The Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International gets underway on Oct. 16 with the horse inspection for the CCI4*-L and CCI3*-L. Two days of dressage follow, with cross-country day on Saturday, Oct. 19 and show jumping on Sunday, Oct. 20.
Dressage for the USEA Young Event Horse Championships for 4- and 5-year-olds runs on Thursday, Oct. 17, while the jumping phase for those championships goes on Friday, Oct. 18.
This is the last year that the CCI will be held on the Gallaher Road side of the property, as Fair Hill be begin hosting the Maryland CCI5*-L in 2020 on the race course side of the property. Morven Park will take over hosting a CCI4*-L in October 2020.
The Chronicle will be on-site with full reports, great photos and behind-the-scenes stories.
Where: Elkton, Maryland
When: Oct. 16-Oct. 20 A full schedule can be found here.
Where To Watch: USEF Network will provide some coverage of the event.
How You Can Follow Along: The Chronicle will be on site bringing you gorgeous photos, interviews and more, so check back throughout the weekend. Make sure to follow along at www.coth.com and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @Chronofhorse.
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Other useful links and information:
Read about COTH’s One To Watch, Emily Hamel
We will have full analysis of the competition in the Nov. 2 print edition of the Chronicle.
Pairs To Watch:
Forty-nine pairs will start in the feature CCI4*-L. Phillip Dutton is riding two of his top horses, Z and Fernhill Singapore. Dutton’s won the four-star four times before, most recently in 2007 with The Foreman. Z is on form this fall, having topped the Stable View CCI4*-S (South Carolina) a few weeks ago.
Fresh off wins at Plantation Field (Pennsylvania) and Morven Park (Virginia), Colleen Rutledge and her homebred Covert Rights will aim to be competitive this weekend after they narrowly missed out on a win in 2017.
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Buck Davidson has never won the four-star at Fair Hill, and he’s riding Erroll Gobey, his veteran Copper Beech and Jak My Style, who’s rerouting after a fall at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (England).
Doug Payne and Vandiver are also rerouting from Burghley after a fall there and have a good shot at a win.
There are a few CCI4*-L winners in the field, including 2019 Jersey Fresh (New Jersey) winner Fylicia Barr on her Craigslist mare Galloway Sunrise and Erin Sylvester on Paddy The Caddy, who topped the Rebecca Farm CCI4*-L (Montana) in 2017.
Look for Lynn Symansky and Under Suspection near the top, and Lauren Billys (Castle Larchfield Purdy) and Liza Horan (Lafite) will represent the West Coast.
If you like off-the-track-Thoroughbreds, there are plenty, including Meghan O’Donoghue’s Palm Crescent, Clark Montgomery’s Caribbean Soul and Jennie Brannigan’s Twilightslastgleam.
Our neighbors to the north are well-represented as Jessica Phoenix is bringing Watson GS and Bogue Sound, Waylon Roberts has Lancaster, Brooke Massie has Serendipity and Lisa Marie Fergusson will rider her longtime partner Honor Me.
Sixty-three pairs will contest the CCI3*-L. Look for Colleen Loach (Vermont), Doug Payne (Cascor), Holly Payne Caravella (CharmKing) and Will Faudree (FRH Ramona) to be near the top at the end of the weekend.
