Although Phillip had said on Friday night that he intended to take it fairly easy on Mystery Whisper cross country at The Fork following a hard run at Red Hills, the man can’t help it – he finds himself in the pole position going into the show-jumping having jumped clear with just a handful of time penalties while others fell by the wayside. When asked to elaborate why on earth he wouldn’t take him to Kentucky, Phillip hesitated then answered, “The horse just arrived from Australia and he’s already done a four star, and if I had to pick the best way to prepare him for London it would be to do a three star. When you bring a horse from the Southern Hemisphere, there’s a lot of changes go on and it’s not easy for them to adapt – their coat changes, they have to get used to different feeds and a lot of times they lose a lot of weight. It was actually a pretty big decision between myself and the Wildasins because I think he’d have a great shot at winning Kentucky which obviously everyone wants to do, but I wouldn’t want him to come out of that and to be flat for a couple of months later. It’s a very unselfish decision!” It was Karen O’Connor who actually asked the question, so perhaps she’s relieved at the answer!
Marilyn Little-Meredith wanted to push RF Demeter for time today to see how she’d react over a longer, more galloping course; she must be pleased with the result as she finished close to the optimum and moved up into second place.
Riddle Master looked foot perfect for Rebecca Howard, and made it look like child’s play. Rebecca told us that since he’s done the event at The Fork ever since he was a prelim level horse it doesn’t seem to bother him too much competing on home turf, but she had to make a conscious effort to stop being “an organiser” and start getting competitive, she said she only got the chance to walk her course properly for the first time at 5pm the night before. Rebecca added that she was thrilled with Rupert, that he’s only done the one intermediate this spring at Pine Top, so it was nice to get this good run under their belt. As he’s traditionally such a reliable cross country horses, and because she’s not doing a CCI this spring, her plan is to do one CIC a month leading up to Bromont CIC***, the Canadian Selection Trial, and that should have him peaking perfectly this summer.
Mr Medicott looked full of run for Karen O’Connor and moved up two places. They are still working out the kinks, especially in front of the fences where it takes her a long time to set him up, but the will is there, and he definitely has all the talent in the world. As Karen put it, “I’m happy with my horse, hopefully we’ll be able to go faster at Rolex, we’re still working out some of the issues, every course I’m learning more and more about him, and every course is getting smoother and faster. The partnership is forming.”
Otis Barbotierre was the trailblazer in the CIC*** with Boyd Martin, and made everything look deceptively easy, taking all the direct routes on economical lines, and never looked to have a sticky moment.
They moved up to 5th place with a few time penalties.
Gin’n’Juice is having a terrific spring, and continued her run of good form here at The Fork, pulling Hawley Bennet-Awad around with springs on her feet, and she looked as if she could go straight from here to Churchill Downs, she is such a quick and competitive little mare! They currently lie in 6th place overnight.
Clark Montgomery lies in 7th place on Universe, and I didn’t get a good picture of him but forgot to post this one of Loughan Glen in the Advanced recap. With just a few time penalties on Jess’ horse in the CIC***, and Glen was even faster, only one second over the time, Clark seemed to be proving a point – Glen is looking more and more like the total package, and the pair of them have yet to put a foot wrong. The sub-par dressage I suspect will just galvanise the ultra-competitive Clark to make sure that doesn’t happen at Rolex. They’ve come up with the goods over and over again, and having admired Clark, and his wife Jess and their programme for some time, I can safely say I’d love to have him on my team. I’d say exactly the same for Boyd Martin, as would most of Eventing Nation I’m sure, but after two stops at the first of the double of corners in front of a packed crowd, with Remington, a horse that ‘never’ stops, he dug deep, kept his head, and rode calmly, strongly and positively and got the job done and brought him home.
Shigatzi looked fantastic everywhere I saw him with Diana Burnett, and was clear and fast, they’re in 9th place. Erin Sylvester was fast and clear to move up into 8th place but I didn’t get a picture, nor did I get one of Jude’s Law, who had a run out with Michael Pollard at the sunken road but still managed to come home for only two time penalties – I did write in my notes, “very fast, too fast?” Both Katie Ruppel with Sir Donovan and Kendal Lehari with Daily Edition looked fabulous. Katie was heading to the corners as Natalia Gurmankin was galloping alongside her to the water, and I wondered if either horse was distracted. This also happened a couple of times in the CIC** when the horses would actually go through the water at the same time but in different directions.
Jessie Phoenix rode Exponential brilliantly – yes, of course we all know how spectacular he is, but she was smart enough to keep him in check, especially at the beginning and dropping down into the water, memories of WEG perhaps. By the end of the course she’d let the handbrake off and they were a pure joy to watch, like dogs running circles for fun, they skipped home.
After a disappointing dressage, Zenith ISF once again rose to the occasion, answering all the questions for Leslie Law, while meanwhile Lesley’s wife was “about to puke” at home, and as a last resort even joined twitter so she could keep up with the action! Both her boys did her proud, and Zenith finished looking more confident than when he started, what a run this horse has had, and the off dressage is nothing more than a blip that will be easily fixed.
Phillip Dutton and Atlas.
It’s hard to ever know how good a horse he’s riding really is – of course he looked but Phillip makes most of them look straigthtforward – “he just sits there!” Atlas did look pretty nice though, albeit quite strong coming down the hill to the double of corners at the end.
Pawlow looked terrific but had a disappointing run out at the Sunken Road. It was not to be Will’s weekend after all, and I hope that he’s not too sore and that his horses are ok too. Eventing is a tough game, I wonder why we any of us do it sometimes, and yet, here we are…!
I didn’t get a picture of Amy Ruth Borun on Santa’s Playboy but I did admire them, they went the direct route over the corner in the water and from Left to Right over the double of corners. Sara Kozumplik was clear inside the time, but I noted that she was “living dangerously”, and got away with a couple of lucky escapes!
I am loving 5 O Clock Somewhere more and more each time I see him, and I think I’ve written that exact same sentence the last three or four times, but look at him! Plus, having met him in the flesh at Poplar he really is chunky! He doesn’t look it when he’s flying cross country as above, or doing a nice dressage, but in the stall, as his owner Sue Church said herself, “he looks like a a little quarter horse”, and he has a very pronounced dish in his face, which she calls a dent, I just want to squeeze him!
Running Order looked great everywhere I saw him but was marked down for 20 penalties at the Sunken Road. I spoke to Doug who told me he was going to appeal but it looks like it sticked. Regardless he said he was looking forward to Rolex, and that R.O had given him a super ride.
Brittany Kart and Llewellyn looked great, another horse I rather like!
Last Monarch and Holly Hudspeth: my notes – “fab”!
Stephen Bradley and Leyland were another combination to fall victim to the Sunken Road, and parted company there.
Jolie Wentworth and Goodknight picked up 20 penalties
One of my favourite combinations, Tessa Beckett from the West Coast who’s a working pupil with Hawley, and the OTTB she’s had since he was a 2 year old, Sound Prospect.
Colleen will no doubt be kicking herself for a run-out at the Sunken Road on Shiraz, especially as they made everything else I saw look like a walk in the park, but this may just sharpen them up for Badminton.
Rockfield Grant Juan, the lovely big Irish horse of Shandiss Wewiora jumped clear and gained in confidence the whole way round. A bit of a sticky start, they both kept their heads, kept coming forward and finished with a lovely clear under their belts – congratulations!
Emily Renfroe looked to having a really good round and was desperately unlucky when Walk the Line slipped in between the double of corners, leaving her no option but to pull out and take 20 penalties.
Harbour Pilot, another exciting young combination to have an annoying mistake at the Sunken Road. As Phillip and Karen pointed out on saturday night, these silly little mistakes may actually stand them in good stead when it comes to Rolex because they’ll serve as a wake-up call during the next couple of weeks. There is no way Doug, Hannah or Colleen are going to make that mistake again, and I feel positive Clark will be fine-tuning his dressage warm-up and running through his test, in fact Jess told me they’re headed to the Combined Training at the Ocala International Three Day Event next weekend.
All in all saturday was a spectacular day, but sunday brings with it a trot-up for the FEI classes and a full day of show-jumping, so that’s all from me until then. Happy Easter, and Go Eventing!
