Tamie Smith and Mai Baum. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
Mai Baum made his much anticipated return to the three-star level with Tamie Smith today at Stable View’s inaugural CIC3* in Aiken, South Carolina and handily holds the lead after the first two phases.
“Lexus,” a 12-year-old German Sport Horse (Loredano X Ramira, by Rike) owned by Alex Ahearn, Ellen Ahearn and Eric Markell, delivered a personal best of 23.7 in dressage this morning to top the leaderboard. He then jumped a beautiful clear over Marc Donovan’s course in the afternoon to retain first place.
It has been a long road back to the top for Lexus, who last competed at the three-star level in 2015 when he won the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International CCI3*. Lexus returned to the Advanced level earlier this month when he won the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Final at the American Eventing Championships, and now Tamie will look to extend their international win streak to six in a row.
“We took our time getting him strong and fit, and I think it’s really paid off,” Tamie said. “It feels easy for him. The dressage feels even better than it ever did. It is wonderful to have him back.”
As for her plan on Capt. Mark Phillips’s cross country course tomorrow, Tamie said she plans to go for the win: “The course looks tough and fun, and I just have to stay focused.”
If Tamie and Lexus win tomorrow, EquiRatings confirmed the six-win streak will tie Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous for the most consecutive international wins this decade.
Tamie Smith and Fleeceworks Royal. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
Tamie also sits in second place with Judy McSwain’s Fleeceworks Royal, who delivered a personal best of 26.7 to sit second after dressage and jumped one of five clear show jumping rounds to remain second.
“Rory,” a 9-year-old Holsteiner mare (Riverman X Marisol), won her last international at the Rebecca Farm CIC3* and next heads to the Boekelo CCIO3* in two weeks. Tamie confirmed to EN she will not run cross country with Rory tomorrow, so we will look forward to seeing her tear it up in the Netherlands.
Doug Payne and Getaway. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
Doug Payne and Lisa Walls’s Getaway are also bound for Boekelo and sit in third place after the first two phases on their dressage score of 28.8. “Flynn,” an 11-year-old Oldenburg by Contendro, has finished inside the top 10 in his last six international runs, and Doug confirmed the horse will run cross country tomorrow.
Boyd Martin and Kyra. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
Boyd Martin and Christine Turner’s Kyra delivered a clear show jumping round to move up to fourth place on their dressage score of 31.4. The 11-year-old Canadian Warmblood mare (VDL Ulando H X Wellesley, by Weltstern) has never had a rail down at international level and extended her streaks to 15 clears in a row today.
Leslie Law and Voltaire de Tre. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.
Leslie Law and Tre’ Book’s Voltaire de Tre’ also left all the poles in the cups to remain on their dressage score of 33.3. The 9-year-old Selle Francais (Jasmina du Fresne X Socrate de Chivre) moved up four spots on the leaderboard after show jumping to sit inside the top five overnight.
The ground jury of Jo Young (CAN) and Valerie Crail (USA) gave four sub-30 scores in dressage this morning. We saw five clear show jumping rounds this afternoon to give Marc Donovan’s course a 23.8% clear rate. Click here to view scores after the first two phases.
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s cross country, Tamie Smith and Mai Baum will have 12 seconds to play with ahead of Doug Payne and Getaway. The CIC3* starts at 12:15 p.m. EST and will stream live on EQTV Network. Stay tuned for a full preview of the CIC3* course.
Looking to the other FEI divisions, Heather Morris and Team Express Group’s Charlie Tango lead the CIC2* on 27.7. Andrew McConnon and his own Bossinova lead the CIC* in the horse’s debut at the level on 22.8.
Boyd Martin and Christine Turner’s On Cue lead the Advanced on 27.8. Megan Loughnane and her own Linford lead the Intermediate on 20.5. The Preliminary-Beginner Novice divisions kick off tomorrow with dressage.
Stay tuned for much more from Stable View. Go Eventing.
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