It’s going to be a tough battle tomorrow in Round 2 of the ASPCA Maclay Finals.  Nick Haness has the lead in the class after Round 1 and the flat phase, with Julie Welles just behind.  And the Pessoa/USEF Medal Finals winner, Maggie McAlary, is right in the hunt in third.  Tina Dilandri has a hold on fourth place, and Nikko Ritter is in fifth. 

The stand-by for tomorrow’s Round 2…
1    Nick Haness
2    Julie Welles
3    Maggie McAlary
4    Tina Dilandri
5    Nikko Ritter   
6    Mallory Olson
7    Jennifer Waxman
8    Adrienne Dixon
9    Katie McDaniel
10    Nick Dello Joio
11    Elizabeth Lubrano
12    Maria Schaub
13    Sloane Coles
14    Heather Dobbs
15    Henry Pfeiffer
16    Nicole Husky
17    Hillary Dobbs
18    Lucy Davis
19    Eleanor Kunsman
20    Addison Phillips
21    Hannah Selleck
22    Victoria Birdsall
23    Kimberly McCormack
24    Zazou Hoffman
25    Jacqueline Lubrano

Welles was called back in first after the 147 to start over the course this morning were complete.  Her flowing, confident round really impressed the judges, Ralph Caristo and Scott Williamson.  But her horse, Sander, looked a little bit tense and tight in the flat phase, and they dropped her into second.  Haness had ridden a very elegant round, and backed it up with fluid, consistent flatwork to take the lead.

The flat phase really shuffled the standings.  Kimberly McCormack had been in fourth places after the over fences, but the judges dropped her all the way down to 23rd after the flat phase.  Her horse was frequently above the bit, and looked stiff.  The judges really liked Maggie McAlary’s flatwork, and moved her up to third from fifth after the over fences.  Nikko Ritter dropped from third to fifth on the flat.  Tina Dilandri, a 14-year-old who rides with Karen Healey in California, who went from sixth up to fourth, and Mallory Olson moved up to sixth from ninth as a result of her flatwork.

Jennifer Waxman moved up from 11th to seventh, and Sloane Coles made a big jump in the ranks, from 21st after the over fences, to 13th.  Her round over fences was very nice right up until the last few fences, where she had a late lead change behind on one inside turn, and was a tad long to one oxer off the inside turn.

The course that Caristo and Williamson set a technical track that demanded accuracy, but without overfacing the riders with overly tricky striding or spooky fences.  There were quite a few places where riders could choose to make a more risky inside turn to impress the judges, or take an outside track to play it safe. 

Riders started down the long side of the ring, right under the judges, over a vertical (Fence 1) of a white rail set over straw bales.  They then turned right at the far end of the ring, and jumped a narrow vertical (Fence 2) of white rails set over a gray wall.  Then, they rode seven bending strides out of the corner to a vertical of green planks (Fence 3).  An oxer (Fence 4) followed in a bending line, set at a pretty acute angle.  The majority of the riders accomplished this line in a pretty direct six strides.

Then, riders cantered around the end of the ring and turned out of the corner to Fence 5AB, a two-stride combination of white verticals.  However, there was an arrangement of bushes and flowers set in the corner, and riders had to decide whether to slice inside the decorations for a very short approach to the combination, or gallop around them for a longer approach. 

In four bending strides after the combination was Fence 6, a solid wall of brush, with no wings.  The unusual fence didn’t cause many problems at all.  Only two horses of the 147 starters stopped at it, and it rode quite well for the majority of the riders.  After the brush fence, riders cantered around the end of the ring and came out of the corner in a tight turn, three strides out of the corner to an airy narrow oxer (Fence 7).  Then, riders could gallop on down to a one-stride oxer-vertical combination (Fence 8AB) along the long side. 

The last few lines of the course proved very tricky.  Fence 9 was an option fence, with two fan oxers set next to each other.  Riders could turn very tightly after landing from Fence 8B and sneak inside the flower arrangement in the corner for an angled approach to either of the oxers, or they could take the longer route around the flowers for a longer, straighter approach.  Then, they either negotiated a really tight left rollback cut inside Fence 4 to the last oxer, or went around the oxer to it.  Riders chose all different sorts of combinations of inside and outside lines in this last section of the course, and they had to be definite and ride forward to make them all work.

First thing this morning, as the first few horses went, it looked as though it might be a very long day indeed.  The first on course, Euri Uchiyama, underestimated the angle on the bending line to Fence 4, and her horse stopped and she fell off.  The second to go, Molly Braswell—who just placed eighth in the Pessoa/USEF Medal Finals–also had troubles.  Her horse spooked in the corner after Fence 1, and she had to circle.  Then, he stopped at the oxer at Fence 9.  It looked as if there might be a problem developing in that corner after Fence 1 when the third to go, Victoria McNaughton, also had her horse spook in the same corner, and had to circle.  There weren’t any spectators seating in that corner by the ring, and the only distraction seemed to be the Productions East camera.

But Katie McDaniel stopped the trend with a brilliantly forward-ridden round.  She laid down a very smooth trip, and accomplished all the inside turns with flair.  From then on, the monsters seemed to disappear from that corner.

The twins, Heather and Hillary Dobbs, both rode very efficient, definite rounds.  They sit in 14th and 17th places, respectively.  They both rode the over-fences course with a real jumper flair, making quick work of all the inside turns and riding very forward.

The inside turn to 5AB was the downfall for Kacey McCann, who was an impressive second in the Maclay Finals last year.  She made a tight inside cut to the combination, but jumped in weakly over the first vertical, with the horse really jumping over his front end.  Tatiana Dzavick had a surprising stop at Fence 1.  Haylie Jayne had a rail at 5B, and a little bit of a deep distance to Fence 9.  Hardin Towell’s horse pulled down the gate at the oxer at Fence 7.

Nick Haness was really the first one to show brilliance over the course, going mid-pack, 50th in the order.  He rode his horse, Landano, with extreme confidence, assured of his track and finding each fence out of stride and making all the inside turns look easy.

Henry Pfieffer had the same polish as he negotiated all the inside turns without a missed step.  He looked as if he knew where his horse was every step of the way.  Maggie McAlary rode with her usual flow and style.  But for this class, she’s mounted on Natalie Johnson’s equitation horse, Chagall, rather than Mid-Accord, who she rode in the Medal Finals.

Riders were called back in three groups for the flat like so (in order of preference within each group)… 
Group A (the bottom 12)
25    Jacqueline Lubrano
26    Jessica Springsteen
27    Chelsea Moss
28    Amber Levine
29    Catherine Pugliese
30    Catherine Pasmore
31    Lauren Horth
32    Hardin Towell
33    Kitt Ritter
34    Jesse Kimmelman
35    Brooke Coleman
36    Shelby Wakeman

Group B (the middle 12)
13    Katie McDaniel
14    Nick Dello Joio
15    Elizabeth Lubrano
16    Nicole Husky
17    Hillary Dobbs
18    Eleanor Kunsman
19    Lucy Davis
20    Victoria Birdsall
21    Sloane Coles
22    Addison Phillips
23    Hannah Selleck
24    Zazou Hoffman

Group A (the top 12)
1    Julie Welles
2    Nick Haness
3    Nikko Ritter
4    Kimberly McCormack
5    Maggie McAlary
6    Tina Dilandri
7    Heather Dobbs
8    Henry Pfieffer
9    Mallory Olsen
10    Adrienne Dixon
11    Jennifer Waxman
12     Maria Schaub

Check in tomorrow evening, when the final results of the Maclay Finals will be posted, with story and photos.  And tonight, there’ll be coverage of the $75,000 Budweiser World Cup-Qualifier of Syracuse.