Tamie Smith hugs Mai Baum after her beautiful test. Photo by Jenni Autry.
After scoring 38.5 to take the Dutta Corp Fair Hill International CCI3* lead at the lunch break, Tamie Smith and Mai Baum still find themselves sitting atop the leaderboard at the conclusion of dressage — but only just. Jessica Phoenix and multiple Pan American Games medalist Pavarotti scored 39.2 in the final group to slot into second place, becoming the only other pair in the division to crack the sub-40 threshold.
Tamie delivered a memorable performance on what has been a very emotional day for her, and she gave the credit to “Lexus,” a 9-year-old German Sport Horse gelding owned by Ellen and Alex Ahearn and Eric Markell. “He was phenomenal,” Tamie said after the test. “He’s just getting stronger and better, and I’m really pleased with how he felt. I had one little bobble — my second change wasn’t clean — but other than that everything else was super.”
This horse competed at Fair Hill last year in the CCI2* with young rider Alex Ahearn in the irons, and Tamie said the transformation that has taken place in the horse in the last year — and especially since she took over the ride in February — is largely due to the fact that Lexus is such a trainable horse and tries really hard.
“We have been working on his strength and connection and getting him to be more expressive in his work. Even though he is (expressive), you can always have that much more,” Tamie said. “I’ve been working with my dressage trainer at home, Niki Clarke, and I have ridden with Steffen Peters a few times. I feel like I’m right in the mecca of where I need to be to have my horses improve the way they have. It’s due to the great help I have.”
Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Jessica Phoenix is celebrating her birthday today, and she said cracking the 30s with Don Good’s Pavarotti and sitting in second place overnight in the CCI3* definitely made her special day even more perfect.”I said to Rotti this morning, ‘You can pick the second number, but the first number needs to be 3. He was amazing,” Jessica said.
“It’s so much fun riding that horse. I really have to thank Don Good for giving me the ride on him. He is an incredible, competitive horse, and I love every minute of riding him. Being able to do this on my birthday was really special. I was trying as hard as I could to catch Tamie. We almost did!”
Pavarotti, a 13-year-old Westphalian gelding, has never competed at Fair Hill, which Jessica said is largely due to the fact that he has been representing the Canadian team at a different competition during the summer and fall season. Now “Rotti” will get his first crack at this Derek di Grazia track, a challenge Jessica said she’s looking forward to. “The course looks great,” she said. “It’s nice and galloping and well suited to him.”
Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Phillip Dutton held the lead through much of the morning with Mighty Nice, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Caroline Moran, Annie Jones, Michael Bombar, Kevin Keane and Evie Dutton. Their score of 43.5 has them rounding out the top three at the conclusion of dressage.
“I was pleased,” Phillip said. “It was probably Mighty Nice’s best test. He seems to be getting better and better, and I think I might be getting better. It’s exciting.” “Happy” is another horse who has never competed at Fair Hill, and Phillip also said he thinks the course will suit the horse.
“I think it’s going to be a good educational course for him,” Phillip said. “He’s done a couple four-stars before, but it’s a great track. Fitness is going to play a part, probably more so than a lot of the other courses we do, so that’s also educational for the other horses and riders. I’m looking forward to the day.”
Looking to the rest of the CCI3* leaderboard, Buck Davidson had one hell of a day and is sitting in the top 16 with all four of his rides. Carl and Cassie Segal’s Park Trader leads the way with a personal best score of 44.4 to sit in fourth place, and Sherrie Martin’s The Apprentice sits in eighth, with Lisa Darden’s Wiley Post in 10th and Lisa Darden’s Be Mine in 16th.
Boyd Martin and Blackfoot Mystery. Photo by Jenni Autry.
Boyd Martin and the Blackfoot Mystery Syndicate’s Blackfoot Mystery scored 44.6 in their first CCI3* together as a combination to sneak into the top five. It’s also been a good day for Boyd, who has all four of his CCI3* mounts sitting inside the top 25, with Lucy Boynton Lie’s Crackerjack in 10th on 50.2; Steady Eddie, owned by Gretchen Wintersteen, Pierre Colin and Denise Lahey, in 15th on 50.5; and Craig and Gloria Callen’s Welcome Shadow in 25th on 55.5.
The top 11 horses and riders all broke the sub-50 threshold in dressage. Kim Severson and the Cross Syndicate’s Cooley Cross Border sit in sixth on 45.8; with Tom Tierney and Simon Roosevelt’s Fernhill Cubalawn in seventh on 46.8; Marilyn Little and RF Overdressed, owned by Raylyn Farms, Jacqueline Mars and Robyn Parsky, in ninth on 47.7; and Mikki Kuchta and Kim Smalls’ Rubens D’Ysieux scoring 49.5 in their three-star debut to sit 11th.
CCI3* cross country starts at 1:40 p.m. tomorrow. Click here to see a fence-by-fence course preview and here to watch the awesome drone flyover video of the course directed by Packy McGaughan and produced by Jamie Rees. Jamie also very kindly filmed today’s press conference, which you can watch below. We’ll be running live cross country updates on EN and tweeting at @eventingnation, and PRO Tour Radio will also be streaming at this link.
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