Marilyn Little and RF West Indie at Galway Downs. Photo by Jenni Autry.
No one was quite able to catch Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border in the CCI2* at the Ocala International Festival of Eventing today, and Kim will hold her lead on a score of 30.9 going into tomorrow’s cross country.
Several heavy hitters threw down in the dressage ring today, and while Kim was the only rider to crack into the 30s (and almost the 20s!), several very competitive scores were recorded from today’s rides. Marilyn Little and RF West Indie recorded the best score of the day two riders, earning a 40.6 to sit in fourth position overnight.
Owned by Raylyn Farms, RF West Indie is competing in her second CCI2* — she won her first outing at the level at Galway Downs last fall after re-routing there from Fair Hill.
Another Marilyn Little ride, RF Scandalous is also in very close range in fourth place on a score of 41.4. RF Scandalous is hot off of three back to back CIC2* wins already this season — this mare is certainly in rip roaring form to be tackling her first CCI2*.
In a tie for sixth place on a dressage score of 42.5 are Michael Pollard and Tsetserleg as well as Buck Davidson and Quasar. Tsetserleg is making his CCI2* debut after spending the majority of 2014 honing his skills at the Preliminary level. The 8-year-old Trakehner gelding owned by Christine Turner most recently finished 19th in the CIC2* at Carolina International, and he’s knocked quite a bit off of that dressage score for a great start to this weekend.
Ann Clements’ Quasar, who is 8 years old, finished sixth in the CCI2* at Fair Hill in 2014 for a solid debut at the CCI2* level. The Oldenburg gelding also competed at Carolina International in March, finishing 15th in the CIC2* as his final prep for this weekend.
Just 12.8 penalties separate the top 10, and there are many other pairs just knocking on the door and waiting for their chance to strike the top placings as the cross country approaches. Our friends at Whats Up Media will be providing a live stream of the cross country beginning at 9:50 a.m. EST tomorrow. Be sure to tune in by visiting this link.
Marilyn Little took the reins in the CCI* aboard RF Overdressed to lead the division on a score of 37.0 going into cross country. Philippa Humphreys — who would have held the lead save a pesky error for wearing her boots in her test! — will maintain excellent position in second place on her modified score of 37.8.
RF Overdressed, an 8-year-old Hanoverian gelding, previously competed at the CIC* and CCI* level, winning four times, with German rider Julia Krajewski before coming to the U.S. This is his first CCI* with Marilyn in the irons, and these two are on the right track to having a successful weekend in Ocala.
Rounding out the top three in the CCI* are junior rider Makenna Rold and Fernhill Imperial. This is Makenna’s first CCI* with Fernhill Imperial, an 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse. These two completed the CIC* at Carolina International last month after capturing five top-10 finishes at the Preliminary level to begin their 2015 season.
In the Advanced Combined Test, Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch put the finishing touches on their dressage and show jumping in their final prep for Kentucky. This veteran pair took home the blue on a score of 40.0 with no rails added to their dressage score.
Michael Pollard and Ballingowan Pizazz accumulated four jumping penalties in the show jumping to move down to second place overall on a score of 42.0, followed by Rolex Rookie Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair, who added just one time penalty on the show jumping course today.
Most of the pairs contesting the CT are headed for Kentucky next, so they’ll be glad to have had that extra practice in the books as they make their final preparations for the big R in a couple weeks.
While overnight leaders Lauren Kieffer and Veronica just rode the dressage, you can get a peek at their lovely test below — the same test they will be riding in Kentucky!
Ellie MacPhail and RF Eloquence also elected to just ride the dressage — these pairs likely just wanted the extra practice on the test they will ride at Rolex. Many thanks to Laine Ashker for sending in a photo of the score sheet from the CT!
Be sure to click here to check out video uploads from The Horse Pesterer. Stay tuned for much more from Ocala!
Ocala International: Website, Entry Status, Ride Times, Schedule, Live Scores, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage
