Will Coleman and Off the Record. Photo by Brant Gamma Photography.
Cross country proved influential across all divisions once again at the Cloud 11~Gavilan North LLC Carolina International CCI and Horse Trial, presented by Lumbee River EMC. All three winners added nothing to their overnight scores to take home the FEI wins with Will Coleman and his own Off The Record bringing home the Setters’ Run Farm CCI4*-S title, Phillip Dutton and Caroline Moran’s Quasi Cool picking up the blue in the Attwood Equestrian Services CCI3*-S, and Andrew McConnon securing the Breezeway Sporthorse and Diagnostic Clinic and Friendship Mobile Veterinary Imaging and Sports Medicine CCI2*-S win with Jeanne Shigo’s D’Luxe Steel.
In the Setters’ Run Farm CCI4*-S, time proved the hardest to make of any division. Double clears were hard to come by with Coleman producing the only one of the day to take the win. He and Off The Record (VDL Arkansas – Drumagoland Bay, by Ard Ohio), a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, came home well within the optimum and made Ian Stark’s course look easy en route to the win.
“It was a good weekend for us. I thought my horses ran really well. I was particularly happy with Off The Record. He was on fire out there and just lives for the cross country. As soon as he left the start box, he was on a mission. I was really pleased and looking forward to the next event,” Coleman said of Off the Record.
“I love Carolina International. You get a real proper run and the ground was perfect. They have done such great work on the turf and a lot of credit goes to the organizing committee and their wonderful sponsors. They have answered the call for what we want in high profile events in the USA and they deserve to be applauded,” Coleman added about the event.
Falling just one spot on the leaderboard after cross country in the CCI4*-S to second place was Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deborah Halliday’s Fernhill By Night (Radolin – Argentina XII, by Argentinus). The 18-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding who won the division in 2019, was clear but picked up 6.8 time faults after finishing 17 seconds over the optimum time.
“I am totally thrilled with both my horses, Fernhill By Night and Cooley Stormwater today. {Fernhill By Night}ran as fast as he could run. Everything ran pretty much to plan and the time was tough this year. He isn’t a racehorse but is such a good boy and really fights for me. He gave me a super round and he gave me everything he had,” Halliday-Sharp said of her round today.
Will Faudree and Pfun. Photo by Brant Gamma Photography.
Rounding out the top three in the CCI4*-S was Will Faudree and Sterling Silver Stables and Jennifer Mosing’s PFun (Tadmus – Celerina, by Cento). They nearly produced the second double clear of the day coming home just one second over to add .4 to their dressage score after jumping clear yesterday.
“My weekend was great and today was a really fun day. PFun was amazing. He is really learning how to go quick and be as efficient as he can be. I was thrilled that I got as close to the time as I did. I am kicking myself for adding a stride at the corners otherwise he would have made it. I am so pleased with him and very excited for the future,” Faudree said of his weekend and his round today with PFun.
Phillip Dutton and Quasi Cool. Photo by Brant Gamma Photography.
The Attwood Equestrian Services CCI3*-S produced the only wire-to-wire victory of the event with Phillip Dutton and Caroline Moran’s Quasi Cool (Quo Vados – B-Estelle, by Lord), a 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding, picking up the win.
“I was really pleased with Quasi Cool. You had to work to get the time and the jumps came up fast and quick. Because of the terrain, it always rides a little bit harder than it walks but it was pretty educational for horses. Quasi Cool was very mature and I was really pleased with the result,” Dutton said.
The top three in the CCI3* only slightly shuffled with Halliday-Sharp and The Stormwater Group’s Cooley Stormwater moving up one spot to finish in second and Sydney Elliot moving up from fourth after show jumping to finish in third with Carol Stephens’s Commando D’Osthuy.
Andrew McConnon and D’Luxe Steel. Photo by Brant Gamma Photography.
In the Breezeway Sporthorse and Diagnostic Clinic and Friendship Mobile Veterinary Imaging and Sports Medicine CCI2*-S, Andrew McConnon defended his 2019 title adding nothing to his score today to top the division with D’Luxe Steel (Up to Date – Nicola D, by Iroko), a 7-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Jeanne Shigo.
“I am really proud of D’Luxe Steel today. He made light work of his first 2*. My goal was to let him have a quick run today not only because he was in a competitive position, but also looking towards the future with a CCI2*L. I took some tighter lines more for practice and he is always looking for the jumps and the flags. He gave me a great feeling from start to finish,” McConnon said of D’Luxe Steel.
Following a fall at fence 10 on the CCI4*-S cross country course, Fortuna ridden by Bobby Meyerhoff was treated on the scene and transported back to the stabling. As of Saturday evening, Fortuna is resting comfortably. Any further inquiries should be directed to Bobby Meyerhoff. Bobby was uninjured.
Carolina International is also hosting Training through Advanced level horse trial divisions, which got underway Friday with dressage, and will conclude their competition Sunday with their final jumping phases.
After the cancelation of last year’s event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Carolina Horse Park has rolled out even more improvements to the cross country track and is debuting new complexes including Normandy Banks for all FEI levels in 2021. All competitors and officials have sung praises for both the footing and courses. Knowlbrook Farms has been crucial in land management developing the galloping lanes and providing extensive tree removal to ensure each and every course at the Carolina International has world-class ground.
Horse and Country TV is the official live streaming partner of Carolina International. In addition to providing wall-to-wall live streaming of all of the Setters’ Run Farm CCI4*-S, Horse and Country is also offering live and on demand coverage of the Attwood Equestrian Services CCI3*-S and CCI2*-S show jumping and cross country phases. Visit https://horseandcountry.tv/en-us/ for more information.
Brant Gamma Photography is the official photographer for this weekend’s competition. Brant and her team will be on site all weekend to cover all the action. Riders can visit their tent located behind Barn A to purchase photos.
Carolina International CCI & H.T.: Website, Schedule, Ride Times, Orders of Go, Live Stream, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage
