United States Eventing Association

Final Scores | Photo Gallery

The long journey from Eastern Ontario was well worth it for Selena O’Hanlon and Colombo as they left Michigan the winners of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Division at The Richland Park Horse Trials. The rails were falling today in the CIC3* division, and when the overnight leader, Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II had four rails down and second placed Boyd Martin and Remington XXV had one, it opened the door for the 29-year-old Selena to claim the top spot with a clean round.

The sixteen-year-old Colombo, who is owned by Elaine Davies, was originally started by Oliver Townend before being purchased by Kyle Carter. After an injury, Colombo was sent to Selena’s barn for rehabbing and to be sold. After several successful seasons together Colombo was taken off the market, and he and Selena have been partners ever since including countless three-stars, two Rolex Kentucky CCI4*s, and the 2008 Olympic Games. However, this win is the first major victory for the Selena and Colombo who are members of the short list for the Canadian team at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“I am so happy for Colombo,” Selena said. “He is an older horse and he has done nothing but try his little heart out and I always tell people he goes as well as I ride him on that day. It is never Colombo’s fault, ever. The stadium phase has always been a struggle, but David [O’Connor] says that this horse is a one rail or clean round horse – it shouldn’t be any more than that.”

“I was most concerned about my nerves today as I get very nervous. I wish his owner [Elaine Davies] was here to partake in the joy of the win. I feel like everything is mounting at the right time, he is peaking just before the WEG. Hopefully we will go out there and make an impression and we will leave them all looking up to Canada instead of down.”

Boyd Martin’s duo, Remington XXV and Neville Bardos, have had quite the successful season and Richland was no exception with Densey Juvenon’s Remington XXV having one rail down to pin second and Neville jumping a double clear to finish fourth. “It was pretty good day, I though the horses jumped well, and I was quite happy,” said Boyd. “I think Marc Donovan produced a good testing course, all the horses seemed to jump it well, and it had a good flow and rhythm to it. It was a good test to see who is in form and who isn’t in form.”

Boyd is planning on keeping it simple before his next competition at the Land Rover/USEA American Eventing Championships which serves as the Mandatory Outing for the American WEG team for which both his horses are short-listed. Neville and Remington will gallop next weekend, focus on dressage, and only jump one more time before the competition in two weeks.

Karen O’Connor and Joan Goswell’s Mandiba took a big leap in the placings to end up rounding out the top three. “Mandiba was great – he was a little of his form on the first day in the dressage,” Karen said. “I think that he was maybe just a bit flat and tired from the drive. Cross-country and show jumping were money. I am really excited about how he is going, and I am looking forward to seeing where it is going to take him.”

In Advanced Division A, Allison Springer and Arthur made it a true wire-to-wire win by finishing on their dressage score of 29.1. Phillip Dutton had really put the pressure on Allison with two double clear rounds on his second and third placed horses, The Foreman and Woodburn. Allison didn’t let the pressure get to her, however, and Phillip had to settle for the red and yellow.

The Canadians proved their prowess once again in Advanced Division B, with Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch and Port Authority moving up from third to first just as her fellow countrywoman, Selena, had done. The overnight tied leaders, Kim Severson and Becky Holder, each had rails to drop them out of the lead. Kim and Tipperary Liadhnan had lowered one rail to settle into the second placing, and Becky and Courageous Comet knocked out two rails to finish fifth. Buck Davidson and Titanium claimed third, and Melissa Miller and Detail Specialist broke into the ranks of the WEG short listed riders to earn fourth.

In the CIC2*, Sinead Halpin with Manoir de Carneville and Phillip Dutton with Why Not jumped double clears to hold on to their top two spots. Frankie Simpson with Watson’s Shelbreen earned the third spot after rising four places in the rankings.

The next event in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is the Land Rover/USEA American Eventing Championships where the Merial Advanced division will serve as the designated Gold Cup division in addition to being the Mandatory Outing for both the American and Canadian Short Lists.

The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors: Title: Adequan; Legacy: Nunn Finer and Nutrena, and Patron: Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, Mountain Horse, and Succeed.

Winners of the CIC3*, the designated "Gold Cup division," will take home $500 in prize money, 7-dose box of Adequan, a three-month supply of SUCCEED, and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots. Second place finishers take home a Nutrena feed gift certificate and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots, and third place receives a pair of the Nunn Finer boots as well.