United States Eventing Association

Buck Davidson & My Boy Bobby Prep for Rolex with a Big Win at The Fork CIC3*

Buck Davidson was focused and confident as he headed into the show jumping ring on Sunday afternoon, as he geared up Carl Segal’s My Boy Bobby for the final phase of the CIC3* at The Fork Farm in Norwood, North Carolina.

The 33-year-old from Ocala, Florida performed a foot-perfect double-clear round, and was able to hold onto his lead after Saturday’s cross-country phase and clinch the win in an extremely competitive division, which also served as the first Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series event in the east.

Davidson was pleased with how well the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding performed on Sunday. “He jumped awesome and he did everything I asked him to do, and he was just terrific.”

The show jumping course, designed by Marc Donovan, saw only nine of the forty-eight horses jump double-clear rounds. “I thought the designer did a really good job,” Davidson said. “It’s a hard deal because you have horses who are trying to get qualified and you’ve got horses who are trying to get ready [for Rolex]. I think for the most part, there weren’t too many clean rounds, but there weren’t too many rounds of five and six rails either. I thought it was a nice course—it wasn’t easy, for sure!”

Davidson was also leading the Advanced division on the Segals’ Ballynoecastle RM (also known as “Reggie”), but dropped two rails to finish in second. “Reggie did fantastic, but his jockey didn’t do so well. It’s just disappointing, because he’s so good. It just wasn’t our day, I guess,” said Davidson with a shrug.

He said the electric atmosphere in the new show jumping facility at the Kentucky Horse Park probably won’t bother his two Rolex-bound horses, Reggie and Bobby. “To tell you the truth, it’ll help Reggie. He was just a bit sleepy today. I’m not worried for Kentucky—I’ll still go in there thinking he’s going to jump a clean round and if he doesn’t, it’s my fault.”

Proud Weekend for Owner Carl Segal

Reggie and Bobby’s owner Carl Segal was on hand this weekend to witness all the exciting action. “This is probably the most exciting weekend I’ve ever experienced since I’ve been in the sport. Bobby was the first horse that we ever bought and it was about eight years ago. He’s just grown up and blossomed to be a spectacular horse. You know, you kind of thought that it might happen, but you never know until you’re really there!

“He did great at Intermediate and we had a gal who brought him up from the time he was five—Jessica Keiner—and she rode him until about a year ago when he got up to the Advanced level. Then Buck has taken over and he’s done an unbelievable job. They have a great partnership and it’s just phenomenal.”

Segal’s gearing up for cheering on Buck and his two horses in a few weeks at Rolex. “I have my fingers crossed! We have Bobby going and another horse, Reggie, and we’ll just have to see, I don’t think he’s ever experienced anything as challenging as Rolex before. Being out on that cross-country course for eleven minutes should be a big test for Bobby. I’m cautiously optimistic!”

Buck’s father and world famous eventer, Bruce Davidson, also competed two horses in the Advanced division this weekend to give them a final run before Rolex. Jam, Bruce’s long-time four-star partner, looked on top of her game and put forth a great run on Saturday. “I always enjoy riding her and she went well yesterday, so hopefully I can improve my dressage and we’ll have a go,” said Bruce Davidson.

The father and son duo have been prepping together for Rolex down in Florida. “It’s been a wonderful winter and I have a wonderful son, and it’s been fun for the two of us every day doing our training together and checking each other out. So of course, all of his success he can thank me for,” Davidson added with a laugh.

It’s No Mystery – Law and Bean on Top of Their Game

Leslie Law and Beatrice Rey-Herme’s Mystere du Val dropped only a single rail on Sunday, but were still able to finish as runners-up in the CIC3*.

“I was really pleased with him yesterday, especially when I look back at what he was like here twelve months ago,” said the Olympic gold medalist. “As far as corners and holding a line to triple brushes and stuff goes, he was really locking on and really very positive. It was probably one of my best rides on him to date, I think.

“We were a little bit slow jumping into that last water complex and lost a little bit of momentum, and hence I opted to pull out and do the long route for that last corner, because it was the sort of jump where you needed the momentum the whole way through there,” he added. “I’d have been kicking myself if I’d gone and had a [run out] there!”

The nine-year-old chestnut gelding jumped well for Law on Sunday afternoon too, and it certainly wasn’t an easy course.

“There were some good rounds and it was a good track—it’s typical of modern show jumping,” Law explained. “It’s quite ‘raily’ on very flat cups and it’s one thing to be sitting on a show jumper going around those jumps, but it’s another thing to be sitting on an event horse who’s just run around cross-country the day before. It sort of stirred the placings up a little bit. But the horse jumped well again today, so it’s been a very good weekend.”

After a disappointing finish at last year’s Jersey Fresh CCI3*, which left them eliminated on cross-country after leading the competition from dressage, Law feels that “Bean” is on top of his game and will hopefully perform well this year.

“I was going to see what happened here as to what I did next, but I think off the back of this weekend, there’s not a lot to gain by running between now and Jersey Fresh. So we’ll hopefully keep him safe and sound and head to Jersey from here.”

Brannigan Bags a Top Placing in Her First CIC3*

Jennie Brannigan, last year’s USEA Young Rider of the Year, and her talented young partner Cooper took home third place at their very first CIC3*.

“I’m really green at this level and he’s obviously very green at this level. I think that this weekend was a huge learning experience for me. I’m thrilled that I ended up doing so well.” Brannigan, who won gold individual and team medals in the North American Junior and Young Riders’ Championships last year in Colorado, is currently working with Phillip Dutton at his farm in West Grove, PA.

Brannigan, 21, received the USET Training Grant from Jacqueline Mars last year, which is given to a promising rider with an impressive record. The money from the grant will help Brannigan gain invaluable international experience by traveling to compete with Cooper at England’s Bramham CCI3* in June.

“The plan was not to come out here and try to win,” she explained. “The plan was to get qualified for Bramham. I think I did not put in a dressage test near what I could have—he got pretty excited in the wind and that showed. But to be sixth [after dressage] out of 61 horses is pretty phenomenal, especially since they’re the best ones in the country, so that’s exciting.

Cooper and Brannigan put forth a gallant effort over Mark Phillips’ rolling course. Jumping a clear round, they added only 10.8 time penalties to their dressage score of 50.2. “The cross-country was great except that I didn’t ride the last water well at all. I lost my position, but he was a champ, and for how green he is, he completely saved us there! He just went for it!”

The precocious eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding performed one of only a handful of double-clear rounds on Sunday, boosting them to third place in the final standings. “He’s an unreal show jumper. He’s so spooky, which is hard cross-country, but he’s amazing in show jumping because he doesn’t want to have a rail. I never thought I would move up seven [places] after cross-country, that’s pretty crazy!”

Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series

The CIC3* also serves as the Adequan USEA Gold Cup division, one of the premier programs for talented horse and rider combinations in the U.S.

For their win in the CIC3*, the designated Gold Cup division, Buck and Bobby took home an Adequan USEA Gold Cup Trophy, $500 in prize money, 7-dose box of Adequan, a three-month supply of SUCCEED, an E.A. Mattes Couture Pad, and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots. Second place finisher Leslie Law took home a Nutrena feed gift certificate and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots, and Jennie Brannigan received a pair of the Nunn Finer boots as well.

Buck and Bobby also received 200 Gold Cup points for their win, and since they show jumped cleanly, they won an extra 40 extra bonus points.

Now in its fifth year, the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is an exciting format of competition and entertainment for U.S. Eventing, encompassing eight of the top eventing competitions from around the U.S. where the best of the best vie for prize money, trophies, and the title of Gold Cup champion!

The Series kicks off this spring with one more event: a new event for 2009, the Chattahoochee Hill Horse Trials on the third weekend in May down in Georgia. Five more events will round out the year, from July through September. The year-end champions will receive their trophies, prizes, and prize money at the USEA Annual Meeting and Convention this December in Reston, Virginia for the USEA's 50th Anniversary Celebration. Visit the Adequan USEA Gold Cup page to keep track of the Gold Cup leaderboard.

The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors: Title: Adequan; Legacy: Nunn Finer, Nutrena, and E.A Mattes; Contributing: Cover-All, and Patron: Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, and Succeed.

Adequan is proud to be the official joint therapy treatment of the USEA.

For more information on the Gold Cup Series or USEA sponsorship, contact Jo Whitehouse for more information at 703-669-9999 or email [email protected]