United States Eventing Association

Billys and Castle Larchfield Purdy Maintain the Twin Rivers CCI4*-S Lead

The leaderboard in the CCI4*-S at the Twin Rivers CCI and Horse Trials in Paso Robles, California remains unchanged following this afternoon’s show jumping competition. Only one rail was lowered between the four competitors, leaving the placings as they stood overnight for the start of the third and final phase tomorrow afternoon.

Lauren Billys and The Purdy Syndicate, LLC’s 17-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Castle Larchfield Purdy (Karistos x Hallo Purdy) jumped an enthusiastic show jumping round for their first trip back at the level after having colic surgery last fall.

“He loves to show!” Billys exclaimed happily. “I was nervous all day because, like I said yesterday, I want to show him how he deserves to be shown. I felt like that was a hard course and it was really fun to watch everyone else ride because everyone is getting really good at riding in California and people were just riding really well today. It was encouraging and trying to be like them was a good way to be. He was in really good company.”

“There’s definitely work to do out there,” Billys said of James Atkinson’s CCI4*-S track. “There are some questions that I’m really thinking about and I think that it’s a little bit twisty in the beginning but it opens up towards the end. I think it’s time well spent to make sure you ride well and effective because you’ll get to gallop later. I have a lot to think about before tomorrow but it’s a good challenge.”

Derek di Grazia and Ringwood Justice (Ringwood Harley Carol x Ringwood Venus), his own 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, remain on their dressage score of 32.5 in second place.

Leah Breakey and her own 10-year-old Canadian Warmblood gelding Master Class (Cree x Night Destiny xx) also jumped clean to retain their third-place standing on 41.9.

Babbitt and 2 A.M. Remain Atop the CCI3*-S

Charlotte Babbitt and 2 A.M. (Sheraton x Regina K), her own 7-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, put in a clear round over Jose Nava’s show jumping course this afternoon to hold onto the top spot in the CCI3*-S. For their first attempt at the level, Babbitt said she was very pleased with “Abe’s” performance.

“He’s such a good jumper and show jumping is probably his strongest phase – if I give him a half-decent ride he’s going to jump clean. I only really gave him a half-decent ride today – I think I could have been a lot more accurate today, which was kind of frustrating for myself – but he 100 percent wants to jump every single jump clean. It’s really cool to be on a horse like that.”

Babbitt echoed Billys sentiments about James Atkinson’s course for the CCI3*-S tomorrow – that there is a lot of work to do out there. “It’s my first CCI3*-S so it’s a bit eye-opening for me. I think it actually looks like a super fun course and I’m really excited. I think it’s designed well and James is a great course designer – I really like riding his courses. There’s nothing out there that [Abe] can’t do and that I can’t do, I think it’s going to be a matter of keeping myself sharp to keep him sharp and staying focused because you need it pretty much up until the last jump!”

Shannon Lilley and Cassandra Ertl’s Greenfort Carnival (Aughrim Knight x Easkey Princess), a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, moved into second place following a clear round to sit on a two-phase score of 34.8 heading into tomorrow’s cross-country competition. Krista Stevenson and Larry Stevenson’s 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding Caison (Contendro I x Via Vera) sit in third place on a 35.0 following today’s show jumping.

Complete scores can be found here.

Cross-country for all FEI divisions including the CCI3*-S, CCI4*-S, CCI2*-L, and CCI3*-L will take place tomorrow starting at 11:55 a.m.

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