Classic Eventing Nation

Alexandra MacLeod and Newmarket Jack. Photo by Kim Miller.

Emotions ran as high as the show jumping fences in Saturday’s conclusion of the Galway Downs Fall International FEI divisions. First time 4* Long contender and new California resident Alexandra MacLeod won with Newmarket Jack, far surpassing her goal of simply making the time on cross-country. That double clear yesterday put Alexandra in third, and she repeated the double clears over Marc Donovan’s stadium course in front of a full house of fans. Clear show jumping is a norm for the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse, but what came next was brand new for Alexandra.

Quiet fell as James Alliston and Paper Jam dropped two rails, while overnight leader and Tokyo Olympic reserve rider Tamie Smith watched from the in-gate aboard the seasoned superstar Fleeceworks Royal. They had one rail in hand, but not two, and that one fell at the first element of the 8ABC triple combination. Tamie had just won the 3*-L on MaiTänzer and her dominance out West, on multiple horses, is so long standing it was a shock.

Alexandra MacLeod and Newmarket Jack. Photo by Kim Miller.

Suddenly, Alexandra’s name was on everybody’s lips, especially as word circulated that she’s achieved this level of the sport while earning her veterinary degree and entering practice. She’s had Jack for seven years, starting with him while based with Phillip Dutton back East. Jack is “part of the family,” chimed in Carla MacLeod, Alexandra’s head groom while visiting from their family farm in Virginia.

As a veterinarian, Alexandra said Jack’s victory reward will be plenty of time outdoors, on grass and “just being a horse,” at his new barn in Malibu. “That’s what I always think is the best.” As for juggling a major career with high level equestrian sport, Alexandra says prioritizing is critical. So is loving it, “because you do sacrifice a lot.” It also helps having the horsemanship base she developed during several years focused seriously on horses and working with Dutton and his ilk. Not needing much sleep is handy, too.

Tamie and Fleeceworks Royal finished second. She was dashed over rails in what looked like a very smooth round and unhappy not to deliver a win for the mare who’d been waiting in the wings during her Olympic odyssey. Tamie praised the winner’s performance. “Maybe I shouldn’t have helped her,” she joked of giving Alexandra some lessons and cross-country insights earlier in the week.

James and Paper Jam also had two rails to finish third. Rebecca Braitling and Caravaggio II finished fourth and young rider Sophie Click and Quidproquo’s double clear moved them from 8th to 5th in their impressive debut at the level. Canadian Pan Am team bronze medalist Dana Cooke and FE Mississippi had an uncharacteristic four rails to finish in 6th place.

The original field of 11 was whittled to six by the final day after two falls and two eliminations on cross-country, and James Alliston’s withdraw of his second 4* entry, Czechers.

Tamie Smith and Mai Tänzer. Photo by Kim Miller.

CCI3*-L: Smith, Alliston & Sanborn Stay Atop The Standings

Tamie Smith always wants to win, so two rails in the 4* may not have been offset by winning the 3* with MaiTänzer. It was a wire-to-wire cruise for the pair who stayed on their 31.9 dressage start. They tackled the stout jumping track as elegantly and efficiently as equitation medal finals winners from the hunter/jumper world. As on cross-country, the 8-year-old German Sport Horse locked in on each fence and cleared them with little apparent effort.

“I don’t feel he could have jumped any better today,” Tamie said. “He’s always been a very naturally good jumper. I’ve worked with (Australian Olympian) Scott Keach this past year a ton to become a better show jump rider and be better in my distances. I think it showed today. He jumped in a good shape and was still very relaxed and with good power.”

James Alliston and the 7-year-old Canadian Sport Horse, Nemesis, also jumped double clear to retain their second spot, finishing on their 32.4 dressage score.

Young Rider Audrey Sanborn and OBOS Quality Time closed out a terrific competition in third place overall. They also topped the Adequan USEF Youth Eventing Team Challenge West Coast Final in this division and earned the Mia Erickson Memorial Trophy as the top placed 3* Young Rider.

In a mock press conference that is part of the Youth Team Challenge program, Audrey said she was especially pleased with how “Diesel’s” bold nature helped them out over Friday’s tough cross-country course. “Being new to the 3*-L, I was really happy with how he came out.” Audrey praised the YTC as an excellent program for those with the right horse for it. “It was super fun and really added to the atmosphere here.”

Taren Hoffos and Regalla. Photo by Kim Miller.

CCI2*-L: Hoffos, Smith-Cook & Grandia Finish Top 3

Professional Taren Hoffos could not contain her emotions as she crossed the timers knowing she and Regalla had just won their first CCI2*-L. Just as in dressage and cross-country, the 10-year-old Oldenburg did as she was asked with enthusiasm and talent. “She really listens and always asks me what’s next,” Taren said. Regalla was purchased in utero by Taren’s mother, Carolyn Hoffos. “We’ve had our eyes on her her whole life and nothing bad has ever happened to her,” Taren explained of one reason for the horse’s trust. “We also have a really good relationship on the ground, which we work on all the time. I think that translates to when I ride her. I think it helps that I am in charge of her and I also work with her a lot.”

An eventing organizer herself, at the Hoffos’ Copper Meadows in Ramona, Taren appreciated the electric atmosphere of show jumping in the Grand Prix Arena ringed with VIP tents and grandstands. “Regalla wasn’t fazed by that, but that stuff tends to light her up in a good way.” One of her coaches, Buck Davidson, had advised her to try to get a rub in the warm-up arena, but the atmosphere was such that “there was no way that was going to happen,” Taren recounted with a laugh.

Taren credited a month spent at Buck’s Pennsylvania base with “kickstarting the whole fall season to be so successful.” The local support of Canadian Olympian Hawley Bennett-Awad has been equally important.

Taren and Regalla were flawless over three days to win on their 26.1 dressage score. Kaylawna Smith-Cook and AEV Above Authority, an 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse, were second on a 27.4 and Marc Grandia and Hyacinth, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood, were third on a 27.8.

California: Primed For Growth

United States Eventing Association president Rob Burk has been on site since opening day Thursday. Not kicking back in the VIP area, but in the field volunteering as a dressage scribe and all day Friday as ring steward for cross-country at the FEI and other levels. As a California native, he’s always been fond of the West Coast eventing scene. His current appreciation for what’s going on in the region is drawn from its positive influence on the national eventing scene.

“California has the most USEA members of any state, so it’s always been important to USEA. Plus, with the right infrastructure, it’s one of our areas that is most primed for growth. I think Galway Downs creates that lynchpin in that it’s a premier facility as we are looking toward the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. I think it is going to be a proving ground for probably a fair number of athletes. I think some of the smarter riders from other countries will see it as a good place to get acclimated to the West Coast scene: the footing, the weather, etc.

“Robert and his whole team have put their heart, soul and dollars into the facility and the events,” Rob continued. “It shows.”

What’s Next:

The Grand Prix Arena and heightened atmosphere are turned over to show jumping in the three special Challenge divisions Sunday, starting with Modified Training at 9 a.m. The new Challenges are an evolution of the Preliminary Challenge first staged by Robert Kellerhouse in 2009 at The Horse Park at Woodside. Now in their second year at the Galway Downs Fall International, the Modified-Training, Training-Novice and Novice-Beginner Novice Challenges are designed to develop, encourage and celebrate horses and riders gradually advancing up the levels. They were popular out of the box here last year and even more so this year.

Thank You Sponsors!

The Galway Downs team thanks its generous sponsors for enhancing the Fall International, including Adequan for making the Adequan USEF Eventing Youth Team Challenge West Coast Finals a special event for tomorrow’s stars.

Galway Downs’ sponsors are Auburn Laboratories, Shires, Kerrits, Uvex, Equifit, Zarasyl, Ride On Video, San Dieguito Equine Group, Stotz, Temecula Creek Inn, Symons and Geranium.

Galway Downs International (Temecula, Ca.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Schedule] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

Tamie Smith and Fleeceworks Royal. Photo by Sally Spickard.

“It’s all about what happens in the moment,” said Clayton Fredericks of how yesterday’s international cross-country tracks could be successfully navigated. There were many moments with many things happening on courses that fulfilled Fredericks’ mandate to build them fully up to the international standard.

Seven of 11 starters finished the CCI4*-L track successfully, with two falls and two eliminations. Even though the West Coast has fewer entries than elsewhere, those in the hunt are seeking World Championship and/or 5* qualifying scores and experience, Clayton noted. As such, it’s not right to make the courses anything less than what they’d face should those ambitions pan out.

Judith McSwain’s Fleeceworks Royal is fully back on form, reported a happy Tamie Smith after finishing the big and technical 4*-L route with only a few time faults. “It was a bit relentless,” she reflected. “You needed a horse that loves her job and is experienced at it.” Tamie has brought the now 12-year-old Holsteiner along since she was 3. Even with a gap in their time together the last 18 months as Tamie went to the Olympics and Europe, their partnership made relatively easy work of efforts that required setting a line and sticking with it and positive approaches to imposing obstacles from start to finish.

In the lead after a 24.9 dressage test, Tamie had some potential mental challenges before setting out with her second ride in the division. She and the promising star Elliot-V had a fall at the angled 4AB Pony Pond, an early challenge Clayton described as a wake-up call for what was ahead. Then, she and Fleeceworks Royal had to hold in the start box when Amber Birtcill and Cinzano took a spill at another difficult angled water obstacle, this one at 9AB. (Amber and Cinzano are OK.)

Their own pass through the Pony Pond was a bit rough, but otherwise Fleeceworks Royal handled everything like the World Championships candidate Tamie considers her to be. The time penalties were right where Tamie expected. “She needs more runs,” the rider explained of not putting pedal fully to metal this time out. “There’s no substitute for competing.” The resulting time faults brought their score to a 30.5, with a rail in hand for show jumping.

James Alliston and Paper Jam. Photo by Sally Spickard.

James Alliston and Paper Jam jumped up from 6th to 2nd by picking up only a 2 time penalties on cross-country. Steering can be an issue with the 12-year-old Hanoverian owned by James’ wife Helen Alliston. That added degrees of difficulty to a route with many bending turns, but James appreciated the practice and Paper Jam’s honest nature. “If I can line him up right, he’s honest and he’s a fast and a good jumper.”

Echoing comments of his fellow riders, James described the course as tough to the very last. In fact, at the 23AB Skinny Hedge and Corner (of 26 obstacles), Paper Jam nicked a flag at the B element, but it was cleared on review for no jumping faults. They go into show jumping on a 35.2.

The 23B element was also a bugaboo for Czechers, James’ second mount in the division. This rising star, another of James’ many chestnuts, had an uncharacteristic run-out.

Alexandra MacLeod and Newmarket Jack were the only pair to finish under the course’s 10-minute time limit, helping them move up from 7th to 3rd on their 37 dressage score. The new-to-California rider from the East is thrilled with today’s effort, especially as they’ve attained this level while she earned her veterinary degree. She and Jack are a seven-year partnership that began when she was a working student for Phillip Dutton. Now based in Los Angeles, she appreciated recent fine tuning and a course walk with Tamie Smith.

Alexandra’s only disappointment was assuring her visiting mom that the “courses out here will be softer than what I did at Fair Hill in Maryland. Instead, it was right up to that level!” Alexandra and Newmarket Jack stand 3rd.

Smith, Alliston & Sanborn lead the CCI3*-L

Double clears today moved Tamie Smith and James Alliston into one-two standings in this division, too, but there’s less wiggle room than in the 4*-L.

“We weren’t in the market for another horse,” Tamie says of MaiTänzer. “But because of COVID, he happened to be on a bit of deal, so we got him. He’s a bit green, having just done his first CCI3*, and I’m a little rusty on riding him, but he made the course feel easy. He reads the jumps well and he just zips around.”

Alliston Equestrian’s 7-year-old Canadian Sport Horse, Nemesis, has been “part of the family” since he was a yearling, James explains. After winning his first 3* at Rebecca Farm this summer, Nemesis continues to fulfill early promise as the pairs moves up from 9th to 2nd.

It’s close, though. Tamie and MaiTänzer have a 31.9. James and Nemesis have a 32.4, and Audrey Sanborn and OBOS Quality Time added only 2.4 time penalties to be third on a 33.3.

Even after excelling on today’s tough tracks, there’s no big sigh of relief, Tamie explains. “Show jumping is where it’s all won and lost,” she said of her standing in the 4* and 3*s. “I never take anything for granted.”

Taren Hoffos and Regalla. Photo by Kim Miller.

Hoffos, Gorin & Smith-Cook Atop the CCI2*-L

With less than one rail separating the top six contenders, nobody will be taking anything for granted in this division either as they head into the atmospheric Grand Prix ring for show jumping. The top three are the same as after dressage: Professional Taren Hoffos holds the lead with her mother Carolyn Hoffos’ 10-year-old Oldenburg mare Regalla; 16-year-old Rhiannon Gorin and CSF Handsome are second on 26.7 and professional Kaylawna Smith-Cook and AEV Above Authority are third on a 27.

A Rider’s Perspective on Course Design

A 5* competitor himself, Clayton Fredericks said he was happy with how the courses rode and felt they posed the right tests at each level. “I always ask myself, ‘If I was on a horse at this level, would this be fair to me?” Today’s courses were exactly that, he said. “As a course designer, we are always trying to create situations where the horse jumps well and safely.” He was gratified to see riders take a variety of striding and track options in several places — “reacting to what’s happening in the moment.”

What’s Next: After an 8 a.m. trot up, the international divisions conclude tomorrow with jumping in reverse order of their standings. The 2* is at 10:25; the 3* at 12:45; and the 4* at 2:15. Horse Trials and Challenge contenders continue with cross-country and finish with show jumping on Sunday.

Thank You Sponsors!

The Galway Downs team thanks its generous sponsors for enhancing the Fall International, including Adequan for making the Adequan USEF Eventing Youth Team Challenge West Coast Finals a special event for tomorrow’s stars.

Galway Downs’ sponsors are Auburn Laboratories, Shires, Kerrits, Uvex, Equifit, Zarasyl, Ride On Video, San Dieguito Equine Group, Stotz, Temecula Creek Inn, Symons and Geranium.

Galway Downs International (Temecula, Ca.): [Website] [Entry Status] [Schedule] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]