Waylon Roberts and OKE Ruby R. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Derek di Grazia’s cross country did as it intended today, exerting an influence across all divisions here at MARS Bromont CCI. As a result, nearly all divisions save the CCI2*-L now have new leaders installed ahead of show jumping on Sunday.
OKE Ruby R (Namelus R – B. Termie R 6, by Germus R) is a name that’s been on our radar since the Conceal Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase in Aiken back in early March of this year. It was there in Aiken that the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare really got on our map here at EN, delivering the sole clear cross country round inside the time with a quick turn of foot despite her relative inexperience at the Advanced and 4* level.
Coming into this weekend, which was to be “Ruby’s” first CCI4*-L, Canada’s Waylon Roberts remained pragmatic about his expectations, knowing he would prioritize the development of John and Michelle Koppin’s mare for the future. Heading into show jumping in the lead, on a course that exerted enough influence that would open the door for him to leap from 8th after dressage, is the cherry on top.
“Absolutely not!” Waylon said when I asked him if he thought he might be standing at the top of the pile this afternoon. “Once I saw I was in first, I was like, “Oh, well that’s kind of fun!’. But really, for me she’s a horse for the future. It’s a long term thing for me with that horse, I’d like to think. So I’m looking forward to tomorrow, and then the next four-Long we’ll do, and hopefully one of these days we’ll hit a five-star.”
Waylon and Ruby have been partnered since the 2021 season, when she’d had experience through the 2* level. “She takes on everything you teach her,” he described. “You never have to remind her — once you’ve taught her something, she’s got it, and over the last three years, we’ve really been building a relationship together and I feel like I can read her pretty well.”
That relationship proved to be a boon today, as all over the course problems were springing up. There were three falls on course (all horses and riders are reported to be fine this evening), two eliminations on refusals, and one retirement in the 16-horse 4*-L field, and no pairs came close to the optimum time of 10 minutes.
Waylon Roberts and OKE Ruby R. Photo by Sally Spickard.
“I haven’t been at a four-Long for a few years now,” Waylon reflected. “And this was Ruby’s first time at the [Long] level, so it was hard to know what to expect. I definitely was looking to have a good educational round for her. And her best way of going is forward and covering ground. So if she’s making time or doing well on the clock, it’s not because I’m trying, it’s like that’s sort of where she likes to be. So the plan was to really set off; the minute markers at Bromont are very familiar to me so I sort of knew where I needed to be. [So it was] just try to keep those jumps in front of her and keep jumping. I was really pleased with how she came along.”
Waylon will take a score of 46.0 into show jumping tomorrow, and he’s got some recent show jumping success (a double clear in the 4*-S at Kentucky) with this mare that could see him take the victory. This being the mare’s first 4*-L could, of course, have an effect on her energy tomorrow, but she has shown she can jump clear at this height.
Allison Springer and No May Moon. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Allison Springer moved up one spot — the only of the original top three remaining in place — to second with Nancy Winter’s homebred Connemara-Thoroughbred mare, No May Moon (Catherston Dazzler – Ebony Moon, by Mystic Replica).
“She was fantastic!” Allison said back in the barns this afternoon. “It was so much fun. She’s so fierce and she just went out galloping and she’s easy to steer, she goes when you say go, and she’s just super clever. I was just over the moon with her.”
This is also a first 4*-L for the 10-year-old, who prepped for this event via Stable View, Fair Hill, and Tryon over the spring season. Initially, Allison had intended to use Carolina International’s notoriously tough cross country as a stepping stone, but a pesky Technical Elimination kept the pair from completing the event. Instead, Allison routed to Stable View, who brought in British designer Helen West as successor to Capt. Mark Phillips this year, resulting in a very tricky new course to tackle.
“So her first Advanced was Stable View, and that was insane,” Allison emphasized. “I mean, it was so hard — I hadn’t been that nervous to go cross country in a long time. You had people going to five-stars that were thinking it was a bit much, but she was amazing. And then she went to Fair Hill in the tough footing there that was really heavy footing, and then she did the four-Short at Tryon. Way back then, I was kind of thinking ‘maybe I should do an ‘easy’ four-Long, and then she was just so amazing just from the get go at Advanced.”
Allison Springer and No May Moon. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Here Allison credits time and trusting the process for where she is today with this mare, who was far from easy to produce as a young horse — to the point where Allison wasn’t entirely sure she would be more than a Prelim horse, if they got that far. Once she got to the 3* level, Allison spent two solid years there, building and developing.
Now, she’s starting to reap the rewards. “I think it’s just because I’ve taken so much time through every level with her. We spent so much time at the three-star level, so when she moved up to Advanced she understands it, which is great. So I mean, I never thought I’d take her Prelim, I never thought I’d go Intermediate, and I was just so excited to take her Advanced. She’s really good.”
“She was so fractious and spooky and difficult as a young horse,” Allison continued, noting that she never would have been able to do something like Young Event Horse competition with this particular horse. “So it really took a long time to bring her up. But then she knows her job, and she loves this job, so it’s really exciting. I’m just really, really proud of her.”
For her part, Nancy Winter, who’s bred Connemara crosses for much of her career and sends many of them to Allison, enjoys the process of seeing her horses grow up, in whatever job suits them the best. “It’s been a really enjoyable thing to watch this mare come up,” she commented. “And there’s no one I trust more than Allison to put them on the right path.”
Allison likens No May Moon to a Thoroughbred and also a mountain goat, happy to cruise around in heavy going. “Touch wood, even in bad going I haven’t really felt her slip or lose confidence, so I would imagine that’s the Connemara side because she’s part dirt bike, part mountain goat — it’s ridiculous.”
No May Moon has jumped a clear show jumping following a Long format cross country at the 3* level, including clear rounds at Virginia Horse Center as well as Tryon. Just .1 penalties separate Allison from leading rider Waylon Roberts, so it’s still very much anyone’s game in terms of who will emerge victorious.
Arden Wildasin and Sunday Times. Photo by Sally Spickard.
And don’t count out Arden Wildasin, who delivered a stellar trip today with the 17-year-old Sunday Times (Cult Hero – Lackaghbeg Crest, by Sea Crest) to jump their way from 10th into third place overnight on a score of 48.1 and very much in play to take the win tomorrow.
Arden has had “Mr. Mumble” (yes, he’s nicknamed after the Happy Feet penguin) since he was 5, and now in his 17th year she feels a lot of pride for the work she has put in producing the Irish gelding. But a little over two years ago, Arden felt a gut instinct that she needed more help with the foundations of her riding, enlisting the assistance of Heidi White to fill in those gaps. “It was like I knew steps D and E, but I needed to know steps A, B and C and I was missing those,” she described. “I know I can ride, but my foundation was missing.”
That hard work has paid off for Arden and her trusty, speedy partner (the pair also were the quickest turn of foot in the division, and despite not making the optimum slid home with 10.4 time penalties). She’s staying realistic about tomorrow’s test. “He’s definitely, as you all know, fast on cross country,” she said. “So it doesn’t sometimes help us in show jumping. But we’ve learned again, staying out to the turns getting that jump well, and he can produce a clean round. I’ve never written him after a long, so I don’t know what to expect. He was feeling very full of himself. So let’s hope that tomorrow he’s feels that way and jumps around and unbelievable.”
Arden also jumped her way to the lead of the CCI3*-L on a newer ride, Billy Beaufort, rocketing up from a starting position of 13th place on a score of 35.2 after two phases.
Boyd Martin and Miss Lulu Herself. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Looking to the rest of the 4*-L leaderboard, 1 rail separates the top three. Boyd Martin and Bonnie Stedt’s Miss Lulu Herself picked up a bit too much time to defend their early second place and will now be fourth ahead of show jumping, followed by Lauren Nicholson on Brandye Randermann’s I’ll Have Another in fifth place.
Dressage leaders Lucienne Bellissimo and Dyri unfortunately parted ways at the C element of the coffin complex (the Fairway Question), and though Lucienne knocked her head in the fall she reports she is not injured significantly and that she and Dyri will be back to fight another day.
Lauren Nicholson and I’ll Have Another. Photo by Sally Spickard.
We really feel for Alex MacLeod, who after a stellar round lost their balance at the last fence and sent Alex tumbling off to the right; despite her best efforts, she sadly could not hang on to cross the finish line and will thus end her weekend early. Chin up, Alex, I’ve launched a petition to retroactively move the finish line back by about one foot. She should nonetheless be very proud of Newmarket Jack‘s efforts today, as he looked brilliant the whole way around and will be wondering why he doesn’t get to show jump tomorrow!
Alexa Thompson and Just To Be Clear fell at fence 21, but are also reported to be uninjured.
Karl Slezak and Hot Bobo. Photo by Sally Spickard.
We continue our Canadian dominance with the CCI4*-S, which saw Pan Ams team gold medalists Karl Slezak and Hot Bobo (Arkansas VDL – Taneys Leader xx, by Supreme Leader xx) take over the lead after overnight leaders Jessica Phoenix and Watson GS parted ways (they are both reported to be fine, and Jessie returned to ride the rest of her horses later in the day). Karl and Hot Bobo will take a score of 44.0 into tomorrow’s finale.
Karl is feeling the relief of having the clear round under his belt, having had a bit of a rocky spring with the 11-year-old Irish mare. Earlier this week, he observed to me that the mare nearly found the job so “easy” that he himself had trouble mentally switching on when it mattered.
“In the beginning, she just was super spooky,” he said. “Every time we took her to cross country schooling, it’s like she’d never seen a cross country fence. Even still, if she has a long break, it’s like she’s never seen one. But then she has a few runs, and she just keeps getting better and better. And now it’s a very different ride for me. She just cruises around. And I almost feel like, ‘what do I do?’ So I’ve been caught sleeping a couple times. And I think now I’ve kind of learned that I’ve got to stay on top of it, even though it feels good. I’ve got to stay on top of it the whole way around.”
There’s a lot riding on the performances of the Canadian riders this weekend, as the selection panel will be making their picks for the Olympics in the next few weeks. Karl and Hot Bobo certainly stand as a strong shot for the team, but they’ll need to deliver a solid result here to help put those little issues this spring to bed. The mare has jumped three double clear show jumping rounds in seven starts at the level, and while of course that’s not a perfect record, she has delivered in bigger environments such as the iconic Rolex Stadium at Kentucky. Karl does not have a rail in hand over second-placed Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol H I M (47.5).
“She’s been show jumping well leading up to this,” Karl noted. “I’m excited about tomorrow, she should put in a good round. And fingers crossed, the selectors are happy with it.”
Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol H I M. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Hannah Sue Hollberg is eyeing Burghley for Christa Schmidt’s Capitol H I M, opting to bring him here to Bromont after pulling him before cross country at Kentucky when she fell from another horse. She’ll be preceded in the show jumping ring by third-placed Ariel Grald, who rose from 7th to third with Annie Eldridge’s stunning mare, Isla de Coco.
Ariel Grald and Isla de Coco. Photo by Sally Spickard.
Ariel gets the award for toughest of the day, picking herself up after a heavy fall from Diara in the 3*-L and carrying on to pilot her other two rides around cross country. Keep an eye on Isla de Coco — she’s a real type who seems to relish the job and has a stellar FEI record to boast at 10 years old.
Division Leaders:
CCI4*-L: Waylon Roberts and OKE Ruby R (46.0)
CCI4*-S: Karl Slezak and Hot Bobo (44.0)
CCI3*-L: Arden Wildasin and Billy Beaufort (35.2)
U25 CCI3*-L: Katie Lichten and Romans Code Red (40.0)
CCI2*-L: Boyd Martin and Fetiche des Rouges (21.2)
U25 CCI2*-L: Erin Farrell and Atavious (37.4)
Tomorrow we’ll conclude an exciting weekend with the final horse inspection at 8 a.m. for all divisions, including the 4*-S. Show jumping will then commence at 9:30 a.m. with the 2* divisions, followed by the 3*-L and 4*-S/4*-L. I’ll be back tomorrow with much more to wrap up Bromont tomorrow evening. Stay tuned and Go Eventing!
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