Mill Spring, N.C. – Nov. 13

Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous held onto their lead as day two of dressage wrapped up in the Buckeye Nutrition CCI4*-L Eventing National Championship. Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z slotted into second today after earning a 24.5, 3 points behind Little. Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg are in third with a score of 26.5.

Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous maintain their lead after the second day of dressage. Shannon Brinkman Photo

Despite the loss of major events throughout the year due to COVID-19, Little emphasized that this weekend is one of her most important chances to showcase RF Scandalous as an Olympic contender.

“I only have one shot out there, and so I try to be patient and careful to never overuse or risk her in a competition that isn’t critical to the greater goal,” she shared of her strategy with the 15-year-old Oldenburg mare (Carry Gold—Lario) owned by Michael and Phoebe Manders along with Jacqueline Mars. “Weekends like this one are not only goalpost events, but the opportunity to finally pull the trigger and put your preparations to the test—it’s so much fun!”

Erin Sylvester-Kanara and Paddy The Caddy produced a score of 24.6 to handily dominate the sandbox in the CCI4*-S division, followed in second by Jenny Caras and Trendy Fernhill on a score of 27.0. Third currently belongs to Lillian Heard and CharmKing, who earned a score of 27.4.

Sylvester-Kanara and the 13-year-old Irish Thoroughbred gelding (Azamore—Slamy) owned by Frank McEntee, are only contesting the dressage phase this weekend and will not continue on in the CCI4*-S, she revealed, after improving upon a previous score with the same test a few weeks ago at Plantation Field International (Pennsylvania).

“I was really, really happy with his test. I did that same test at Plantation, and we just had some trouble getting into a rhythm with that test. It has a different flow in the trot work, and it’s a little bit more technical right at the start,” she explained. “You don’t have any mediums to kind of get out in a forward rhythm, so I set it as my goal to get that test a lot better, because I really didn’t have a good enough performance or score at Plantation. I actually intended to finish his season that weekend, and he was super in the jumping phases, but I felt like I just needed to finish off with one more improved dressage test.”

The first rider in the CCI4*-L will head out on cross-country at 10:10 a.m. EST on Saturday. The CCI4*-S division will contest the show jumping phase on Saturday, starting at 9:00 a.m. EST in Tryon Stadium, completing their weekend with cross-country on Sunday.

Watch live on USEF Network. Full results can be found here.