master C will do the 4*-S at Kentucky.

Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Shelby Allen.

New Zealand’s Monica Spencer also enjoyed a successful weekend in her first big run since becoming a semi-permanent resident of the U.S. with her off-track Thoroughbred, Artist. Monica sold off most of her horses and moved her operation to the U.S., basing out of Sweet Dixie South in Ocala for the time being and planning to stay here in the States for at least the next two years. Monica is yet another rider here this weekend vying for a coveted Olympic spot, and with a strong performance at World Championships in 2022 as well as the Maryland 5 Star, she’ll certainly be on the map for the Kiwis.

For her efforts with the nippy and good-galloping Artist, Monica also took home awards for Top Rookie and Top Thoroughbred. We’ll see her head for the Defender Kentucky 5* at the end of April, where she’ll stand to make a strong bid for a podium finish there.

Will Coleman, Doug Payne, and Sharon White gather intel before their rides. Photo by Shelby Allen.

In total, 19 of the 30 starting pairs produced clear rounds today, though the 4:18 optimum time proved, as always, difficult to catch. So much so that Canadian rider Waylon Roberts with the Koppin family’s OKE Ruby R were the sole pair to catch the time, finishing bang on it in fact.

Waylon Roberts and OKE Ruby R storm to the sole clear inside the time. Photo by Sally Spickard.

The most influential fences would wind up being the Broken Bridge at 10, which unseated Phillip Dutton from Possante and Sara Kozumplik from Rubens d’Ysieux, the Deirdre Stoker Vaillancourt Corner of Whiskey & Easy at fence 8, which caught out a handful of riders with runouts and also had an activated frangible pin by Boyd Martin and Commando 3. The Aiken Post Office corners (fence 18 and 27) also caused a bit of trouble, unseating Ireland’s Austin O’Connor from Carlson 119, who came up lame on a foreleg but is reported to be uninjured, as is his rider. Austin collected the Annie Goodwin Sportsmanship Award as well.

I look forward to this event every single year, and if you haven’t had a chance to experience it in person I suggest you put it on your bucket list. While of course it’s a much different format than the sport we’re familiar with, it’s an excellent showcase of eventing in a very spectator-friendly way.

Shannon Lilley and Eindhoven Garette catch some air. Photo by Shelby Allen.

“It’s fantastic that Aiken’s got this sort of premiere event,” Boyd Martin concurred. “I think it’s sort of the first proper, big time competition for the season for all the event horses that have been building their fitness up in December, January and February and I think because it’s a short course it doesn’t put any too much too much strain on the horse’s legs.”

The atmosphere here at Bruce’s Field is unrivaled and the energy is electric, and I have to say a big thank you to the organizing team, the Aiken Horse Park Foundation, the incredible sponsors who support this event, and the volunteers who spent their days (especially in the slop yesterday!) helping ensure things ran smoothly.

EN now kicks on for Carolina International, with remote coverage from Bouckaert International’s 4*S next weekend coming your way as well as we look ahead to a very big year. Thank you as always for following along with us — Go Eventing.

$100,000 Conceal Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase at Bruce’s Field (Aiken, SC) [Website] [Final Scores] [Live Stream Replays] [EN’s Coverage] [Ultimate Guide]

We’re pleased to team up with Deirdre Stoker Vaillancourt, with her robust expertise and portfolio of property options in the Aiken area, as the sponsor of our coverage of the Conceal Grand-Prix Eventing Festival at Bruce’s Field. Seasonal or year-round, southern charm and the sporting lifestyle await you in Aiken!