Leslie Chelstrom and Cecilia won the Advanced division at The Fork.
Time on the cross-country course played a major role in determining the final placings in the Advanced division at The Fork today. Leslie Chelstrom and Cecilia, who sat in second place overnight, came home with the only double clear cross-country trip of the day to secure the win in the Advanced. Leslie and Cecilia were in the thick of things all weekend, sitting in sixth after dressage on a 33.4 and jumping a brilliant double clear round in show jumping yesterday to tie for second place with Allie Knowles and Last Call. Cross country ran in reverse order of standings, making for a very tense, exciting finish when Leslie Chelstrom and Cecilia and Lillian Heard and Share Option, the overnight leaders, were the only pairs left on course. Unfortunately, time penalties pushed Lillian and Share Option out of contention and down the leaderboard, as it did for the other riders who were sitting close to the top overnight.
Buck Davidson and Mar De Amor finished second in the Advanced.
Buck Davidson and Mar De Amor finished in second place with no jumping penalties and just a handful of time. This pair, who will be competing at Rolex in just a few weeks, sat outside the top 10 after dressage, tied for 12th with Elinor McPhail and RF Eloquence on a score of 36.6. A double clear show jumping round moved them up to tie for sixth place with Elinor again, who also jumped double clean in show jumping. Buck and Mar De Amor were just slightly faster than Lillian Heard and Share Option on cross country today, which gave Buck the edge to take second place, with Lillian finishing in third. Live scores are not yet updated and final standings were not announced before I left to write this update, so I can only bring you the top three for now.
Lillian Heard and Share Option were third in the Advanced.
Tremaine Cooper’s course rode very well, giving a preview for what will hopefully be a smooth trip for the CIC3* horses and riders. The cheese wedges caused trouble for multiple riders on course, which Jan Byyny predicted might happen yesterday in my course walk preview, as the fences are set right in front of a spooky arbor. The new coffin combination rode very well, as Jan expected it would. The Advanced division ultimately came down to time, with many riders choosing to have a slower run over the course. Many of these horses are headed to Rolex later this month, so many riders were just looking for a solid run to work out any issues and set their horses up for success in Kentucky. I’m headed back out now to watch the CIC3* cross country. Stay tuned for more!
