Go Maya! Photo by Jenni Autry.
Good morning from cross country day at The Fork! It’s another brisk, chilly day here in Norwood, North Carolina, which will make for good cross country conditions as horses and riders set out of the start box for their final preparation before Rolex. I’m counting 29 of 51 horses in the CIC3* alone that are heading for either Rolex or Badminton, so this is an important day.
The footing on cross country is quite hard due to a lack of rain in the area recently, and the grounds crew has been aerating and watering the ground to try to provide better going for the horses. With this event being such a critical one in terms of preparation for Kentucky, the consensus from many of the riders is that they intend to use today’s run as a fitness preparation, going as fast as the hard ground will allow.
Click here to tour the CIC3* cross country course with EN’s own Kate Samuels, who provides her thoughts on Tremaine Cooper’s track from a competitor’s perspective. The Fork also produced a drone flyover preview of the course, which also features commentary from Tremaine.
CIC3* cross country starts at 10 a.m. There is no live stream or radio feed this year, but EN will be your boots on the ground to update you on what is happening. Keep refreshing this page for updates from the CIC3*. I also will be running live updates for the Advanced, which starts at 12:45 p.m.
#TheFork: Website, Entry Status, Ride Times, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage, Twitter, Instagram
10: We’re underway! Phillip Dutton and Sportsfield Candy are first on course.
10:05: About 30 seconds over the optimum time for Phillip and Candy with a clear round.
10:07: We have reports coming in from the riders that the ground is still pretty hard, especially on the back part of the course. That’s going to heavily effect whether riders go for time.
10:08: Optimum time is 6 minutes, 39 seconds. Caroline Martin and Spring Easy are also home clear with 11.2 time.
10:11: Allison Springer and Cascani home clear with 12.4 time. Riders are definitely taking it easy with the hard ground so far, but none of the first three horses out of the box are aiming for Rolex.
10:14: Waylon Roberts and Kelecyn Cognac, who are Rolex bound, jump clear with about 12 time penalties.
10:17: Kylie Lyman and Sacramento are home clear with 8 time penalties. That’s the fastest round so far.
10:18: Huge shout out to Brian O’Connor for providing such excellent announcing. It makes my job so much easier to run live updates!
10:19: Jessica Phoenix just made a super save when A Little Romance peeked badly at 9a, the big airy log into the first water. She got it done and made the corner work! Great ride.
10:20: Sydney Conley Elliot and Cisko A are our second fastest so far. Clear with 6 time penalties. A great final prep run for their Rolex debut.
10:24: Allie Knowles and The Dark Mark just had a runout at 16b at the Sunken Road. That’s the first trouble on course so far. They finish with 20 jumping and 7 time.
10:28: Rachel McDonough and Irish Rhythm home clear with 12 time. Another pair heading to Rolex and a cool little OTTB.
10:32: Leslie Law and Tre du Kernat home clear with 14 time penalties. The course is riding very smoothly so far.
10:35: Libby Head and Sir Rockstar are home clear in their final prep run for Badminton!
10:38: Caroline Martin finishes clear and 35 seconds over the time with Pebbly Maximus, a great run in his first FEI competition back since sustaining an injury at this event last year.
10:41: Clear with 5.6 time penalties for Phillip Dutton on Fernhill Cubalawn, his second ride of the day.
10:42: Philippa Humphreys has retired Sir Donovan at fence 13, the coffin.
10:47: Lisa Marie Fergusson and Honor Me are home clear with 3.2 time. This is another pair gearing up for their Rolex debut.
10:48: Buck Davidson has pulled up Ballynoe Castle RM after the Sunken Road at fence 16. Both of them are ok and trotting off the course.
10:53: Just 3.6 time for Kurt Martin and Delux Z. A super clear round for this Rolex Rookie pair!
10:55: Bentley’s Best took a hard look at 9a with Jessica Phoenix, the big log into the first water, and then glanced off to the right of the big brush corner at B.
10:56: About 8 time for Will Faudree and Hans Dampf. That’s another clear round over Tremaine Cooper’s course, which is running in reverse direction this year.
10:57: Nilson Moreira da Silva and Muggle have had a runout at the mound complex at fence 6.
11: Jessica Phoenix and Bentley’s Best have completed with 20 jumping penalties.
11:02: Nilson and Muggle complete with 20 jumping and I believe 20 seconds over.
11:04: Colleen Rutledge and Escot 6 fell at fence 9c, the duck at the first water, when the horse tried to squeeze in a final stride before the jump. They are both up and ok and walking back to stabling.
11:09: Jon Holling and Kildalton Cooley pick up a stop at the keyhole on top of the mound at 6a.
11:10: Katherine Coleman and Longwood are home clear and inside the time! Our first double clear!
11:14: Jon Holling has retired Kildalton Cooley on the back of the course.
11:18: Clear and 31 seconds over the time for Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive. That’s his third clear round of the day in this division.
11:19: Caroline Martin has withdrawn Center Stage.
11:20: Jennie Brannigan and Catalina are home clear in a time of 7:13.
11:23: I’m also posting photos to EN’s Instagram during cross country, so don’t forget to check that!
11:27: Sara Kozumplik Murphy and Fly Me Courageous’ time has been corrected. They are our second pair of the CIC3* to make the time!
11:28: Allison Springer and Mr Sydney Rocks and Sharon White and Cooley on Show are also home clear with time penalties.
11:31: Catchascatchcan stopped at fence 9a, the big log into the first water. Sara Kozumplik Murphy fell off but is ok. Both horse and rider are ok and Catch has been safely caught.
11:36: Eliza Farren and Bantry Bays Dublin have picked up two refusals at fence 11, the aqueduct jump into water at the Turtle Pond. They are clear on the third attempt.
11:38: Kylie Lyman and Lup the Loop are home clear and just 1 second over the time! This pair won the Advanced at Carolina two weeks ago.
11:39: Eliza and Bantry Bays Dublin have their third refusal on course at the coffin at fence 16. That is elimination, sadly.
11:44: Waylon Roberts is home clear with Bill Owen, his second ride in the division. 43 seconds over the time.
11:45: Sara Moore and Polaris pick up a runout at 6b, the first angled brush coming off the mound. They are clear on their second attempt.
11:47: Kim Severson and Fernhill Fearless are home clear with 1.2 time penalties, which will move them way up the leaderboard. Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn are currently leading, but there’s still plenty of action to come!
11:51: Sara and Polaris complete with 20 jumping in a time of 7:24.
11:52: Allie Knowles has withdrawn Sound Prospect.
11:53: Phillip Dutton and Indian Mill finish in a time of 6:58, which is his personal fastest round so far. That’s 7.6 time, so he’s now in first and second. He now has delivered four clear rounds in this division.
11:55: Justine Dutton just had a great save at the duck at 9c with Huck Finn. Well sat!
11:56: Just 3.2 time for Meadowbrook’s Scarlett and Lauren Kieffer for their super clear round. That moves them into third place provisionally.
11:59: Justine and Huck Finn are home clear with time penalties.
12:02: Anita Gilmour and Acrobat are home clear in a time of 7:26. We’re getting ready to head into the top 10!
12:05: Boyd Martin and Crackerjack finish clear with 2 time penalties. Crackers is rocking a very stylish pink FLAIR nasal strip.
12:07: Live scores are now popping up on EventEntries.com, so you can get accurate time penalties there!
12:08: Will Faudree and Pfun go clear with just 1.6 time to shoot up the leaderboard! He also jumped clear with Hans Dampf earlier in the division.
12:09: Current top four: Phillip and Fernhill Cubalawn, Phillip and Indian Mill, Lauren and Meadowbrook’s Scarlett, Will and Pfun.
12:11: Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High are clear and home in 6:54, 15 seconds over.
12:14: Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti finish clear and 28 seconds over for 11.2 time penalties.
12:18: Ellie MacPhail and RF Eloquence have had two runouts at fence 6, the Uwharrie Bank Complex at the mound. She has elected to retire.
12:20: Lynn Symansky and Donner are home safe and clear in a time of 7:16, 37 seconds over. Shout out to her dad Steve, who is following along from Bahrain!
12:22: Covert Rights just took a giant Superman leap over fence 9a, the big log jump into the first water. This Clydesdale/Thoroughbred homebred owned and ridden by Colleen Rutledge is a cool dude.
12:25: Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights are home clear and inside the time! That’s our third double clear round of the day and moves her into the lead with just three horses left to come.
12:28: Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice are home clear 16 seconds over. That gives them 6.4 time penalties to slot into 2nd place behind Colleen and CR.
12:30: Lauren Kieffer and Veronica and overnight leaders Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair are sharing the course as the final two in the CIC3*.
12:32: Clear and 3 seconds over for Lauren Kieffer and Veronica to take the lead. Only Maya and Cody can dethrone them.
12:34: Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair home clear inside the time by 13 seconds to WIN! Lauren Kieffer and Veronica finish in second, with Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights in third.
National du Pas and Blake Park at Ocala. Photo courtesy of JJ Sillman.
