Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous. Photo by Leslie Wylie.
Andy Christiansen’s show jumping track did its job here at the $50,000 MARS Eventing Showcase, leaving us with a well-shuffled deck of cards heading into cross country. Of 34 starters, there were 11 clear show jumping rounds inside the time, 12 four-faulters, two eight-faulters, and eight pairs that dropped three rails or more. We don’t have much time before cross country starts at 1:30 p.m. but here’s a quick-and-dirty recap of the action. (Check out a play-by-play via our show jumping live updates here.)
Let’s start at the top: Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous held fast to their sizeable dressage lead. The pair had a rail down but plenty of budge room in hand, especially with 2nd placed Boyd Martin with Long Island T and 3rd placed Selena O’Hanlon with Foxwood High felling two poles apiece, dropping them to 12th and 13th respectively. Our top pair will head out to cross country with 4.3 time penalties to burn in their back pocket.
Those who jumped clear were rewarded with upward trajectory on the scoreboard. Buck Davidson and Carlevo advanced from 4th into 2nd, and Phillip Dutton and Z bounced from 5th to 3rd. Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z moved from 6th to 4th, and Waylon Roberts and Lancaster moved from equal 13th to round out the top 5.
Daniela Moguel and Cecelia. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The next four rungs of the scoreboard — Sharon White with Cooley On Show, Liz Halliday-Sharp with Cooley Quicksilver, and Daniela Moguel with Cecelia — are all move-ups from the teens. Hallie Coon and Celien made a big hop from equal 21st to 9th. Ryan Wood with Powell had one down to move from 8th to 10th. 10.1 penalties separate the top 10.
Ryan Wood and Powell. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
It’s a beautiful day here in Wellington, mid-70s and cotton-candy clouds drifting across a cornflower blue sky overhead. There’s a good crowd gathered to watch, both from the VIP tent and the lawn overlooking the jumping courses.
Four horses were withdrawn after show jumping: Erin Sylvester-Kanara‘s mounts Paddy the Caddy and Campground, Lauren Kieffer and Veronica, and Doug Payne and Vandiver.
Your top 10 heading into cross country:
Ready for cross country? Us too. You can follow along via the live stream here, and Sally will be back with another round of live updates. The horses will run in reverse order of go, which should make for an exciting finish. Click here for a fence-by-fence preview of Capt. Mark Phillips’ course. Best of luck to everyone! Go Eventing.
$50k MARS Eventing Showcase: Website, Entries, Live Scores, Show Jumping Live Stream, XC Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram
