Karen O’Connor and Mr. Medicott
Mr. Medicott has been partnered with Karen O’Connor for less than 6 months, which is perhaps part of the reason that Karen felt so strongly about running cross-country today despite their 4th place finish at Rolex and a swarm of withdraws by US Olympic hopefuls. As we explained last night, the top three CIC3* horses (RF Rovano Rex, Reminton, and Neville) withdrew from the division after consulting with US selectors and coach Mark Phillips. Neville, Mighty Nice, Arthur, Twizzel, and Ballynoecastle also withdrew, as expected. All of those horses have strong cross-country results this spring and their riders elected to save them for another day. The rest of the US and Canadian pairs set out in this Olympic short list selection division with hopes and dreams of impressing the selectors enough to get a coveted plane ticket to England for final Olympic preparations. All of the withdraws dramatically shook up the CIC3* leader board, moving Karen and Mr. Medicott into the lead. Only 3 of the current top 10 CIC3* pairs going into the show jumping were in the top 10 after the dressage.
Bromont CIC3* Results:
1. Karen O’Connor and Mr. Medicott +0 43.0
2. Will Faudree and Andromaque +0 47.4
3. Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen +0 48.0
4. Will Faudree and Pawlow +0.8 49.8
5. Marilyn Little-Meredith and RF Demeter +1.2 52.6
6. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot +12.4 57.6
7. Becky Holder and Can’t Fire Me +8.4 58.4
8. Michelle Mueller and Amistad (CAN) +7.6 60.2
9. Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master (CAN) +8.0 62.6
10. Danica Moore and Utah B (CAN) +8 64.0
[Bromont Live Scores]
Your full Bromont CIC3* video:
Here are a few notes from the CIC3* division:
–The biggest issue that I noticed in Mr. Medicott’s Rolex cross-country ride is that he was costing himself several seconds in front of every fence by fighting Karen’s half-halt. You can still see remnants of that habit in the above cross-country video but it was much improved throughout most of the course, allowing Karen and Mr. Medicott “Cave” to finish clear and inside the time.
–Will Faudree now has two horses in the top 4, Andromaque “Missy” in 2nd and Pawlow “Ernie” in 4th. Will needed two good cross-country rides today and produced just that, adding just two seconds of time penalties for the two horses. Will may very well have moved at least one of his horses from outside the selection bubble to inside the bubble in his 13 minutes of riding this afternoon.
—Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen were another pair that needed to impress the powers that be. Their double-clear should go a long way to convincing the US selectors that they are ready for a chance at the big time stage.
–Of 23 CIC3* starters, three (Cave, Andromaque, and Loughan Glen) finished within the time, five finished with stops, and three were eliminated.
–All of the 6 US Olympic contenders who started on course (Mr. Medicott, Pawlow, Andromaque, Loughan Glen, Demeter, and Can’t Fire Me) produced good rounds and they are all in the top 7 going into the show jumping. Team USA can hang its hat on a great day of riding and if I were the selectors I would be more confounded this evening than I was this morning about who to send to England. But, make no mistake, having too many solid options is a great problem to have.
–Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot aren’t qualified for the Olympics, but they are competing right up with the big guys this weekend. They held on to 6th place with a very solid ride for the young horse.
–Team Canada must be scratching their heads a bit this evening after a shaky day from some of their normally rock-solid cross-country riders. Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo picked up an elimination for three refusals very early on course–at fence #4A, the log jumping into the wet sunken road. Hawley Bennett and Gin ‘N Juice finished with a stop at the chevron after the drop at #13B. “Ginny” looked like she was just not quite listening to Hawley’s half halt. Add to that Jessica Phoenix having surgery today to repair her Broken collar bone, and the only Canadian WEG pair to get the job done today was Rebecca Howard and Riddle Master. I still think Colombo, Ginny, Tucker, and Rupert all have to get on that plane for England, without a doubt. Hopefully today will be a wake up call for Selena and Hawley and if I know anything about the Canadians I know they will bounce back from this better than ever.
–As for the other Canadian Olympic hopefuls, let’s go right back to head scratching because they fared better than the veterans. Michelle Mueller is the highest placed of what I consider the Canadian “bubble pairs.” Peter Barry and Kilrodan Abbott decided to work a little too hard and jumped the wide side of the corner in the main water complex, traveling to the right side of the red flag. Peter was pulled up and walked back to the barns smiling. Hopefully the selectors will focus on the great ride they were having and not that it came to a premature end. Shandiss Weworia and Rockfield Grant Juan picked up 22 time penalties. Jessica Hampf and High Society added 29 time faults, but I think they have gone a long way to helping their chances this weekend with a much improved dressage ride on Friday versus their ride at Rolex. Micheline Jordan and Irish Diamonds are tied for 11th.
–For a few more miscellaneous notes, Hawley Bennett and 5 O’Clock Somewhere were eliminated for missing jump 9 and Courageous Comet picked up a surprising stop at 15 in the main arena complex. Both of those horses looked foot perfect around the early part of the course.
Whitney Weston showed good stickability on Rock On Rose about one millisecond after this shot was taken, proving the age old eventing truism that it doesn’t always have to be pretty to be good:
–Today’s Olympic selection confusion just puts more pressure on the rides tomorrow. The final horse inspection is scheduled for 8am and the CCI* show jumping is scheduled to start at 9:30am. The Olympic hopefuls who withdrew will show jump after the CIC3* division is finished.
–The last few one-star pairs are just finishing up and it looks like Allison Springer and Eclipse have maintained their lead.
It has been a long but wonderful day of cross-country here from Bromont. Arden Wildasin was the only medical transport of the day to my knowledge and she’s already back in the barns. There are so many people to thank, especially Robert Martineau, Janette Leask, and the entire Bromont team. Derek and Jay put together brilliant courses, the organizers ran a ton of horses through today without a hitch, and the volunteers were absolutely wonderful. Heck, even the internet contributed by working well.
Now, more than ever, go eventing.
