Temecula, Calif.—Aug. 29

Tommy Greengard and That’s Me Z widened their lead in the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final today after delivering the fastest round of the division over Clayton Frederick’s course at Galway Downs. 

Greengard, who led the seven-horse field after Thursday’s dressage on a score of 29.6, widened his lead on “Z”, an 8-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Take A Chance On Me Z—Veneita, VDL Indoctro) owned by Andrea Pfeiffer, with a clean, quick cross-country round that accrued 7.2 time penalties to put them on a score of 36.8 heading into Saturday evening’s show jumping finale.

“I think he has tremendous faith in the partnership. He’s a little funny about, like, you can’t just let anyone hop on him to have a hack,” Greengard said. “He’s really a creature of habit and routine, and the more we’ve been able to dial in what makes him feel secure, he’s really rewarded us by understanding his job and bringing more and more to the table.”

Their round was good enough to put them 16.3 penalties ahead of second-placed Karen O’Neal and Clooney 14, who jumped clean but notched 22.8 time penalties for a Day 2 score of 53.1.

“He was taking me to everything,” O’Neal said of her cross-country round on Clooney 14, which put the pair in second going into show jumping. “I even left a stride out in one of my lines, which is not like me at all. I was like, ‘I see it, I’m going, it’s there; I’m not going to pull.’ The balance was there.”

O’Neal said that she’s looking forward to tomorrow’s phase, because she and “Cloonbear” are at home in the show jumping ring.

“He’s a good boy out there if I ride the plan,” she said.  

The most influential jump on the advanced track was Fence 15, the second of two tables set on a 90-degree turn, where two horses activated the frangible safety pins on the fence, accruing 11 points each. First, Molly Duda and Disco Traveler had an awkward jump there where the horse tried to bank off the top of the fence, activating the frangible, and later in the division five-star veterans Bec Braitling and Caravaggio II hit the fence on take-off, also activating the frangible device. 

With the second-fastest round in the division (8 time penalties) Duda moved up from fifth place to a close third behind O’Neal, despite the frangible penalty. She heads into show jumping on a score of 54.0.

One pair, Taren Hoffos and Regalla, placed second after dressage, retired after an early stop on course, meaning six pairs will head into show jumping Saturday with $60,000 on the line. The advanced show jumping final is scheduled to take place from 6-6:30 p.m. Pacific Time (9 p.m. Eastern) and will be livestreamed on Equestrian Plus and Horse & Country TV.

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