Lexington, Ky.—April 26
Twenty-six horses crossed the finish line Saturday in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L, a combination of old campaigners, first-timers and those in between. Catch up with some of the notable finishers here.
• Kiwi Tim Price brought three horses over from his homebase in England. The World No. 2 rider sits sixth with Jarillo, who was first out on course, and 15th on his Olympic partner Falco after picking up a stop.
“Falco was just superb everywhere, and was up on the time, and everything just was a joy,” he said. “But unfortunately, [at the Cosequin Cove] he just went a bit lower with his belly over the first, and he’s such a deliberate jumper, such a careful horse, he’s not like an old-fashioned eventer that would just step over no matter what. It just put us on a bit of a half distance, and he just put in a little stop, then he came and jumped at the second time. It’s a shame, really, clear inside the time would have been quite handy tomorrow.”
His ride on Happy Boy didn’t go to plan when he picked up two stops and a frangible pin penalty. Officials also stopped him mid-combination at the Cosequin Cove to check Happy Boy for blood—they didn’t find any—before he continued on.
• World No. 1 Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality dropped from third to fifth after adding just 10.4 time penalties to his score.
“He’s unique in every way, but he’s as straight as the day’s long,” said McEwen of “Norris.” “He will do anything he can for you. He’ll sort his legs out. … I was disappointed in my own decision; maybe I should have gone straight through the last water, but I just felt that he was just getting a little bit tired at that point, and even though I know he probably got three [strides] in there because it was a long two, I just think we probably were a little bit underpowered to even try to get the three.”
• U.S.-based Kiwi Monica Spencer and Artist had no jumping penalties, moving from 10th to eighth with just 12.4 time penalties.
“It felt like a five-star,” she said. “You’ve got to never give up and stay committed the whole way. He was honest, and he was a good boy.
“I still get terribly frightened at these jumps, so I was like, ‘Just one fence at a time,’ ” she said. “I think a little bit of fear is important; it makes you sharp. I don’t think there’d be a single person in that warm-up that doesn’t have their hearts in their mouths. If you feel that way when you’re doing a training trial, that’s your Olympics, but this is my Olympics.”
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• Emily Hamel is the top-placed U.S. rider— after Boyd Martin on his three horses—in 11th with Corvett, who celebrated his 18th birthday today.
“It rode a little harder than I thought,” she said. “I don’t know if it was because the footing’s a little bit soft, but he tried so hard out there, and he was really nippy when he needed to be, like if he had to quick add a stride. He’s just so honest. It’s his birthday today, and people around the course were like, ‘Happy Birthday, Barry.’ ”
• Jessica Phoenix and fan favorite Fluorescent Adolescent moved up from 20th to 13th after adding just 14.4 time penalties to their dressage score.
“Oh my gosh, what an incredible horse,” said the Canadian rider. “She’s just such a competitor, and even mistakes that I make, she just flawlessly makes up for them. She never holds it against me, and just loves her job so much. A horse with that much heart is worth millions of dollars. So she’s just phenomenal.
“She was perfect,” she continued. “I perhaps rode a little sticky to a couple of tables, but she didn’t care about that, and we were pretty bang on through all the combinations. She was just absolute perfection.”
• The scrappiest ride of the day was probably Calvin Böckmann on The Phantom of the Opera. They took off long to the last element of Pete’s Hollow and “Phanty” stumbled on landing, going down to his stomach, then stood up and kept galloping, not missing a beat. He picked up 15 penalties for a flag at Cosequin Cove and 10 for time to finish in 14th going into Sunday.
“He actually did a very, very good jump over the first [element], and I thought, OK, I’m going be OK for the three strides, and I just wanted to give him time to get his balance back,” he said. “I should have maybe ridden a bit more forward. So there was a very, very big distance to that one, but he just managed to save himself so great.”
• After a disappointing dressage day Buck Davidson and Sorocaima finished with 19.6 time penalties on cross-country and struggled a bit on course. They head into tomorrow sitting 16th.
“It was not our best round. I’m not sure if he didn’t get his tongue over the bit or something,” he said.
“Horses can’t talk, but for whatever reason this weekend he’s not been the same,” Davidson continued. “He’s almost too easy to ride. He was swapping leads all the time—I can’t explain it because all the lead-ups have been fantastic. I don’t know—it’s just horses, I guess.”
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• Cassie Sanger is the highest-placed rookie, finishing cross-country with a flag penalty and 14 time penalties. She sits 17th with Redfield Fyre (67.6), thanks, perhaps to a little extra luck in the form of several four-leaf clovers tucked into her pinny that her support crew found for her while grazing “Yogi.”
“It was awesome,” said Sanger. “And my horse really couldn’t have been better. He fought every step of the way for me. It just felt surreal going out of the box, and I didn’t let it hit me all day that I was about to go around a five-star, and I just tried to keep my head up and just keep going, keep going, keep going, and that’s what he did. He was there for me every step of the way.”
• One of the most excited people to come off the course was five-star rookie Shannon Lilley. (Read her incredible story of perseverance here.) She sits 19th with Eindhoven Garette after adding 30.8 time penalties to her dressage score.
“I am so lucky to sit on a horse that I have,” said Lilley. “He’s incredible, and I didn’t quite know how incredible he was until today. You know, it’s funny, you sort of have a plan in your head, and you think it’s going to go that way, and it never does, obviously. So then you switch to Plan B and Plan C and Plan D. He’s just such a good partner, like he stayed right there with me. Believed the whole time. It’s unbelievable. And he had so much left coming home. I know I was very slow and did a lot of options and things like that, but he easily went the distance on the hills and terrain.”
• Libussa Lübbeke dropped from fourth to 10th after adding 22 time penalties to her score on Caramia 34. She had a sticky moment on course to a ditch, but finessed through it.
“I had a nice distance, and then she was just pulling a little down the hill, and I tried to come back together with her, but then she got a little strong, and I wanted one stride more,” said the 24-year-old German.
“My horse was just amazing,” she continued. “She always tries to do well, and there were times I think I might have ridden better, but, yeah, she’s just amazing. She always tries her best.”
The Chronicle is on-site at the Kentucky Horse Park with two reporters to bring you everything you need to know at coth.com, so you don’t have to miss a minute of the action. You can find all of our coverage from the week here. You can also follow along on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to read our May 23 issue for more in-depth coverage and analysis of the event.
