Daryl Kinney Wins Virginia CIC2*, Auburn Leads Intercollegiate Championship

Daryl Kinney and Rosie’s Girl. Photo by Carla Duran for Brant Gamma Photography.

It’s the last day of the Virginia Horse Trials CCI/CIC and Horse Trials and third annual USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship! The CIC2* division wrapped up their competition yesterday while the intercollegiate competition heated up.

Daryl Kinney earned her first international win with Denny Emerson’s 12-year-old Thoroughbred mare, Rosie’s Girl. They progressed up the leaderboard after each phase of competition to ultimately win the CIC2* on a final score of 34.7.

“I’m so excited! She was amazing,” Daryl said. The pair added only 2.8 time penalties to their dressage score of 31.9. Daryl has been working hard to improve their partnership on the flat and be brave show jumping, but cross country has always been this pair’s forte.

“She’s always looking for the next fence,” Daryl said. “She was perfect and everything I asked her to do she did. Any distance I asked, she was there.”

“In show jumping I tend to ride a little too conservatively and often get time faults. Since I was in third I thought I’d go for it and make the distances happen and be forward and positive. [Rosie] warmed up perfectly and she was right on in the ring.”

This was Daryl’s first trip to Virginia Horse Trials and she plans to return with Rosie for the October CCI2*. “I’m blown away by how beautiful it is [here]. The facility is amazing, the courses are beautiful. Everything is so nice.”

Alexandra Green and her 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse, The Fernhill Fox, led the CIC2* through the first two phases on a combined score of 30.6. Eight time penalties across the country dropped them to second in their international debut as a pair. Rachel Walks and her 9-year-old Irish gelding, Great Expectations, moved well up the leaderboard from tenth after dressage to finish third and just 0.1 penalties behind Green.

Auburn Tigers Hold Intercollegiate Championship Lead

Heading into the last day of competition, Auburn University Orange Team is currently winning the National Championship…

Posted by Auburn Eventing Team on Saturday, May 26, 2018

Auburn University has attended the Intercollegiate Championship since its inception in 2016, placing in the top three both times. Now they are poised to take the victory for the first time. The Auburn Orange team of Sallie Johnson riding Looking Rosey (CCI*), Aubrey Wagner riding Clooney MS (CCI*), Lydia Kennedy riding Subtle Dream Unveiled (Novice) and Meredith Kramer riding Kentucky Gentleman (Novice) lead the way on a team score of 89.05.

As an individual, Meredith and Kentucky Gentleman, a 16-year-old Thoroughbred, lead the Novice Rider division on a 29.8. “He was my first real event horse. We’ve put everything we know on each other,” said Meredith, who just finished her junior year working towards a double major in agricultural communication and horticulture. This is her first trip to the Intercollegiate Championship.

“It was a really good day. He’s been really super since we came up here … I was really excited for this morning to go in and have a good ride. He was very consistent and I was really happy.”

The 2017 Champions, the Clemson Tigers, jetted off to their former teammate’s wedding last night and will return this morning to defend their title. They are hot on Auburn’s heels with a team score of 93.73. Team veterans Sarah Pyne riding Quintessential (Preliminary), Alex Peterson riding Captain Crunch (Novice), and Kaitlyn Bardos riding The Myth of Arion (Novice), along with team president April Crawford riding Tatham (Novice), make up the second placed team.

University of South Carolina, Aiken is within striking distance in third place on a team score of 96.51. Grace Fulton riding Yippee Ki Yay (Preliminary), Kirsten LaVassar riding Into Thin Air (Novice), Keileigh McMurray riding Fitz (Training) and Brooke Webb riding Pelear Por Oro (Beginner Novice) are calm and focused as they head into the final day.

Brooke Webb and Pelear Por Oro lead the Open Beginner Novice division for University of South Carolina, Aiken.

“We feel really good going into tomorrow,” said Kirsten, a rising senior and business major competing at the Championship for the second time. “All of us feel really good about how our horses are going and how they’re showing here, so we’re crossing our fingers that it will continue to go well.”

Brooke is a rising senior studying business and is the USC Aiken team captain. She leads the Open Beginner Novice division on a 29.7 with Becky Caravan’s 9-year-old Arabian Pelear Por Oro. “I’m happy I’m in first but trying to keep the pressure off myself.”

The USC Aiken team may be small, but they are a tight knit group that “goes everywhere together” and maintains a relaxed team structure that may benefit them in the Championship finale.

Stay tuned for much more from Virginia Horse Trials and the Intercollegiate Championship!

Virginia CCI/CIC & H.T. [Website] [Entry Status] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]