Feb 09, 2020

All Tight at the Top for $50,000 Mars Eventing Showcase Finale

Less than a point separated the top-four finishers. Samantha Clark Photos.

As predicted both jumping phases proved influential at the $50,000 Mars Eventing Showcase. Five combinations withdrew overnight, leaving 33 horses coming forward to show jump over a big track designed by Andy Christiansen. Of those, only 11 jumped clear within the time allowed which saw some significant re-shuffling on the leaderboard.

Dressage leader Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous had a big enough cushion that their single fence down wasn’t enough to topple them any placings. Little said that Phoebe and Michael Manders and Jacqueline Mars’ 15-year-old Oldenburg mare (Carry Gold x Richardia) got her tongue over the bit between the first and second fences, but “it was just a testament to her heart and bravery that she kept going because a few years ago she would have been incredibly distracted and wouldn’t have been able to pull that off.”

Boyd Martin and Selena O’Hanlon saw their podium places plummet to 12th and 14th places respectively after pulling two rails each on Long Island T and Foxwood High. Instead, they were filled by Buck Davidson on Carlevo and Phillip Dutton and Z capitalizing on their clear rounds. Liz Halliday-Sharp added nothing to her dressage on either horse and went forward to the cross-country phase with Deniro Z in fourth place and Cooley Quicksilver in seventh.

Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous. Samantha Clark Photo.

Waylon Roberts conjured a clear round out of Lancaster to find himself in fifth place after the show jumping and Sharon White and Cooley On Show rounded out the top six after also leaving all the poles in their cups.

Cross-country started just a couple of hours after the show jumping had finished and took place mainly in the Grand Prix field where the show jumping had been. A substantial and enthusiastic crowd had assembled to enjoy the action and the perfect weather, and commentator John Kyle kept everyone engaged until the very last second, maintaining the excitement with his relevant background on the competitors and mad math skills juggling what exactly was at stake during every round. Although ultimately the top eight would remain unchanged that certainly didn’t mean there weren’t plenty of thrills around Capt. Mark Phillips’ course.

By the time Little went as the final rider there had been 10 clear rounds inside the time, two falls, one retirement, and a technical elimination. Little and “Kitty” used up a few of their nine lives, surviving a hairy moment at the second of the Buckeye Nutrition skinny brushes on the top of the hill, and then another at the Horseboxes USA corner at 15. Despite having to take the time to regain her seat and her composure, and in the second instance to pick out her way to the alternative, Little and Kitty still came home with the slimmest of margins in hand to keep the lead, winning from wire-to-wire by just 0.4 penalties. So slim in fact that due to a timing confusion Davidson was actually announced the winner, but then graciously conceded once the mistake had been discovered.

Buck Davidson and Carlevo. Samantha Clark Photo.

Although Davidson had to be content with second place he can take some solace from how well Carlevo (Eurocommerce Caresino x Ramatuelle) went in all three phases, especially as he’d been second-guessing the next steps in their career together. “I learned a lot with him last year at Blenheim so I’ve taken a different route with him this year and hopefully he’ll be good,” said Davidson of Carlevo LLC’s 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding. “He’s certainly good at this stuff, the show jumping is getting better. The owner and I had sat down and talked about maybe selling him, but we figured he would be good for these kind of things. He’s a nice horse to have in the barn, he’s a really sweet horse, he’s good in all three phases and he was very good this weekend.”

Z, the 12-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Asca x Bellabouche) owned by Thomas Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Suzanne Lacy, Anne Jones, and Caroline Moran, is Dutton’s most experienced horse, and after this weekend Dutton confirmed he’d probably be his choice out of his barn to take to Tokyo. They cruised around the course coming home one second under time, and Dutton also finished Fernhill Singapore in the top 10. “It was a conscious decision to come to this showcase with these two boys and then to take them to the Aiken Grand Prix, especially Z being a hotter horse. I wanted to get them in some atmosphere, and I believe that the cross-country will be not dissimilar to this in Tokyo – a shorter course, a lot of jumping efforts, and a lot of turning. These will be their first two runs and then I’ll probably just do one more event if everything goes to plan, and then hopefully Z will go to Badminton.”

Liz Halliday-Sharp finished on her dressage score on both Deniro Z and Cooley Quicksilver, the only two horse rider to do so, and consequently, she also finished with two in the top 10, filling the number four and seven spots. Waylon Roberts did the Canadians proud with a fifth-place finish on Lancaster, and Daniela Moguel represented Mexico in the top-10 by finishing on her dressage score for 8th place.

Phillip Dutton and Z. Samantha Clark Photo.

The Buckeye Triple Brushes at 9 and 10 on the top of the hill were the most influential, causing both rider falls - Sara Kozumplik Murphy fell from Rubens D’ysieux and Clayton Fredericks from FE Money Made. Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan had two stops at the second element and subsequently retired on course.

RF Scandalous is being aimed for the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event later this spring, but Little acknowledged they’ll have to perhaps re-think their game plan, “This afternoon did not go to plan,” Little said. “She hasn’t had a normal preparation for this event, so lesson learned. Not our best weekend – some very great moments and certainly some things that showed that she has matured immensely as a competitor and certainly some things to work on. Yes, we have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what went wrong, but we also have to stick with the things we do well which is the plan that I know works for her as we come to the big day which is Kentucky.”

Samantha Clark Photo.

Little credited her longstanding partnership with Kitty as one of the keys to their success, “I have had a relationship with her for a very long time so we trade on that quite heavily, and we’ve obviously got a great support team around us which helps a lot.“

The grooms of the top three horses, Ellie Hill, Kathleen Murray, and Emma Ford were all honored and awarded cash prizes during the prize-giving ceremony, courtesy of Caroline Moran for Goshen Hill. All the riders were virtually unanimous in their praise for the venue, the format, and the organization and of course the sponsors.

“I think the cross-country was fast enough without going crazy,” Davidson said. “It’s certainly a unique event, it feels a bit more like a cross-country school than it does a big competition but I think that for most of the horses here that have the experience they understood the job. Mark [Phillips] is certainly a genius at putting these things on, he has a way of making you think it’s not going to work, but it works! Full credit to him and to everybody here that puts on a great show - the footing was perfect, and it was a fun week.”

Helpful links:

Follow the USEA event coverage on social media!
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Jul 02, 2024 Educational Activities

USEA Educational Activity Highlight: Sherwood Forest Hunter Pace | Sherwood Oregon | July 13, 2024

What’s a Hunter Pace? The Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center's Hunter Pace is a cross-country-style course around Sherwood Forest over various natural obstacles/terrain. The course ends with a final treat for riders to take in stunning views of Mt. Hood with a loop through the old Far Hill Farms field. The beginning of the course will first start with a warm-up loop around show jumping obstacles in the outdoor ring at Sherwood Forest and then riders will continue directly onto the course. Sign up as a solo rider, pair, or team.

Jul 02, 2024 Profile

No Longer Dreaming: Claire Allen's Goal of Qualifying for USEF Eventing Young Rider Championship is Now Reality

Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.

Jul 01, 2024 Competitions

Alliston’s Busy Weekend, Braitling’s Reuniting with Five-Star Mount, & Kalkman’s Advanced Victory Highlight Twin Rivers Summer H.T.

As he was finishing tacking up his horse in preparation to navigate the cross-country course at the 2024 Twin Rivers Summer Horse Trials, James Alliston expressed concern about navigating the 101 Freeway. That’s because as soon as he crossed the finish line aboard Intermediate level winner Addyson (Ampere x Nickerbocker) at 10:38 a.m. on Saturday—his fifth cross-country round of the morning with three at Preliminary and two at Intermediate—the West Coast-based five-star rider had to drive 185 miles on the 101 Freeway from Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, to San Francisco International Airport to catch a 4:35 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.

Jul 01, 2024 Education

USEA Podcast #364: All Your Grooming Questions Answered

There is so much more to proper grooming than keeping your horse picture-perfect for the horse inspection. Good grooming practices are critical to proper horse management, no matter if you are planning for your next FEI appearance or your Starter level debut. To help you maximize your knowledge of grooming practices, we opened up the opportunity for USEA members to submit any questions they might have on our Instagram and Facebook stories. In this week's episode, Host Nicole Brown sits down with three of the highest-regarded grooms in this industry, Max Corcoran, Emma Ford, and Stephanie Simpson, and asks them all of your questions and more to help you perfect the art of grooming.

Official Corporate Sponsors of the USEA

Official Joint Therapy Treatment of the USEA

Official Feed of the USEA

Official Saddle of the USEA

Official Equine Insurance of the USEA

Official Forage of the USEA

Official Supplement Feeding System of the USEA

Official Competition & Training Apparel of the USEA

Official Horse Boot of the USEA

Official Shockwave of the USEA

Official Horse Wear of the USEA