The track was imposing and the rails were falling, but Jan Byyny is a tough competitor and she rode to win, displacing just one rail to take first place with her veteran, Task Force, in the Jersey Fresh CCI***.

Not satisfied with first, she scooped up second place with her other ride, Waterfront.  They had one of only two double clears and finished just 0.3 points behind Task Force.

“I’ve never won a reasonably big event before,” said a thrilled Byyny.  “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

But things could’ve gone very differently for Byyny as Task Force was held during the horse inspection in the morning.  “Yesterday he hit a post with his hind foot and he has a big laceration on his pastern,” said Byyny.  “They wanted to look at it.”

Fortunately, the veterinary examination confirmed that the cut wasn’t affecting his joint, and he was passed upon re-inspection.

Bonnie Mosser retained third place with Rebecca Polan’s Close The Deal.  The Dutch Wamblood-Thoroughbred cross looked great in the show jumping, but had the last rail down when Mosser took a bit of a tug. 

“I thought the course jumped quite big,” said Mosser.  “I was fortunate that my horse was fit enough and fresh enough to keep a good rhythm.  It felt like he was jumping a foot over everything.”

Jennifer Libby grabbed fourth place aboard Draco with two rails down.  The 23-year-old from Branchville, N.J., trains with David and Karen O’Connor.  Jonathon Holling took fifth place with Lion King, who also had two rails down.  Holling jumped the other double clear round with Direct Merger and finished in 14th  place with him.

Ashley Johnson had the third clear round with Aly Cat Two, but four time penalties were added to her score.  Mikki Kapaun was elminated on Allstar after a refusal at the second and third fence on course.

Missy Ransehousen’s Critical Decision was spun at the horse inspection.  Darren Chiacchia chose not to present Windfall, although he did finish in 16th place with Gaspar II.  Craig Thompson didn’t present Merciful Judge, and Leslie Chelstrom withdrew Sara as well.

It was reported that Mike Winter, who fell yesterday on cross-country, has a broken collarbone but is otherwise fine.  Kingpin wasn’t injured.

It was a nail-biting finish for the two-star riders in the show jumping.  The top three riders didn’t have a rail between them.  But Kate Ditchey jumped a clean round with Belmont to retain the lead in her first completed two-star.

“It feels good!” said an excited Ditchey.  “I don’t consistently show jump clean.” 

She admitted that her legs went numb briefly before she started her ride, but she conquered her nerves and vowed to ride Belmont forward to every fence.

She bested adult amateur Wendy Bebie and Phoenix who stayed in second place with a rail, as well as her coach, Phillip Dutton, who had an uncharacteristic rail for third place with Tru Luck.

“I’m very pleased for her to win,” said Dutton of his student.  “She’s a good, hard-working girl who wants to ride well and correctly.”

He was also pleased with Tru Luck, who he started riding last fall.  “He has the makings of a good horse,” said Dutton.  “I couldn’t be more pleased with how he jumped.”

Kristen Bond was the only rider in the entire competition to finish on her dressage score.  She grabbed fourth place in the two-star with Are You Ready. 

Lindsay Pearce was elminated in show jumping when her horse, James, incurred two refusals.  Madeline Blackman did not present Scarva at the jog.

Top 10 CCI***
1.    Task Force, Jan Byyny  66.6
2.    Waterfront, Jan Byyny  66.9
3.    Close The Deal, Bonnie Mosser  75.5
4.    Draco, Jennifer Libby  81.8
5.    Lion King II, Jonathon Holling  82.7
6.    New Moon, Buck Davidson  91.7
7.    Livewire, Samantha Taylor  94.8
8.    Cahir, Emilee Libby  102.1
9.    Theodore O’Connor, Karen O’Connor  105.8
10.    Kiltartan, Molly Bull  106.0

Top 10 CCI**
1.    Belmont, Kate Ditchey  49.6
2.    Phoenix, Wendy Bebie  55.0
3.    Tru Luck, Phillip Dutton  56.3
4.    Are You Ready, Kristin Bond  61.5
5.    Glorious Joy, Becky Holder  69.5
6.    Relentless Pursuit, Dana Widstrand  69.6
7.    Snooze Alarm, Lauren Kieffer  70.8
8.    Orion, Craig Thompson  72.9
9.    Tsunami, Kim Severson  74.0
10.    Warrie Hill, Laura Vandervliet  76.8