All eyes are on the MARS Wellington Eventing Showcase this weekend, where a stacked field of 39 horse and rider combinations are vying for a slice of the $50,000 prize.
We’re thrilled to see the Showcase return after a two-year hiatus — the event ran from 2015 to 2017 then slipped off the calendar in 2018 and 2019. For today’s video, we’re taking a step back in time to helmet cams from the 2016 and 2017 editions of the event.
Doug Payne and Vandiver are two-time Showcase contenders — they finished 12th in 2016, and 3rd the following year. In this video Doug and “Quinn” take us for a spin around the cross country course. As is Doug’s style, he dubs over his helmet cam with commentary and analysis of his ride and the course — a super way to learn about each question and the horse Doug is on. Doug returns in 2019 with two rides: Quantum Leap and Vandiver, for whom perhaps third time is a charm! We hope Doug will be sporting a helmet cam this year, too. Always a thrill to vicariously gallop through that VIP tent!
Fast forward (er, rewind?) to 2017, when Elisa Wallace and Simply Priceless clocked one of the fastest rides of the day, turning in only 3.6 time penalties around Capt. Mark Phillips’ technical course. The pair finished in 18th place finish. “Alright J.B., you ready? It’s fun time, buddy!” were Elisa Wallace’s words to “Johnny” before they left the start box. Elisa isn’t on the 2020 lineup, so we’ll have to settle for revisiting her 2017 cross country round.
Leslie Wylie and Tilly Berendt will be EN’s boots on the ground for this year’s Showcase. Keep it locked here!
MARS Eventing Showcase: Website, Entries, Dressage Order of Go, Live Scores, Show Jumping Live Stream, XC Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Instagram
