Kylie Lyman and Trading Aces galloping into the lead
Susan Beebee and Wolf reportedly jumped the intermediate table into the #13AB combination in the arena, then jumped the advanced B element, and then circled back to jump the intermediate B element. They were assessed with 20 penalties for circling in the middle of an A&B combination with the reasoning that they are allowed to jump a fence one level above without penalty under FEI rules. That ruling is provisional, but either way their 11.6 time penalties dropped them well out of the lead. I feel bad for Susan, but I suppose if I am going to pick up 20 penalties I would rather it be for jumping an advanced jump than my horse being naughty. Either way Wolf has a very bright future at the upper levels.
Kylie Lyman and Trading Aces moved from being tied in third into the lead by coming home 3 seconds over the optimum time. Kadi Eykamp and the AECs champion Double Rivers Really Cool moved into second with 5 seconds of time penalties. Kylie had two great rounds today, finishing with just 1.2 total time penalties aboard Trading Aces and Garrison Flash, the latter now being placed in 10th.
The 7 year old DHI Colour Candy scampered around his first two star for Will Faudree and they are provisionally third after the cross-country. This horse has had a big year including a lengthy trip to Great Britain, but he has stepped up to every challenge Will has presented to him and is surely a lot better for the experiences. Phillip and Young Man moved all the way up from 17th to 4th with one of 10 double clears on the day.
The CCI2* course at Fair Hill posed a real challenge to horses and riders this morning. But, it posed the right type of challenge, with issues spread out throughout the course and only three falls. Quite a few pairs had stops and a relatively high percentage of starters were eliminated for having three refusals. Of course I didn’t see all of the stops, but the ones that I did see looked like they were caused by horses who weren’t quite comfortable making that extra effort to heroically save the day out of muddy takeoffs or pairs who came a bit quickly through the turns.
Both the CCIC2* and CCI3* courses here at Fair Hill have a ton of jumps off of turns. The best rides in these situations occurred when riders protected the horses through the turns and then were able to move forward up to the jumps from a quality canter. There were three rider falls and all horses and riders were reportedly fine.
At long last the sun is shining down on Elkton, Maryland. The course is drying out rapidly and although there are certainly going to be some muddy spots in low areas of the CCI3* course, but the footing looks a ton better than it did just 24 hours ago.
–There’s nothing better than ending the year with a clean round on a challenging three-day course. And there are few things worse than ending the year with a bad round. That’s what is at stake here at Fair Hill today.
–Former Pan American Games short listers Kevin Keane and Fernhill Flutter shot up the placings with a double-clear. Kevin is of course a full time vet, but he stepped his riding up today with an aggressive round that didn’t leave anything in doubt.
–19 CCI2* starters had issues on course, with six eliminations, three retires, and three rider falls. As I mentioned earlier, the issues were pretty evenly spread throughout the course.
—Boyd Martin and Cold Harbour were Pan American Games alternates two weeks ago, but they withdrew from consideration and headed to Fair Hill. That proved to be a good decision today and they will go into the off season after picking up one second in time penalties on a great round.
—Colleen Rutledge has had a wonderful year including that great performance at Burghley with Shiraz. She finished the cross-country today with just 3.6 penalties on Dillon and they are provisionally in 6th.
—Caroline Martin and Petite Flower had a stop today, but Petite Flower was one of those horses that made me stop and say ‘Wow.’ That horse definitely has the jump for the next level. Caroline was recently sponsored by EN sponsor Horse Quencher, so Petite Flower was no doubt well hydrated going around the course if I’m allowed a shameless plug.
–Brian O’Connor and Ed Holloway are doing a great job today with the announcing. I’m always deeply appreciative of the announcers who are my second (and third) set of eyes out there. This is particularly important at a venue like Fair Hill where you can only see portions of the course from any given point.
The CCI3* starts at 12:45pm ET and hopefully they will have as great of a day as the CCI2* horses. Go eventing.
