United States Eventing Association

Millbrook, N.Y.—July 26—Olympian Boyd Martin jumped around clear and leapt to the top of the leaderboard in the Advanced division of the Millbrook Horse Trials today riding Bonnie Stedt’s Miss Lulu Herself. Even with 12.8 time faults, the pair moved up from eighth place after dressage and now sit on a 44.9 going into tomorrow’s show jumping. Time was an influential factor as the ground was hard after lack of rain, and most riders took it easy around the course today.

Katie Lichten maintained her second placed standing, but with a different horse than she started the course with: she is now second with Hickstead Musterd, who moved up from a tie for ninth after dressage (45.1). Her other Advanced horse, HTS Jensen, had a refusal at fence 20A on course and dropped to sixth place overall (70.7).

Overnight leader Robin Walker, riding SBT Barolo, jumped clear but added 29.6 time faults to drop into fifth place (59.4). Brooke Burchianti and Cooley Space Gray had the most meteoric rise up the standings, moving up from 16^th after dressage to third after cross-country with the fastest ride of the day, adding 5.6 time faults for a current score of 45.4.

Out of 19 starters in the Advanced division, 11 horses will continue on to show jumping tomorrow. Four horses were withdrawn before cross-country, and there was one technical elimination, a retirement after a refusal, one fall of rider and one fall of horse.

Martin said, “Cross-country walked tremendously tough; it was a big challenge, but 'Lulu’s' got some good miles on her now and is a top cross-country horse, and she zipped around in great fashion. It’s a bit early in the season for the older horses who are running the Intermediate, and the ground is a bit dry up here, so I just coasted around on them. Both Bruno [Fedarman B] and Cooley Nutcracker are going to Pau in France this fall.”

Martin mentioned that Lulu’s owner, Bonnie Stedt, is a member of the Millbrook horse community and also lives in Aiken, South Carolina, during the winters, where Martin is also based during the winter season. “Bonnie has been a supporter of mine since coming to America, and she also owns the horse that won the Training Rider division, The Fonz Himself, with Jacqueline Thorne riding. So Bonnie’s two horses have had a fantastic event so far, and Lulu’s been brilliant; she recently won the Devon Eventing Showcase [Pennsylvania], and we’ll figure out another big event for her after this weekend.”

Martin, who moved to the U.S. from Australia more than 15 years ago, noted, “Millbrook has always been a special place to me; the bulk of my supporters are from this community thanks in great part to the clinics I taught for many years at Fitch’s Corner. I’ve become great friends with a lot of people from this area, so it’s both an awesome event here, and it’s also fun catching up with all these people who have helped shape my career.”

Lichten took the lead in Open Intermediate A riding Fast Company (43.2), and Savannah Fulton riding Cash Point lead Open Intermediate B (35.7).

The event concludes tomorrow with show jumping for the Advanced, Intermediate, Preliminary and Modified divisions. Patrons and their guests will enjoy a Sunday luncheon and watch the show jumping from the comfort of private ringside tents. The Trade Fair, Millbrook Market shops, concessions and food truck will be open to all, and general admission is free to all.

Live scores can be found here.