Just five riders rode in the final group in the first day of dressage in Fair Hill CCI2*, and Danielle Dichting and The Graduate made their performance a test to remember, scoring 47.2 to hold fourth place overnight. Danielle also had a very good performance in the dressage at Fair Hill last year with Tops, who she’s since sold. Now she’s working to form a partnership with The Graduate, a lovely Germany gelding who has a lot of talent in this phase. They both have a lot of experience at this level, and I expect to see them sitting in a good position come Saturday.
Halfway through the CCI2* division, Boyd Martin and Pancho Villa hold first place on a 41.4, with Sharon White and Under Suspection in second on a 43.9, and Leslie Law and Billy Wiz in third place on a 44.2. Nine riders cracked the 40s today, and I expect we’ll see many more good scores tomorrow. Unfortunately, I’ll be focusing on the CCI3* dressage tomorrow, so I apologize in advance to the two-star riders who won’t enjoy the same coverage as today’s riders. It’s still a beautiful day at Fair Hill, and the 4-year-olds are still performing their dressage tests for the USEA Young Event Horse East Coast Championships.
The top three riders in the CCI2* joined us for a press conference following the conclusion of dressage, so stay tuned for my report from that. The top riders in the YEH Championships will also be joining us at 5 p.m., so stay tuned for more on that too. I have to send a big shout out to the officials and volunteers who helped the first day here at Fair Hill run so smoothly; we’re off to a great start to the weekend. CCI3* dressage starts bright and early at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning and runs through 4:20 p.m., so it will be another full day of coverage. Go Fair Hill.
Fair Hill Links: [Website] [Dressage Times] [Live Scores]