Liz Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night Lead The Fork CIC3* at Lunch Break

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deborah Halliday’s Fernhill By Night danced into the lead in The Fork CIC3* this morning on a score of 41.8 despite having just five minutes to warm up. With some last minute scratches and riders swapping divisions, times have been shuffled around, and Liz missed the memo! But you wouldn’t have known it from watching the test, as Liz and “Blackie,” a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, executed a textbook ride.

Buck Davidson is enjoying sitting in both the second and third slots in the early going, with Sherrie Martin’s The Apprentice and Carl and Cassie Segal’s Ballynoecastle RM sitting right next to each other on the leaderboard on scores of 44.3 and 44.7, respectively. “Dirk,” an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, was much happier to play in the little white box today than when we last saw him at Carolina International, putting in a workmanlike test.

Buck Davidson and The Apprentice. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Buck Davidson and The Apprentice. Photo by Jenni Autry.

“Reggie” found redemption in the sandbox today with a very solid showing after his last dressage test at Carolina International scored well off his usual average with Buck Davidson in the irons. The 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding is gearing up for his fourth trip to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, where he’s finished fourth and third in his past two appearances in Lexington.

Michael Pollard and the Phoenix Syndicate’s Ballingowan Pizazz kicked things off this morning in the chilly Norwood, North Carolina, air, scoring 46.1 with a really lovely performance to sit in fourth place at the halfway point in the division. “Mango,” a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding is another horse who came a bit undone in the tense atmosphere at Carolina International and was much happier today, with ears pricked looking very happy to be doing his job.

Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Buck Davidson and Ballynoecastle RM. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive round out the top five on a score of 47.7 with a mistake-free test. During warm up, Phillip and “Jack” had to battle a horse melting down during a test in the arena next to them, which didn’t seem to affect them at all as they came down centerline. The 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Tom Tierney and Annie Jones is heading to Kentucky for his first CCI4* later this month.

If you see Meghan O’Donoghue’s E on the live scores, it’s due to the fact that she learned the old FEI Three-Star Test B with Pirate. The ground jury of Alain James and Jane Hamlin kindly walked her through the new 2015 test, but unfortunately Megan and Pirate were eliminated on errors. It’s a blow having that happen in their final prep before Rolex; hopefully the event will allow them to still run cross country as a schooling run on Saturday.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive. Photo by Jenni Autry.

In the CIC2*, Jessie Phoenix and Pavarotti lead on 35 with just a few horses left to go, followed by Lillian Heard and Arundel in second place on 37.5 and Tamie Smith and Mai Baum in third on 38. At the conclusion of CIC* dressage, Ellie MacPhail and RF Panamera lead on 39.5, followed by Molly Tulley and Last Call on 43 and Beau Guimond and Filibuster ST on 43.3. The Advanced divisions are also just getting started, and we’ll have a recap of those rides later in the day.

Thehorsepesterer has been running around all morning filming videos across all the divisions — though we did catch him sleeping on the job! — so be sure to check his YouTube channel later in the day to watch the top dressage tests from The Fork. Follow EN on Twitter for live commentary from the afternoon session. Jennie Brannigan and Cambalda, our pick to win the whole thing, are one of the first to go after the break! Stay tuned for much more from The Fork.

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