Classic Eventing Nation

Winner winner! Photo by Jenni Autry.

There’s rising to the occasion under pressure and then there’s riding with the weight of the world on your shoulders. Tamie Smith did both today when she clinched an emotional win in the Dutta Corp/USEF Three-Star Eventing National Championship with Mai Baum.

Tamie has been competing all weekend knowing that her dear friend Dylan Morris’ battle with stage 4 stomach cancer was about to come to an end. Tragically, Dylan lost that battle early this morning. Tamie has said all weekend that she was riding for Dylan. She ultimately gave him the win.

And she won in dominant fashion, leading wire-to-wire in Mai Baum’s first CCI3*. The 9-year-old German Sport Horse gelding owned by Ellen and Alex Ahearn and Eric Markell jumped a beautiful clear round with 2 time penalties today to win on 40.5 — that’s their fourth FEI win in a row.

“He was super,” Tamie said in this afternoon’s press conference. “He’s normally pretty spooky in the ring, and he wasn’t at all. He just went in there and was all business. I’m just really, really proud of the ride, and he jumped fantastic; he jumped his guts out.”

Tamie has worked hard on the show jumping with this horse since pulling two rails at the Pan American Games prep trials at Great Meadow in July, training with Susie Hutchinson and taking “Lexus” to a number of jumper shows to get him comfortable in the ring. “He is a spooky, careful horse, which is what you want, but he just needed to get a bit more seasoned at it,” she said.

So what did it feel like to take the biggest win of her career today? “It’s unbelievable, actually … I’ll never forget the phone call I got from Alex when she said, ‘I have something to tell you, and I think you’re going to like it.’ And we went and met for dinner, and she said, ‘I want you to ride him.’ And I was like, ‘Whoa, let’s think this through, because I don’t know if you know what you’re saying to me right now,'” Tamie said.

“So the second that it was a real thing — that I had a spectacular horse underneath me — it’s been such a pleasure, because I have ridden a lot of difficult type horses throughout my career and some that maybe didn’t have the talent that they needed to have to do the level, but that’s what I had. He’s got everything. He’s the whole package, and it’s just an unbelievable feeling to be sitting on him. I can’t even explain it; it’s unreal. I am blown away every time I ride him.”

Alex Ahearn, one of Mai Baum’s owners and his former rider, gives him some love before the prize giving. Photo by Jenni Autry.

As for what’s next for Lexus, Tamie said it’s too early to be thinking about taking the horse to his first four-star, and instead she’s considering using the free international flight she won today courtesy of Dutta Corp to target a spring CCI3* overseas. Then there’s also Boekelo to consider — “I have a bone to pick with them,” Tamie said. “I’d love to get back there, and I think he’d be competitive there.”

Phillip Dutton said he “probably had the luckiest round today” after Mighty Nice rubbed a couple rails on Sally Ike’s CCI3* course but ultimately left them all up, crossing the timers with 2 time penalties to finish on 45.5 as the Dutta Corp/USEF Three-Star Eventing National Reserve Champions in the horse’s first Fair Hill appearance.

“The show jumping’s been a bit tough for us, but he left them up, and I’m pleased for him,” Phillip said. “It’s one of those things that you take every event and be grateful. He hit his stifle at Kentucky and so he didn’t get to finish, and he got to finish here. He’s got a lot of improving still ahead of him, but he’s a great horse, and I’m lucky to have him.”

Phillip said “Happy,” an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, has become a “family horse” after being owned by his late dear friend Bruce Duchossois. After Bruce’s passing, a special group of Bruce’s friends stepped up to help Phillip keep the horse, and he said he’s grateful to the new owners: Caroline Moran, Annie Jones, Michael Bombar, Kevin Keane and Evie Dutton.

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Fair Hill seems to suit Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border. After finishing as the Two-Star Reserve Champions last year, “Crossy,” an 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by the Cross Syndicate, quietly stalked the top of the leaderboard all weekend in the horse first CCI3*.

Kim and Crossy sat in sixth place after dressage on a score of 46.6, then jumped clear on cross country with just 0.8 time penalties, and jumped one of the seven double clear rounds over Sally Ike’s show jumping course today to finish in third place on a final score of 46.6.

“He really seems to like Fair Hill. He’s really stepped to the plate the two times he’s been here. His dressage was, I thought, very good for him. He got most of his changes, which is huge for us. He could have been a little bit more consistent in his medium trot; he’s not strong enough yet,” Kim said.

“Yesterday he was unreal, and I actually gave him a decent ride, which I don’t say very often. I actually rode the horse well, and he appreciated it. Today he was spectacular. He’s just a lovely, lovely horse, and the mistakes he has had have been green, misunderstanding mistakes. He’s not a naughty, bad horse by any means.”

Like Tamie with Lexus, Kim is thinking of targeting a European three-star in the spring instead of aiming Crossy for his first four-star at Rolex.

Looking to the rest of the leaderboard, Boyd Martin and Steady Eddie moved from seventh to fourth place today thanks to jumping clear and inside the time, and Phillip Dutton finished a second ride in the top five in Tom Tierney and Simon Roosevelt’s Fernhill Cubalawn, who had the middle fence of the triple combination down to finish on 50.8.

That second element of the treble (12b), which was the final part of the course, fell a number of times in the three-star division, as did fence fence, a large white birch oxer at fence three coming off a tight rollback turn from a vertical at fence two.

The following horses and riders also jumped double clear: Marilyn Little and RF West Indie (9th), Ryan Wood and Fernhill Classic (11th), Doug Payne and Vandiver (16th), Lillian Heard and LCC Barnaby (20th), and Colleen Rutledge and Escot 6 (30th).

Boyd Martin finished two more rides in the top 10, with Blackfoot Mystery having two rails down to finish sixth on 52.6 and Crackerjack pulling one rail to finish seventh on 54.2. Buck Davidson and The Apprentice had one down to finish eighth on 57.6. Ryan Wood also had a super weekend, finishing all three of his rides in the top 15 (Frankie, 10th; Fernhill Classic, 11th; McLovin, 14th).

Stay tuned for much more from #DuttaFHI, including a full video of the CCI3* press conference courtesy of Jamie Rees, plus our final thoughts on Fair Hill and a full list of all the award winners from today. Go Eventing.

#DuttaFHI: Website, Final Scores, YEH Final Scores, Schedule, Coldren’s Corner, EN’s Coverage, @eventingnation, EN’s Instagram

Will Coleman and Tight Lines. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Will Coleman watched the CCI2* course for awhile this morning while the first riders took their turns. He watched each fence and each turn, taking mental notes about the tricky questions and formulating a plan.

That plan certainly paid off as Will laid down a flawless round under immense pressure — he had not one rail to spare to clinch the win — to take home the spoils in the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International. The 8-year-old French Thoroughbred gelding owned by the Conair Syndicate laid down the gauntlet in the dressage, earning a 42.5 to take the lead and never let it go.

“It probably wasn’t the smoothest round I’ve ever had on him but he left them up,” Will said. “He tried really hard, I think he was a little bit nervous when he went in and it was probably the worst possible course for him — it was all left turns and long distances. He’s hard to turn left for whatever reason, I don’t know why. He was great.”

Will Coleman and Tight Lines. Photo by Sally Spickard.

“Anytime you win a three-day event, it’s a big deal, especially at the two star level and up,” Will said. “This one has eluded me for a number of years. I’ve been second and third and fourth in the two star and the three star here but I’ve never won it so personally I think it’s an accomplishment. But for this group, they’ve really had to go through a lot of the ups and downs of being an event horse owner and had to endure arguably the worst of the downs when we lost (Conair). They were just humbling and gracious about it, they come to pick me up when I was down and helped me get back on my feet and I’m thrilled for them. It’s a taste of what’s to come.”

Sally Ike’s course was tricky, and the early morning light made for even more difficulty for many. The first fence, a brown vertical, came down often, as did penultimate and final fences. Just under half of the field of 55 jumped clear within the time, and the pressure cooker intensified as we got closer to the top of the division.

Phillip Dutton and Z. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Phillip said yesterday that he thought the partnership with this horse owned by Tom Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Jaccqueline Mars and Suzanne Lacy is still maturing, but he certainly gave us a glimpse of the future this weekend.

Matt Flynn and Get Lucky. Photo by Sally Spickard.

“I imported him as 5-year-old — he was doing some show jumping in Holland,” Matt said. “He was really good this weekend. This is his first year at Intermediate and he won Millbrook and he jumped great today.”

Waylon Roberts was also a mover this weekend, moving from 11th after dressage with Bill Owen to ultimately finish in fourth place. The top four in this division all added nothing to their dressage scores.

Meghan O’Donoghue and Palm Crescent. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Kylie Dermody finished her stellar weekend with a big bang, bringing home all three of her horses home with just one time penalty between them all to finish in the top 20. Kylie’s not had the rides on these horses for all that long, making this weekend all the more impressive. She’ll finish the weekend with DaVinci Code (9th), Lup the Loop (13th), and Sacramento (19th).

A few other awards were also handed out during the prize giving: the Jonathan R. Burton Trophy for the USEF Two-Star Young Horse Eventing National Championship for 6- and 7-year old horses as well as the John H. Fritz Trophy for the USEF Two-Star Young Rider Eventing National Championship.

Z took home the Jonathan R. Burton Trophy with Get Lucky as the reserve and Adrian Jones won the John H. Fritz Trophy with Madeline Backus as the reserve. Kristin Buffamoyer and Jim were awarded the Best Presentation Award.

The CCI2* competition has been tough from the start, and it truly was a hard fought battle to get to the top of the rankings. Congratulations to all! I will continue to add photos tonight so keep checking back as I got almost everyone.

#DuttaFHI: Website, Entries, Live Scores, PRO Tour Radio, YEH Final Scores, Schedule, Coldren’s Corner, EN’s Coverage, @eventingnation, EN’s Instagram

Tamie Smith and Mai Baum. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Tamie Smith and Mai Baum are one step closer to the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International CCI3* win after delivering one of the nine double clear rounds across Derek di Grazia’s cross country course today. It doesn’t seem to matter that Tamie has only campaigned the horse since February, nor that this is the horse’s first CCI3* and it wasn’t exactly an easy day across the board — they just keep getting better.

It’s been something of a fairytale run for this duo since Tamie took over the ride earlier this year for owners Ellen and Alex Ahearn and Eric Markell. Tamie and the 9-year-old German Sport Horse gelding have won three CIC3* events since July, including besting an all-star field at Plantation Field last month.

They had an equally classy, impressive performance today, delivering the second-fastest ride in the CCI3* division to come home 14 seconds inside the time and take their overnight lead on their personal best dressage score of 38.5 — and a rail in hand — forward to tomorrow’s show jumping.

“He was fantastic. I went out of the box and he was a little bit sticky to the first two, and I gave him a little encouragement after that, and then he was right in my hand and galloped around the course,” Tamie said. “I kept looking at my watch and going, “Gosh, I’m 5 seconds over the clock, and now I’m 7 seconds over the clock, and I’m getting a little too far ahead of the clock. But his stride just kept getting bigger, and he was so rideable that I just let him stay in a rhythm. I was thrilled with his ride.”

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice were originally assessed 1.2 time penalties after being held on course before fence 9, but official scoring removed those time penalties to keep them on their dressage score of 43.5. That double clear round has “Happy,” an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Caroline Moran, Annie Jones, Michael Bombar, Kevin Keane and Evie Dutton, sitting in second place overnight in the horse’s first trip to Fair Hill.

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice. Photo by Jenni Autry.

It wasn’t the smoothest start to their round, Phillip said, as they were delayed getting into the start box. “That was a shame, but then you can’t get a better cross country horse than he is. He wouldn’t be the fastest horse I’ve ever had, but he’s just got one speed and he was able to stay and that speed, and he’s got good wind. He kept going and didn’t tire. The conditions were pretty perfect for the horses, too.”

Boyd Martin was very happy after accumulating just 2 time penalties between his CCI3* horses, with his newest ride Blackfoot Mystery leading the way with a double clear round. The 11-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by the Blackfoot Mystery Syndicate moved up two spots on the leaderboard thanks to that effort and now sits in third place on his dressage score of 44.6.

“I think the ground was very fast. It was probably the first time I’ve ever been to Fair Hill where it’s not deep in mud,” Boyd said. “I will say I do think Derek softened it up a wee bit, which I’m not complaining about because it was still very, very difficult. But I thought last year he made it a three-and-a-half-star, and this year was a proper three star. I think if you had a good galloper, then the time was pretty easy to make.”

Just nine horse and rider combinations — about 17 percent of the field — managed to make the optimum time of 10 minutes, and the fact that Boyd was sitting on an off-track Thoroughbred in “Big Red” certainly didn’t hurt. Their time of 9 minutes, 55 seconds was the fourth fastest in the division.

“I think he’s a class horse, and I was so impressed with him today. He’s got unbelievable endurance, and I felt like I was coasting around pretty easy,” Boyd said. “It sort of showed me that he is a proper four-star horse, and we’re still getting to know each other a little bit because we just weren’t quite in sync over a few of the fences, so I think that in maybe another six months we’ll be sweet.”

It was a great day for Boyd, who has all four of his rides sitting in the top 15 (Blackfoot Mystery, 3rd; Crackerjack, 6th; Steady Eddie, 7th; Welcome Shadow, 13th). For that matter, it was a great day for riders hailing from Australia across the board. Phillip also has both his rides in the top five (Mighty Nice, 2nd, and Fernhill Cubalawn, 5th with the fastest time of the day).

Boyd Martin and Blackfoot Mystery. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Fellow Aussie Ryan Wood picked up just 0.8 total time penalties between his three horses, which has them all sitting inside the top 20 (Frankie, 10th; McLovin, 14th; Fernhill Classic, 16th). Those three speedy efforts moved Ryan up a collective total of 53 spots on the three-star leaderboard.

In a great nod to girl power, the only other riders to make the optimum time in the three-star division are all women. Tamie Smith put the pedal down to hold her overnight lead on Mai Baum. Jenny Caras had a cracking round in her second CCI3* with Fernhill Fortitude to move up to 11th place on 55.9, and Erin Sylvester stormed around with Mettraise to move up 25 spots on the leaderboard to 17th.

Looking to the rest of the scores, Kim Severson and the Cross Syndicate’s Cooley Cross Border, who finished second in the CCI2* at Fair Hill last year, jumped clear with 0.8 time penalties in the horse’s first CCI3* to sit in fourth place on 46.6. Buck Davidson and Sherrie Martin’s The Apprentice stayed in eighth place after jumping clear with 6.4 time penalties. Holly Payne Caravella and Bethann Groblewski’s Santino continued their string of good cross country runs with a clear round and 4.4 time penalties.

Just as we didn’t see any serious injuries in the two-star, all three-star horses and riders that fell on course are OK. While More Inspiration was taken off the course in the horse ambulance after he fell with Holly Jacks-Smither at fence 9, Holly confirmed that he is totally fine. Justine Dutton was a bit banged up after her fall from Huck Finn at the Frog Pond fence 6 and withdrew her second ride Jollybo as a result.

Allie Knowles is also OK after falling at the Frog Pond with The Dark Mark, and she later withdrew Sound Prospect, as she said she too was a bit too banged up to ride. Joe Meyer was having a super go on Sanskrit before falling at fence 15 and giving us a bit of a scare, but he returned later in the day to ride Clip Clop to a clear round.

All other horses and riders involved in falls are OK, and you can get a full play-by-play of all the three-star cross country action in our live updates thread. We will still have much more to bring you from #DuttaFHI, including more photos. In the meantime, catch up with our Instagram here and click here to read all of EN’s Fair Hill coverage so far.

#DuttaFHI: Website, Live Scores, YEH Final Scores, Schedule, Coldren’s Corner, EN’s Coverage, @eventingnation, EN’s Instagram