Classic Eventing Nation

Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Marilyn Little‘s partner RF Scandalous has been tucked away on the shelf for much of the past year. After an injury sidelined the mare in the lead-up to the 2018 World Equestrian Games, they’ve been MIA while the mare rested and, ultimately, recovered. Ocala Jockey Club International Three-Day Event marks their international comeback, and they pair has come roaring back to form in the first phase, taking the CCI4*-S lead on 24.4.

“I can’t tell you how much fun it is to ride her here and have her back,” Marilyn says of the 14-year-old Oldenburg mare (Carry Gold x Richardia, by Lario), owned by Ms. Jacqueline Mars and Phoebe and Michael Manders. The latter missed today’s competition but will be here to cheer the mare on this weekend. “When you’ve lost something and you get it back, it’s really cool so this is a really special weekend for me. It’s been a long road. There’s been an incredible team of people that have helped get her back here.”

Marilyn says “Kitty” was all business today, although their test was plenty effervescent. “She was very excited — she was calm right up until the last moment she went in and got a little excited in the atmosphere,” she says. “Two years ago we were here, and that translated into not such a great test, and she’s just become so mature and such a great partner that she went in and did her job like she always does … She did everything I hoped she would and kept a lid on the excitement.”

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

The pair’s preparations have been relatively light: a couple Prelim horse trials, an Advanced combined test, and a show jumping dress rehearsal at the Duke Horse Show in Raleigh, North Carolina en route to Florida (Marilyn won the Grand Prix with Karen O’Connor’s horse Clearwater). They knocked the cross country rust off at Liz Halliday-Sharp’s facility upon arrival. “I just have to rely a bit on the fact that she thinks she knows what she’s doing out there,” Marilyn says. “She has gotten to have a few outings, but not the steady preparation for an event like we would normally like to have.”

Certainly, the pair has experience in spades, including but not limited to a 3rd place finish at Kentucky in 2018, a 4th at Luhmühlen in 2017, and a win at Fair Hill in 2016.

“This is her first big event back,” Marilyn says. “In all fairness to her, the last big event she was preparing for was the Worlds and before that it was Kentucky. They absolutely know when it’s a big weekend and when it’s just a practice weekend, and she had a very big sense of that. I think she thought she was going in to a championship level event this weekend. She felt like it was that kind of day.

“It’s great that I’m back at an event with this horse. She’s such a special horse for me, so it’s wonderful to be back at an event, but it’s even better being back with a best friend, it’s that much more fun. For me, if I didn’t have this horse I wouldn’t be eventing so I event for her because I love her and it didn’t really make sense for me to be at them without her.”

Sara Kozumplik Murphy and Rubens D’Ysieux. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Sara Kozumplik Murphy and Rubens D’Ysieux, a 14-year-old Selle Français gelding (Balougran x Davidoff Silver Shadow, by Mr Blue) owned by the Rubens D’Ysieux Syndicate, are 2nd on 32.5.

This pair is something of a comeback story as well, as the horse has been recovering from colic surgery in April. “I haven’t really dealt with that before — he’s never been sick ever and I’ve actually never had a horse that had to go through that,” Sara says. “I’ve just been sort of taking my time making sure he feels good and playing it one day at a time but he honestly feels really good, I was very happy with him, he feels very strong.”

Their last international outing was the Bromont CCI4*-L in 2018, where they finished 8th.

Sara says, “He’s always a competitor, he’s a very kind horse, he’s a sassy horse, so I never have to worry from that perspective because he doesn’t like to be embarrassed. He’s a really, really good boy.”

She admits she was a bit surprised at their score, that she thought she’d be a couple marks lower. Her serpentine may not have been accurate enough, she reckons, and she may have lost some ground on her halt and reinback. “But I couldn’t have been happier with the horse,” she says. “He was super so I can’t really get too fussed about it.”

Looking forward to cross country, Sara says, “I’m expecting a nice course, they’re always really good courses here at the Jockey Club, it’s amazing terrain and it’s a proper galloping cross country place.”

Rebecca Brown with Dassett Choice. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Rounding out the top three is Rebecca Brown with Dassett Choice, her own 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Caricello x Vilja), on 34.7.

“It’s his second Advanced,” Rebecca says. “Actually, I didn’t love (my ride). He can really do a kind of amazing test, and I had two little blips but we’ve been working really hard and so obviously even that was still pretty competitive. I was obviously still pleased, but always knowing you can do better, right?”

Rebecca shared her first impressions of the cross country course: “The short does look nice, a little bit friendlier than the long which I appreciate. They always present it so well and I feel like it always rides really well.”

Alyssa Phillips and Oskar. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Alyssa Phillips and Oskar are 4th on 35.1, and Jessica Phoenix and Humble GS are 5th on 35.7.

Elsewhere, in the CCI3*-L, Leslie Law and Zick Zack have the overnight lead on 30.5. In the CCI2*-L Buck Davidson with Cooley Candyman and Will Coleman with Steam Engine are in equal first on 27.9. Dressage for those divisions continues Friday at 8 a.m. The CCI4*-L begins at 10:20 a.m.

Much more to come, stay tuned. Go Eventing!

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CCI4*-S Top 10 After Dressage:

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

You know that feeling when you’ve just nailed your dressage test and it’s like BOOM!!!!

(I don’t know that feeling, personally, but hopefully you do.)

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Segway to adorable pic of the Coleman fam.

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

A hard act to follow, but these pups are pretty stinking cute, too:

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Good vibes are in the air here at Ocala Jockey Club International Three-Day Event, taking place through the week here in Reddick, Florida.

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

CCI4*-S dressage completed today, and CCI2*-L and CCI3*-L are back for more tomorrow along with the CCI4*-L. We’ve got a full report on the day forthcoming shortly, but thought we’d share a little teaser photo gallery by the great Shannon Brinkman as an appetizer.

Much more to come. Go Eventing!

#OJC3DE: Website, Schedule, Entries,  Ride Times, Dressage Order of Go, Live Scores, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

Ocala Jockey Club is hosting a CCI4*-L division for the second year in a row and their faith in the division has grown with entries nearly triple of last year. In fact, the division is the second largest 4*-L field in North America for 2019, behind only the final run of the Fair Hill 4*-L. With the weather sunny and warmer than the rest of the country this time of year, this is an absolutely stunning crown jewel in America’s repertoire of qualifiers for the 5* level.

The stunning Ocala Jockey Club in Reddick, Florida. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The Venue

• This marks only the second running of the long format at this venue but the field this year is more than 2.5 times the size of last year’s, with 32 pairs slated to come down the jog strip, up from 12 last year.
• Good flatwork is historically rewarded in the 4* divisions, both short and long. Of 79 starters in three years, 22.8% of pairs have scored sub-thirty.
• Not only did no one make the time in this division last year, no one even came home inside of 10 seconds of optimum. The fastest pair was Lauren Kieffer on Paramount Importance, who finished ten seconds over; she’s back this year with Landmark’s Monte Carlo, who owns a deserved reputation as one of the fastest long format horses in the U.S.
• No one has yet won a 4* division at OJC without also jumping a clear round on stadium day.

Dressage Divas

Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti. Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

• It’s not often that a pair is profiled without having any starts together at the level, but Phillip Dutton has now had more than a month to get to know Boyd Martin’s mount Long Island T. In three starts at A/4* this year, the gelding hasn’t scored lower than 74% with Boyd Martin; pairing with Phillip for the first time at the level should still result in a score at least breaking into the twenties.
• If it feels like we’ve been talking about Pavarotti’s chops on the flat forever it’s because we have: the gelding has 28 prior A/4* starts with Jessica Phoenix, dating back to 2013. He hasn’t clocked in a score less than 70% at this level in more than two years.
• Lynn Symansky brings forth RF Cool Play, who took a break from the A/4* level this year to focus on the Pan American Games. He returns to the 4* level this weekend, and his average of 30.4 in four starts during 2018 is good enough to be one of the three best 2018/2019 dressage averages in the field.
• Copper Beach has had a bit of a large range over the past two years; his best score in that timeframe of 26.7 rivals some of the best scores of the field but he and Buck Davidson have also scored in the thirties at every FEI they’ve done in that time range.
• Mara dePuy has always been known for her mad skills on the flat, but hasn’t quite gotten Congo Brazzaville C to a consistent twenties score. Despite leading the pack at Fair Hill after the first phase, these two have yet to score in the twenties at two consecutive events despite breaking that mark in 30% of their starts over the last two years.

Cross Country Machines

Amber Levine and Carry On. Photo by Sherry Stewart.

• Amber Levine is here from the West Coast with her ride Carry On, a horse whose turn of foot has helped net him top two finishes in both of his starts this year. This pair clocked in times that were either the fastest run of the day or inside the optimum time in their last four consecutive clear outings, and finished inside the time at their only 4*-L start together, a completion on their dressage score at Galway Downs in 2016.
• Landmark’s Monte Carlo has completed five clear rounds at the 4*-L level; he’s been inside the time twice and has never finished more than four seconds over optimum time with Lauren Kieffer.
• Erin Sylvester has never been a stranger to speed with any of her 5* horses and Campground, a Thoroughbred with two previous 4*-L completions under his belt, is quick as well. In his last four runs, he’s averaged only 6.5 seconds off the pace.
• Cooley On Show returns to the level with Sharon White after a break following Kentucky this year. This pair has finished inside the time in two of their four completions at 4/5*-L.
• Landmark’s Monaco with Kimmy Cecere and Victor Z with Kate Brown are both horses to keep an eye on in their first 4*-L starts; although each has had some bobbles at the A/4* levels, they’ve each been fast when running clear at the A/4*-S formats.

Show Jumping Powerhouses

Mara DePuy and Congo Brazzaville C. Photo by Shelby Allen.

• In three 4*-L completions, Congo Brazzaville C and Mara dePuy have had a time penalty or two, but never a rail. In fact, they’ve never had a rail in the seven rounds they’ve jumped when cross country was before stadium.
• Victor Z isn’t just a potentially quick horse in the second phase; he also is a very careful jumper. He and Kate Brown have yet to have a rail in six stadium rounds at the level.
• Lisa Marie Fergusson and Honor Me have three 4*-L completions together and have yet to add any penalties on the final day to their score.
• RF Cool Play jumped clear in his only 4*-L completion; in fact, he and Lynn Symansky have never had a stadium penalty in four career A/4* starts for the Pan American runner-up.
• Sydney Solomon and Early Review CBF are making their first 4*-L career start but after three clear stadium rounds in three A/4* starts, they will be looking forward to stadium day.

PREDICTED WINNER: Lynn Symansky and RF Cool Play

Lynn Symansky and RF Cool Play (USA). Photo by Shannon Brinkman.

• Buck Davidson and Copper Beach
• Amber Levine and Carry On
• Phillip Dutton and Long Island T
• Sharon White and Cooley On Show

#OJC3DE: Website, Schedule, Entries,  Ride Times, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram