my Tryon and Leyland took the lead from a familiar face after Saturday’s CCI** cross-country phase at Galway Downs in Temecula, Calif. After galloping faultlessly through a tough but fair course, Tryon topped Leigh Mesher who rode Tryon’s previous 4-star partner, My Beau.
“Leigh’s been riding him now for two years and it’s still fun to watch him go around,” said Tryon. “He’s not as fast as he used to be but he’s still got a shine in his eye and loves to go around.”
Mesher took her time through the Lake Galway complex (17ab, 18, and 19) and affixed 7.2 time faults to drop from first to a tie for third with Kelly Prather and Ballinakill Glory.
Six-year-old Leyland incurred only 0.4 time faults and no jumping penalties to take the lead with 45.1 total faults. Tryon found him off the track as a 5-year-old and Galway marks his first CCI** competition.
“He’s quite a character,” Tryon said. “But he’s a very genuine horse and gallops uphill. He can be a little cheeky but he’s got a great attitude—all business when he gets out there.”
Leyland ate up the two-star course like he’d been doing it for years. “The course rode the way it walked and really challenged a wide range of riders,” said Tryon. She and Leyland rode sixth in the division and especially navigated Lake Galway well.
ADVERTISEMENT
Even over fence 19, a skinny that lead riders back through the water and became a contentious obstacle after three riders fell over its planks. “It was a fair question, but it require incredible accuracy and a lot of power off the ground,” Tryon said.
Tryon will head into show jumping ready for anything. “He’s a green horse but he’s a fabulous jumper. He could probably specialize and be a show jumper. He’s got a ton of skill and is very careful but he’s still green and can do silly things—as long as he’s sound and happy I’ll be happy,” she said smiling.
In the long-format CCI*, the top remains tight after steeplechase and cross-country. 16-year-old Arielle Eccher and Anthony Tiger maintained their lead with two clean trips but are still trailed closely by Rachel Dwyer and Catch A Star. Only .3 faults separate first and second places.
“There’s less room for error at the top, that’s for sure. It’s pretty close so it makes me a little more nervous,” said Eccher. “Show jumping is his more difficult stage so it’ll take a lot, but I have faith in him. Even if he drops rails, I’m still going to be happy with him because he’s been great all weekend.”
Galway marks Eccher’s first full-format CCI* and after riding the steeplechase phase, the longer version has become her favorite. “I love it! I think it really helps the horses get in a good pace. We started off on cross-country so forward it just made him easier to ride,” said Eccher.
They navigated Saturday’s cross-country course without missing a step despite coming in a little hot. “It was an aggressive course and the questions came fast in succession,” said Eccher. “I was a little nervous about [14abc] but he was a superstar and did it perfectly.”
ADVERTISEMENT
None of the top ten competitors incurred faults during steeplechase or cross-country and less than nine faults separate 10th place from first.
Heather Morris and Genial also maintained their lead in the short-format CCI* with a faultless cross country trip.
“I thought the course was super and there were tons of good questions and a lot of good horses in that class,” said Morris.
She anticipated difficulty through the coffin (5 and 6ab) and sunken road (17 and 18ab) in particular, but Genial did his job the way Morris knew he could and kept the whole trip smooth. “He was awesome. He didn’t look at anything and was just ready to go,” said Morris. They finished 25 seconds under the time allowed.
Genial was previously ridden by Mara Dean and competed at Intermediate level before Morris picked up his reins in April this year.
The pair will head into the stadium tomorrow with a rail in hand over David Adamo and Edward Jordan. “Genial is such a good jumper I’m just going to go for it and hopefully he picks his feet up. He looks good, happy and sound this afternoon and was definitely ready to go again,” said Morris.