Courtney Cooper and Who's A Star are the new leaders in the CIC3* at The Fork.
Courtney Cooper and Who’s A Star are your new leaders in the CIC3* at The Fork after the first wave of morning dressage tests. Who’s A Star, an Irish Sport Horse gelding, was spooking at the large rain puddles around the dressage arena and looked like he might not settle before going in. But he relaxed beautifully to put in a really lovely test for a 47.9, which puts Courtney and Who’s A Star just in front of Jessica Phoenix and Patras VR. While there are deep puddles around the edges of the arenas, the footing inside the arenas looks fantastic considering how much rain fell yesterday.
Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz scored a 60.9 for 15th place.
Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz started things off this morning in the CIC3*. Colleen and Luke are now third on the wait list to get into Badminton — so close! If she can’t get into Badminton, we’ll have the privilege of seeing them run at Rolex later this month. Luke looked very eager to start his canter work after coming out of the rein back, but he waited and listened to Colleen. He struggled a bit to hold the counter canter, but overall this was a very nice test for this pair; they scored a 60.9 to move into 15th place. I’ll be keeping an eye on the wait list for Badminton — as I’m sure Colleen is — and will keep you updated on whether we’ll be seeing them at Kentucky.
Michael Pollard and Mensa are tied for fourth on a 49.6 in the CIC3*.
Michael Pollard and Mensa earned quite a bit of attention earlier this season when they scored a 17.6 in intermediate at Ocala. Mensa’s tests are always relaxed, fluid and a pleasure to watch. The Thoroughbred gelding didn’t disappoint today, looking very consistent throughout. Aside from one slight bobble in the lead change at the end of the test, I thought the ride looked really lovely. Michael and Mensa scored a 49.6 to sit tied for fourth with Phillip Dutton and Atlas. Sally Cousins and Tsunami III — who we will be seeing at Rolex — wrapped up the last of the morning rides I watched. The changes in particularly looked very quiet and smooth, as you’ll see in the video below. Sally and Sue scored a 53.7 for 10th place.
Current scores in the CIC3* at The Fork
