Cooley Master Class, Accepted! All 5* Horses Pass Second Jog, One Spun in 3*

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Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class. Photo by Kate Samuels.

There’s a collective feeling of breath being held on the morning of the second horse inspection at a five-star event — especially after running a brand new cross country track — but as it turned out we needn’t have worried. All 35 horses that presented to the CCI5* ground jury of Angela Tucker (GBR), Martin Plewa (GER) and Mark Weissbecker (USA) this morning were accepted and will move on to show jumping.

Of course everyone was curious to see how Cooley Master Class and Oliver Townend, who maintained their lead in the division after a double clear cross country round yesterday, would fare this morning; particularly after having sadly been spun at this point in the competition at Kentucky in April.

Andrea Baxter’s Indy 500 was the only horse to be asked to jog twice, but then was immediately accepted without being held.

Unfortunately, one horse in the three-star division did not pass inspection: Alina Patterson’s Flashback was sent to the holding box and then was not accepted upon representation. Mia Farley and Phelps were also sent to the hold box but were then accepted without without being asked to represent.

CCI3* show jumping commenced a moment ago, at 10:00 a.m. EST, and a new 2021 USEF CCI3*-L National Champion will be crowned. The exciting conclusion of the five-star division will begin at 1:00 p.m. and will cap off this inaugural Maryland 5 Star.