Buck Davidson and Titanium flew around Ian Stark’s CCI*** cross country course with some 15 seconds to spare, but although he was the pathfinder, this was not the way things were going to go for the rest of the day. The very next rider, Merel Blom on her more experienced horse Umberto, fell at Fence 5, and from then on it seemed like the problems kept coming steadily throughout the day.
If it was anyone’s day today then it must be James Alliston’s, he piloted four horses around the FEI divisions clear cross country within the time: Parker, above, and very strong in the CCI*** along with of course, Jumbo’s Jake who galloped into the lead, Mojo in the CCI*, and Tivoli in the CCI**. Tivoli has been handed down from Oliver Townend, then from Gina Miles’ barn and now James seems to be getting a really nice tune out of him as he’s been extremely nervous in the past. Jumbo’s Jake, however, is much more straight-forward and belongs to James’ girlfriend, India McEvoy. India was extremely busy all day, so it wasn’t until rather late on Saturday night that I had a chance to catch up with her, so I apologise for the terrible lighting, but it was pitch black outside, so we just did the best we could! As Lily said, “You can’t tell how pretty she is”, and for that I apologise.
Nina Ligon and Butts Leon. Butts Leon looked a little bit flippant, taking the flag off one of the corners at 11 and 12, he was lucky at the main water at 16/17, again at the PRO water, and then I heard Nina’s luck finally ran out with a refusal at the very end of the course, 3 from home at the Charles Owen Brushes – a vertical down a slope to a skinny.
Jennifer Wooten-Dafoe flew round on The Good Witch with one of the best rounds I saw all day.
Andrea Baxter and Estrella, barely visible over the big brush corner after the Table at 24a & b.
Olivia Loiacono and Subway looked spot-on the whole round. After an awkward landing over the Normandy Bank in the big water at 16, Olivia sat up and circled before approaching the Shamu Whale at 17 out. The jump judge originally awarded her 20 penalties for a refusal but this was later overturned by the Ground Jury.
First Mark gave Heather Morris a great ride round his first CCI*** despite picking up a stop at the water at 16, and he looked quite tired at the end.
Brittany Lunney and Cool Dancer, double clear
Kristin Schmolze and Cavaldi, also double clear and lying 7th overnight
Cool Dancer on his way home and still full of jump
Ballynoe Castle RM at the penultimate
Pam Fisher and Sea Lion were first back on course after Mar De Amor and Tamra Smith’s fall here fence 5, so it was a huge relief for everyone to see them sail over it without any mishap. The little black stallion flew around the whole course adding just 5.6 time penalties to his dressage score.
John Michael Durr and Iona Grey
Experienced Canadian campaigners Sandra Donnelly on Buenos Aires
Jordan Lindstedt and Tullibards Hawkwind
The overnight leaders, James Allison bringing Jumbo’s Jake home
Nina Ligon having a better ride on Jazz King, they lie in 13th place overnight after the fastest clear of the day
Ronald Zabala on his second round, the lovely Wise Equestrian Brer Fox
Park Trader, the last horse on course in the CCI*** looked to be going superbly so it must have terribly frustrating for Buck to have a fall at the PRO water near the end and then watch him gallop riderless around the grounds. As he said, though, we look forward to bigger and better things from Park Trader in the future.
Harley, the Gracelands/James Allison Good Luck mascot who outdid himself today, just by staying put and being – it’s a dog’s life!
Mike Tucker was relentless on the mic today, and flawless, bringing a little bit of Badminton to Galway Downs. The grounds crew came up trumps with the going, and despite a couple of holds on course throughout the day everything stayed to time. @galwaydowns twitter feed were so active they actually got shut down, for which they apologise profusely and they promise to be back up and running with a vengeance on Sunday. It was an action-packed, thrilling day of cross country, and the final day’s show-jumping promises to be just as exciting. Thank you to everyone at Galway who helped to make it possible, and for all their hard work. I look forward to perhaps sharing internet and electricity with the scoring chicks again tomorrow for the stadium tests – I found out today that Robert Kellerhouse’s mum is the mother hen, and there’s also a rooster somewhere in there but I was getting a bit lost. I will try and find out more details during the show-jumping! Thanks as always for reading, and Go Eventing!
