It came down to the last moments of the last Adequan USEA Gold Cup competition of 2006, but Gina Miles and her veteran mount McKinlaigh clinched the year-end title by winning the advance division at Twin Rivers Ranch Horse Trials in Paso Robles, Calif., on Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

“When he had his nosebleed at [the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in April] and I knew we wouldn’t be going to [the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany], I made winning this my goal,” said a beaming Miles. “I decided to get really focused and chase those points and see how we could do. This is my third Gold Cup win this fall, so I’m thrilled.

“It’s a great consolation,” she continued. “It’s a great series–for the riders, the sponsors, the owners; it’s just a great opportunity.”

Miles won the dressage with an impressive score of 27.9, putting her just ahead of Robyn Fisher and Lady Calido, newly moved up to advanced after a dominant career at the intermediate level, and the veteran pair of Suzy Pettman-Elliot on Sambucca.

“He’s improved in all his phases,” said Miles of McKinlaigh. “In dressage he used to back off–sort of implode and shut down–but now he is so much more confident and comfortable in the ring.”

Derek Di Grazia’s cross-country course proved challenging however, even to the veteran pairs. The only double-clear round went to Fisher and Lady Calido, which propelled them in to first place after Miles and McKinlaigh collected 2.8 time penalties. Pettman-Elliot had a stop to drop seventh overnight.

“He was just fantastic,” said Miles. “He’s always been a great cross-country horse, but now at 12, and mature, he’s just such a pleasure to ride. He used to like to run down and leave a mile away, but now he’s so ratable. I’ve learned to ride his stride but keep him coming forward, so we’re a lot faster than we’ve ever been.”

Fisher led by the slimmest of margins–0.7 points–and Miles’ clear show jumping round with only 1 time penalty put the pressure on. Fisher couldn’t afford one rail, but she had two, to finish second with a 38.0. That left the blue, and the Gold Cup title, to Miles and the charismatic Irish Sport Horse owned by Laura Coates and Thom Schultz. Fisher was well clear of eventual third-placed place finisher Hawley Bennett and Livingstone, who moved up steadily all weekend to finish on 52.9.

“Just like in the cross-country, his age and strength and maturity have really helped his show jumping,” said Miles. “He’s now strong enough in the back to jump a fence clean from a deep spot.”

Miles, Bennett, Pettman-Elliot, and fourth-placed Tiana Coudray with King Street will be flying their horses together to contest the Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) on Oct. 18-22.

Twin Rivers was Miles’ final eventing prep, but she had one last school planned. After showing extensively in straight dressage this summer, Miles and McKinlaigh qualified for the Great American/USDF Region 7 Championships (Calif.) at third level. So her final weekend prior to shipping, on Oct. 7-8, she planned to compete in those championships, as well as the Foxfield Jumping Derby, to get in one last dressage and show jumping outing before heading east.


Hemingway Writes An Exciting Finale
When Grant Hemingway of Napa, Calif., first saw his Dutch Warmblood Nieco, the horse was a green-broke 4-year-old and Grant an idealistic 14-year-old. The young rider fell in love with the young horse as he watched him trot around on a longe line at the breeder’s farm in Holland.

“He’s allergic to any color but blue,” joked Cole, Grant’s brother, fellow rider and groom. And Nieco has racked up an amazing array of wins at every level, and added the CIC** division title at Twin Rivers to their resume. Despite Nieco’s stellar record, Grant wasn’t sure Twin Rivers would go so well.

“I’ve had trouble on this course before,” said Grant. “My horse doesn’t always like a blind drop, where he can’t see where he’s landing, and there are several of them on this course.”

Of particular concern was fence 6AB, a drop over a sizable ramp into a gully, then out of the gully over an offset narrow brush. This fence caused considerable disappointment to several competitors all day, but Grant and Nieco jumped through it smoothly.

“I felt like I overrode the in, but it ended up jumping great, so maybe that’s what you needed to do,” he said. “But I knew once we got through that one, that he’d be willing to jump down the other drops. I knew we were on.”

They were standing first after dressage, ahead of Matthew Brown on Jasmine, and Kelly Prather on Ballinakill Glory, despite making an error in their test.

“I thought that error would come back to haunt me,” he said. “I’ve been competing with Kelly and Matt all year so I knew we’d be close. But he was more consistent overall this weekend in his test than he’s been.”

Brown and Jasmine recorded one of only three double-clear rounds on cross-country, so they slipped ahead of Grant and Nieco, who had incurred 3.2 time penalties. Prather had an unusual glance-off to fall out of the top placings.


Improved Fitness, Improved Results
Anna Collier helped find Nieco in Holland, and Grant has since trained with Yves Sauvignon and John Camlin. He is currently working with Kristi Nunnik, whom he credits with stepping up his conditioning program and improving his performance.

“I had a lot more horse on course,” he said. “He was covering a lot more ground, taking the inside turns, and was just a lot bolder. It was one of his best rounds. His speed and willingness to go were just great. And [for show jumping] he came out ready to go and very excited.”

The show jumping course rode harder than it initially appeared, and there were only two clear rounds in the CIC**–Lauren Whitlock and Ballingowan Miller, which moved them from 10th to fifth, and Gregory Stritzel and Balabooga Brawley, which moved them from fifth to third.

Brown had a little bit of breathing room in the lead after Grant rolled the rail at fence 9, a vertical on a tight distance from a triple combination. Brown and the fiery warmblood mare cantered in full of confidence, but they dropped the rails at the in-and-out at fence 4 and the same vertical at fence 9 to finish second and give the win to Grant and Nieco.

Grant hopes to continue moving up the levels with his long-time partner, aiming for the Galway Downs CCI** on Nov. 3-5. He is currently in his senior year at University of California at Davis studying viticulture and oenology (wine growing and wine making), but once he graduates he’ll continue to focus on his riding progress. That progress in the past has been hindered by the damage done to Grant’s body by his second sporting passion–soccer.

“I’ve had two knee surgeries,” he said ruefully. “But as long as I’m healthy and he stays healthy, we’ll keep going and see what we can do.”

Heather Bailey