Liz Halliday-Sharp was certainly “keeping it Cooley” at Galway Downs this weekend, and what a whiplash-whirlwind weekend it was. Thanks to owners Ocala Horse Properties and The Nutcracker Syndicate, Liz swept through Temecula with Cooley Nutcracker to take the win at the CCI4*-L Eventing Championships directly off the back of a Team Silver medal placement at the Pan American Games — and not just any old win, but one in which they maintained their first position lead in every phase, finishing a solid 22.2 points ahead of the second-place pair.
After a wicked day of cross country for all, and after taking a fall herself on course with Shanroe Cooley, Liz pulled out a flawless double-clear with “Bali” in the show jumping yesterday (a little extra if you ask me, when you have 5 rails in hand…!) to finish on a 39.5. Thanks to their clear cross country round, Bec Braitling and Caravaggio II made an incredible leap up from 10th to second place on Friday, which they maintained with a perfect show jump to finish second on a 61.7 (yeah, that’s how crazy the track was). Tommy Greengard and Joshuay MBF also took the podium with a third place finish on 70.8.
$50,000 in prize money later, the other FEI levels also finished their final weekend under the California sun yesterday, with only Starter through Training Levels left to hit the stadium today. The multiple USEF Eventing Young Rider Individual and Team Championships at Galway Downs also had a very successful three days on course for the CCI1* through 3*-L divisions, making for quite the busy week. Congrats to all our winners!
The Eventing Championships at Galway Downs (Temecula, CA) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times][Volunteer] [Scoring]
U.S. Weekend Action
Rocking Horse Fall H.T. (Altoona, FL) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Texas Rose Horse Park H.T. (Tyler, TX) [Website] [Entries] [Ride Times] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Virginia Horse Center Eventing Fall (Lexington, VA) [Website] [Volunteer] [Scoring]
Links to Start Your Sunday:
CHIO Aachen Managing Director, Michael Mronz, Appointed International Olympic Committee Member
It’s that time of year: The Plaid Horse’s annual Holiday Gift Guide is here
And on that note: now is the time to be preparing your horse for winter
Sponsor Corner: Imagine if genetics could tell you if your horse was suitable for eventing. Top eventers Boyd Martin and Doug Payne have done just that with their top horses, Tsetserleg and Vandiver. Find out here how genetic testing is an up-and-coming way of identifying future event horses.
Morning Viewing: The “third” horse inspection at Pau was really where it was all happening. What was it that was happening, you ask? No clue.
