Since its inception, the Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase—a condensed, spectator-friendly take on advanced-level horse trials held annually at Bruce’s Field in Aiken, South Carolina—has grown in myriad ways. The most recent edition, the $100,000 Conceal Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase, held March 1-2, saw prize money doubled, record attendance, a field packed with Olympic hopefuls, and a cross-country track more challenging than ever before.

Will Coleman rose to that challenge, leading the field from centerline to finish flags on Chin Tonic HS. The Ocala, Florida-based rider made his trip to the Aiken eventing showcase even better by taking second aboard his second horse, 2021 CHIO Aachen (Germany) winner Off The Record, who climbed from fifth after dressage by adding just 0.4 time faults to his score across the jumping phases. 

“It was a pretty good week at the office,” Coleman said. “A little different for us. We aren’t used to doing that, but it’s great.

“It’s good for the sport, I think, for other events to see that as possible,” he continued, regarding the format of the competition at Bruce’s Field, named in memory of Bruce Duchossois. “And what they’ve been able to create here is pretty, pretty cool. So it’s an awesome legacy for Bruce.”

A chilly, soaking rain dampened the first day of competition, which saw riders do dressage and tackle Michel Vaillancourt’s show jumping track. Despite the downpours, Coleman and “Chin,” a 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Chin Champ—Wildera) owned by Hyperion Stud, delivered a test that earned them a 26.5 heading into show jumping, putting them several points ahead of their nearest competition, Boyd Martin and his veteran Tsetserleg, who scored 29. 

As the rains continued through show jumping, Vaillancourt’s twisty course caused rails for about half the field and mixed up the dressage standings. Coleman found himself sitting in first and fifth places after jumping double-clear rounds on both “Chin” and “Timmy,” a 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (VDL Arkansas—Drumagoland Bay) owned by the Off The Record Syndicate.

The weather cleared for Saturday’s cross-country phase, giving riders plenty of sunshine to see Capt. Mark Phillips’ cross-country track, which squeezed 28 jumps into a course just over 4 minutes long. The track wove through the grass field and through all-weather arenas flanked by the competition’s crowds, giving the horses plenty of atmosphere to negotiate along with the fences. The most notable addition to Phillips’ tougher course was the Conceal Broken Bridge at Fence 10AB, where horses had a step up onto the “bridge” and then either took one stride or bounced up and over the log-and-drop second element. 

Riders left the start box in reverse order of placing, and time penalties as well as trouble on course continued to shake up the final standings. Out in fifth place, Coleman and Timmy produced the second fastest round of the day—which saw only one double-clear (Canada’s Waylon Roberts and OKE Ruby R)—with just 0.4 time penalties to put the pressure on the horses above them. When last year’s winner, Elisabeth Halliday, this time riding Ocala Horse Properties’ Cooley Nutcracker in fourth place, and local favorite Fedarman B, owned by the Annie Goodwin Syndicate and piloted by Martin, in third, both jumped clean with time, it was down to second-placed Phillip Dutton on Possante, owned by The Possante Group, to challenge Coleman and Chin for the win. 

Dutton was on a quick pace and looked to give Coleman a run for his money when the broken bridge claimed its first real victim. Dutton parted ways with Possante—both walked away—and opened the door for Coleman to go one-two. Chin had a roughly 16-second cushion over Timmy, only part of which he needed, to jump clean and clinch the top spot. 

At a time when the sport of eventing is evolving, Coleman offered his perspective on arena eventing and formats like the one at Bruce’s Field. 

“That experience of sort of riding in a compact environment with a lot of people, technical questions with the horses and riders have to think fast and react … I do think championships are becoming a bit more like that; the modern sport is going a little bit more that way,” he said. “I still really love the five-stars, but this is going to be a part, or at least a taste, of what maybe the sport might be trending towards.”

See complete results here, and more images from the competition below.