Lindsay Traisnel and Bacyrouge. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Canada’s Lindsay Traisnel picked up a second consecutive CCI4*-S victory this weekend in North Carolina at The Fork at Tryon International. Teamed up with Patricia Pearce’s Bacyrouge, who is aimed at the MARS Maryland 5 Star next month, Lindsay made steady climbs up the leaderboard after beginning the week in eighth after dressage. On Sunday, Lindsay and “Dreamy” were the quickest around Clayton Fredericks’ cross country track to finish their weekend ahead of the rest on a score of 40.4.
Lindsay Traisnel move up into sixth place ahead of cross country. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
“My focus was having this be a great prep for Maryland, so I was going to see what that meant with the cross country,” Lindsay said. She and her husband, Xavier, are road warriors, frequently driving 10+ hours to get to these key prep runs from their base in Windsor, Ontario. Despite some trailer trouble on the way down that doubled their travel time, the run proved to be worth the effort. Lindsay commended the grounds team for preparing the footing well — a challenge this time of year when ground can begin to dry and become harder — which allowed her to practice getting closer to the optimum time ahead of next month’s 5* run. “He came out really listening to me. So I was trying to go fast enough…He’s always been fast, it’s just been about the control. It’s more about not wasting time setting up.”
Lindsay now has her final real prep runs done for Maryland and will now focus on fine-tuning her dressage and show jumping ahead of next month’s Maryland 5 Star.
Boyd Martin and Miks Master C were the early leaders, scoring a 27.7 in the dressage. Photo by Marie Cobb for Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Boyd Martin was riding with some heavy emotions this week after suddenly losing one of his top up-and-comers, Barney Rubble, last week. He put in a solid weekend at the office with his three 4* entries, finishing second, third and fourth with the Luke 140 Syndicate’s Luke 140 (43.3), Ocala Horse Properties’ Shanroe Cooley (44.9) and Ocala Horse Properties’ Miks Master C (45.1). Miks Master C and Shanroe Cooley are currently entered in the US Equestrian Open Final of Eventing at Morven Park in October as their fall destination, while Like 140 should be headed to a CCI5*.
Boyd Martin and Shanroe Cooley. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Boyd also earned enough points to overtake Phillip Dutton in the series leaderboard rankings, bringing his current point total to 250 to Phillip’s 215. Two key East Coast qualifiers remain in Unionville and Aiken, so it’ll be an all-out battle to the end to count their highest possible points out of six eligible qualifier runs for that $25,000 leaderboard bonus. You can view the full standings in terms of points as they stand currently here.
Boyd Martin and Luke 140. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Christina Henriksen and Cisco’s Calor Z jumped their way up from 13th into fifth in the final standings. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
Will Coleman and Very Dignified earned sixth place en route to their first 4*-L together at Morven Park next month. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.
