How special to have 1956 Canadian Olympian John Rumble (right), who owns Foxwood High along with his wife Judy (left), in attendance to support Selena O’Hanlon! Tim Dutta (center) presented the Fair Hill Bronze Trophy alongside Trish Gilbert. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Selena O’Hanlon and John and Judy Rumble’s Foxwood High made history today at the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International, becoming the first Canadian winners of the CCI3* in the 28-year history of the event in Elkton, Maryland.
Leading after dressage on a personal best of 38.4, Selena and Foxwood High slipped to second place after adding 1.6 time penalties on cross country. They jumped clear in show jumping today, but added 3.0 time penalties on Sally Ike’s course to give overnight leaders Colleen Rutledge and Covert Rights a rail in hand. Colleen ultimately had three rails down to give Selena the win.
To put this historic moment for Canada into perspective, we had EquiRatings dig into the numbers. In addition to being the first Canadian winners of the Fair Hill CCI3*, it has been three years since a Canadian won a CCI3* event anywhere in the world.
In the last decade, Canadians have won four CCI3* events: Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin & Juice at Bromont in 2009, Jessica Phoenix and Exponential at Jersey Fresh in 2013, Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance at Bromont in 2014, and now Selena O’Hanlon and Foxwood High at Fair Hill in 2017. That is some serious girl power!
The Fair Hill victory is the third international win of Selena’s career and the second for Foxwood High, a 14-year-old Canadian Sport Horse bred by Epstein Equestrian (Rio Bronco W X Evita II). As for how it feels to take such a big win: “Exhilarating. I’m super excited for the horse at this level. It was personal bests all the way through,” Selena said.
“We started show jumping by Braille. which leads to rails usually. I took the time it took so I didn’t have rails, which was the goal. It all worked out in the end.”
Selena has worked tirelessly to improve her show jumping with “Woody,” training at home in Canada with Jonathon Millar, son of Captain Canada himself Ian Millar.
“Verticals are our nemesis. He keeps jumping the oxers better and better. Time has always been a question for this horse. He has a big step. When we very first started eventing him, I couldn’t fit strides in, so I left them out,” Selena said.
“I’ve started to work on inside turns and taking the tightest lines possible. I was determined to get a clear round at the cost of the time today, and I will keep working on that at home and working toward getting the strides, getting the time and jumping clear.”
Will Coleman and Tight Lines. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Will Coleman and Tight Lines, a 10-year-old French Thoroughbred (Urgeon X Merindole, by Tel Quel) owned by the Con Air Syndicate, jumped one of the eight clear show jumping rounds inside the time to move up to finish in second place on 46.3 and become the USEF National Three-Star Champions.
“Yesterday on cross country I was thrilled with how he ran. He made it feel like it was well within his capability. Today he tried his heart out. His biggest attribute is he gives 100% all the time,” Will said. “He’s not the simplest to ride, but he’s always trying. As long as you can harness that in the right way, he can do great things. Now I have to try to reproduce it over and over again.”
Will had four rails down last year here in the CCI3* with Tight Lines, who won the 2015 USEF National Two-Star Championship here at Fair Hill. He has worked diligently on his show jumping with Richard Picken, and the hard work paid off today. Will and “Phish” were one of only two combinations in the CCI3* field to finish on their dressage score.
“I spent a week with Boyd (Martin) and Phillip (Dutton) at a jumper show in Kentucky, and I’ve been jumping him once a month at A-rated jumper shows since Kentucky,” Will said. “The practice of going in the ring has been really good. It’s a testament to our progress.”
Will Coleman had a fantastic weekend at Fair Hill, also winning the USEF National Two-Star Reserve Championship with the Off the Record Syndicate’s Off the Record. Click here to catch up on all the action in the CCI2* show jumping finale at Fair Hill.
Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Boyd Martin and Christine Turner’s Tsetserleg, a 10-year-old Trakehner (Windfall X Thabana, by Buddenbrock) bred by Timothy Holekamp, jumped clear and inside the time to move from fifth up to finish in third place on 47.3 and become the USEF National Three-Star Reserve Champions.
“He doesn’t wow you at home, but when he gets to a competition he grows to 17.2 (hands) and jumps as high as you want to jump and moves like Totilas,” Boyd said. “I think he’s a proper four-star horse, but the biggest thing is he’s such a gutsy trier. This weekend he impressed me in every single phase. I think I’ve got myself another four-star horse.”
Boyd picked up 1.2 time penalties on cross country with “Thomas,” which moved them up to fifth from 12th place after dressage. They finished seventh at the Bromont CCI3* over the summer in the horse’s debut at the level, but Fair Hill is a different animal.
“This was the first real test I’ve ever had with him. This place is an epic event — a big course, a massive hill, a test of endurance. I didn’t set out too hard and wasn’t sure how he’d respond,” Boyd said. “In hindsight I could have been 20 seconds faster. Saying that, I never in my wildest dreams expected to be sitting here on Sunday afternoon. It proved to me he has the endurance, gallop and stamina.”
Looking to the rest of the leaderboard, Buck Davidson and Carlevo LLC’s Carlevo jumped clear and inside the time in show jumping to finish in fourth place on a final score of 47.5. Buck finished two rides in the top 10 and very nearly finished on his dressage score with Kathleen Cuca’s Jak My Style, adding just 0.4 cross country time penalties to complete on 48.3 in sixth place.
Erin Sylvester and Frank McEntee’s Paddy the Caddy were the only other pair in the field to finish on their dressage score, moving from 20th after dressage up to finish fifth on 48.2 and win the award as the highest-placed American Thoroughbred.
Ryan Wood and Summit Sporthorses’ Powell jumped clear and inside the time to finish in seventh place on 49.1. Kurt Martin and DeLux Z, owned by Bill and CJ Martin, added 1 time penalty in show jumping to complete on 49.7 in eighth place.
Colleen Rutledge and her own Covert Rights had three rails down to finish in ninth place on 51.8. Jordan Linstedt and Barbara Linstedt’s RevitaVet Capato added one rail and 2.0 time penalties to round out the top 10 on a final score of 56.4. “Capato” also received the award as the Best Presented Horse in the CCI3*.
Click here to view final scores for both the CCI3* and CCI2*. Tamie Smith and Sunsprite Warmbloods’ Sunsprite Syrius won the CCI2* earlier in the day. Click here to read the final CCI2* report. Click here to catch up on all of EN’s Fair Hill coverage, and thank you to ALL who have followed along with us this weekend. Go Eventing.
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