March 12, Tallahassee, Fla.
Allison Springer blazed the CIC*** trail as the first rider out of the Red Hills box in the division this morning, but as the hours wiled away, not one rider managed to best her score.
Announcers Nigel Casserley and John Kyle made plenty of hay throughout the day about the fact that no one has ever gone double clear at the advanced level here at Red Hills. And Springer and her mount Arthur were no exception, adding 8 time faults to their third-placed dressage score of 45.3.
But the Upperville, Va., rider was fine with that—it was the third-fastest round of the division, and the overnight leaders couldn’t match it. Dressage winners Phillip Dutton and Isabella II dropped to 14th place thanks to a stop at fence 15 and 22.8 time faults.
Springer acknowledged that the twisty, turny, busy Red Hills courses aren’t really Arthur’s forte, but she said her horse showed up ready to play this year.
“I took him out for a hack this morning just to feel him out, and I expected to feel some spookiness, but it was like he was saying, ‘I got it, I got it!’ He showed up this weekend with his schoolbooks.
“We’ve done well here in years past, basically just by running around,” she said. “But this year that wasn’t enough—you had to not only get around clean but also push for that time as well.”
Springer and all the top-placed riders praised the efforts of Scottish course designer Hugh Lochore, who served as builder here for 10 years before stepping into his current role; this year he opened up the course to allow for more galloping room.
The event was canceled the following year due to lack of entries in a down economy, but it came back strong last year.
“I was here in ’08, and I know it’s hard to be a course designer,” said Boyd Martin, who rode into second place today with Neville Bardos, adding 7.6 time faults to his dressage score. “If he makes it so easy that everybody gets around, everyone complains it’s no contest. But if it’s too hard they want to string this guy up to a tree and hang him. It’s a very, very fine line between getting it right and getting it wrong.”
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“I thought it rode really well,” chimed in Michael Pollard, who rode into third place aboard Icarus (66.1) and 10th place on Wonderful Will (76.6). “They certainly have opened it up.”
Fourth-placed Selena O’Hanlon (Colombo, 66.2) also praised the course, saying the only tight turn she noticed was the one after fence 4, the corner. “Other than that it seemed to be big, smooth lines which seem to be safer on the horses’ legs,” she said.
Martin, whose horse is coming off the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, and Pollard, whose Icarus is coming back from an injury, said they both started the course slowly and picked up speed gradually. But O’Hanlon, whose horse also hasn’t had a major outing at speed since the WEG, wasted more time than she expected.
“He was running away with me a little bit, so it took me longer to get him organized before the fences,” she admitted of her 17-year-old “going on 12” gelding. “I did for a second or two think I was lost on a few occasions, even though I walked the course four times. I did find my way fine, but I lost time in slowing down and wondering if I was right.”
O’Hanlon and Pollard are within .1 points of each other, but Springer and Martin have a somewhat comfortable lead of nearly 12 points over them. But Springer won’t have a rail in hand over Martin in show jumping tomorrow.
The Fuzzy End Of The Lollipop
Things didn’t click as well for every CIC*** pair, though. The course was held for nearly 30 minutes early in the division after Canadian stalwarts Kyle Carter and Madison Park took a nasty fall at fence 14A, the first of the Offset Aintrees. Both were transported off the course in emergency vehicles, but Carter was found to have only a broken wrist, and his horse remained on the grounds and was resting comfortably in his stall this evening.
Will Coleman, who’d begun the weekend in fourth place aboard Nevada Bay, came up unlucky at the end of the course. His horse hung a leg over the first element of fence 23, the Elm Avenue Lodges, and couldn’t collect himself soon enough to make it over the second hut. Their 20 penalties dropped them down to 15th place.
Amy Ruth Borun and Santa’s Playboy fell at 20ABC, the final water complex, but walked home. Buck Davidson retired his WEG mount Ballynoecastle RM at the same combination after two stops, and Katie Ruppel and Sir Donovan also picked up 20 penalties there.
The first water complex, Apalachee Bay (fence 15ABC), saw a fall for rider David Koss from Look Sweet and a stop at the final element for Casey McKissock with Special Blend.
Late in the division, two horses stopped out at the double corners (fence 18AB): Andrea Leatherman’s Mensa and Missy Miller’s TSM Amazing Grace.
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Like A Herd Of Turtles
In the advanced division, riders really took their time around the course; the fastest round, by Lisa Barry on Kenzo de la Roque, who consequently moved from seventh place into third, still accrued 21.2 time faults.
That meant that overnight leaders Jessica Phoenix and Exploring had little to worry about when they came home with 24 time penalties. They retained their place atop the leaderboard (49.9) and will show jump tomorrow with a rail in hand over Coleman and Twizzel (54.2).
The first advanced pair out of the box, Werner Geven and Golden Malt, didn’t give their following competitors much of a confidence boost. While most of their round went swimmingly, the pair had a steering disagreement near fence 21 and ended up colliding with a tree. The impact was so strong that it sheared a huge swath of bark off the trunk and the saddle right off the horse, but Geven and his mount both walked off the course. They were each inspected by medical professionals later.
Dani Dichting and Randy Ward also parted ways from their mounts, Tops and James, respectively. Both riders fell within minutes of each other at fence 15, the Apalachee Bay water complex. Davidson picked up two runouts with Absolute Liberty at fence 18, the University Central corner.
A Change Of Pace
The CIC** course proved a much faster ride, as seven competitors managed double-clear rounds. Dutton cruised into the lead with one aboard Mighty Nice, who’d placed fourth after the dressage on a 50.7. Phoenix will be breathing down his neck in show jumping tomorrow aboard Pavarotti, which whom she now sits in second place 1.3 points behind him. The top six horses are all within a rail of the win.
Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot found smooth sailing around the course as well; their 4.8 time faults didn’t jeopardize their third-placed standing. Meanwhile the 15.2 penalties Julie Richards picked up with Ben dropped her from first place to 11th.
Fence 5AB, Between The Hedges, stood out as an early test for the two-star field. Matt Flynn and BreakThrough walked home from there after picking up three stops, and Elisa Wallace retired there after a refusal there and at fence 4, the Brush Bench. Elizabeth Barron, daughter of Red Hills organizer Jane Barron, had the same experience there, though she picked up one more stop before signaling her retirement.
Show jumping begins tomorrow at 8 a.m. with the preliminary level and CIC*, followed by the CIC***.
Looking for complete provisional results? Visit Event Entries.
