United States Eventing Association

Lexington, Ky.—April 25—By the end of cross-country this morning in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S, the standings looked nothing like they did after Friday’s dressage. Derek di Grazia’s track produced no double-clear rounds, and 34 of 42 starters completed.

California’s Tamie Smith, who was leading the division on Ruth Bley’s Danito, incurred a refusal at fence 10c and pulled up, leaving the lead open, but she quickly filled that spot with Lillet 3, a 10-year-old Holsteiner mare (Livello x Princess L) owned by Molly Duda.

The pair stood third after dressage and were the quickest of the day, adding 1.6 time penalties to sit on 31.3.

“She was super,” said Smith. “There was a lot of trouble out there, and it's always nerve wracking to see how things aren't riding to plan, but she went out, and it was like being on a little race car. had a great time.

“The way Derek has you turning, just when you start to get in a rhythm, he breaks it up,” she continued. “And it's really hard to get close to the time unless you're on a fast, fast horse. And I added in some places, and maybe I could have been a little bit closer, but I thought it was pretty impossible to do it.”

Smith got the ride on the mare after she’d done one CCI4*-S in Europe, and she spent a lot of time at the three-star level before moving up to Advanced. While they had a couple of learning moments along the way, their partnership has solidified, especially this season, where they won the Carolina International CCI4*-S (Raeford, North Carolina) in March.

“She and I haven't seen an atmosphere like this before together, and it takes time to build that partnership and trust, and it's hard to go out when you're not sure what they're going to do and just ride them; like do you trust them? And she answered all the questions,” she said. “She wasn't affected by any of the crowds or the atmosphere when you're galloping down these hills and you see all the crowds, and that's quite intimidating for a young horse and an inexperienced horse, and she's not that inexperienced. I've done two four-longs on her, but it's a very different story out on the West Coast; a bit of the Wild West in the desert. [But] it didn't matter. She was super and answered all the questions great.”

Smith has mostly produced her own horses, and she believes the slow way is the fast way. She has a rail in hand for tomorrow’s show jumping and is hopeful she and Lillet can take the win.

“I feel confident,” she said. “She's a scopey jumper, and she's careful, and she's so much stronger this year, and she's confident. So, I just need to ride well and hope that I do my job, and then she does her job the way she knows how.”

Will Coleman, who’s sitting second in the five-star with Diabolo, also slotted into second in this division with Jerome Broussard, Beth Lendrum, and Gloria Callen’s Very Dignified, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare (Dignified van’t Zorgvliet x Kateys Gem). They’re sitting on a score of 35.8.

The mare has been with Coleman for a little more than a year. He said she’s a bit tricky to warm up for cross-country and to get in the box, and he was about 5 seconds late today leaving the box. They finished with 4.4 time penalties.

“But she was great,” he said. “This is her first Advanced run of the year. I've only started her out quietly. I went around a Preliminary and Intermediate horse trial just trying to build her up slow. I'm not 100% sure what I want to do with her this year, but I have an idea. She was amazing. She's just a very strong-minded mare, but I love her.”

Mia Farley and Karen O’Connor’s 10-year-old American Warmblood gelding Invictus (Diarado x Sunset Paradise) leapt from 11^th to third with 5.6 time penalties and a score of 37.9.

“I think today I went out there with an open mindset,” said Farley. “I wanted to go fast, and I think it was quite hard. I wish I was just little bit quicker everywhere. But I was super happy with him. He read everything well and came back for most of the course when I asked him to.”

Farley’s been working with the gelding since he was 3. “Since then, he's had kind of the same mindset and same trainability. As far as last year versus this year goes, I would hope he is a little bit more experienced, but it was just a trust. I think that was mostly what shaped our time is just having that year under our belt and gaining the trust and kind of sending him into lines more than I would have last year.”

Farley understands the pressure to show jump following cross-country, as she’s had experience with her five-star horse Phelps, who’s toughest phase is the final day.

“It's actually interesting for me going into tomorrow when I've been in a good place before at this [press conference] table, and I've gone into [Sunday] with a very open mind, because I was on a wonderful horse that was fabulous on Saturdays. I'm trying to figure out, for me personally, how to handle this pressure, because I know I'm on something that's a little bit stronger on Sundays. So, I think we'll see what happens tomorrow. I think it's whatever happens is gonna be mostly how I react to this pressure because he's a good horse on Sundays.”

The horse inspection for the CCI4*-S begins at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, and show jumping is set to start at 10:30 a.m.

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