For the sixth year the Oktoberfest CCI and Horse Trials will return to Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina this weekend on September 24-26. Oktoberfest is one of eight CCI4*-S events on the 2021 calendar and will also feature a CCI3*-S, CCI2*-S, and Beginner Novice through Intermediate horse trial divisions.
The Field:
There are 30 pairs set to contest this year’s CCI4*-S, which is down 16 from 2020
Stable View has run its Oktoberfest horse trials five times and Phillip Dutton has won the top class three of those years (2016 with Z, 2018 with I’m Sew Ready, and 2019 with Z. He has two entries this year including his recent Great Meadow International Winner Fernhill Singapore, a 12-year-old KWPN gelding (Singapore x Riedellia) owned by Ann Jones, Tom Tierney, and David Vos along with Sea of Clouds, the 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding (Malibu Moon x Winner’s Ticket) owned by the Sea of Clouds Partnership.
Doug Payne and Quantum Leap, his and Jessica Payne’s 10-year-old Zweibrucker gelding (Quite Capitol x Report to Sloopy) are the highest placed pair from 2020 returning this year – they finished in third last year, can they best that in 2021?
Of the field, 9 of the horses competing are 10 years old. The oldest horses competing are 15 years old and the youngest are 9 years old.
Leslie Law will have his hands full with his four entries Voltaire de Tre, Typically Fernhill, Lady Chatterley, and First Class. Of Law’s entries, two of his horses make up the field of five four-star first-timers: Jackie and Steve Brown’s 10-year-old Holsteiner mare Lady Chatterley (Connor x Jucy) and Craig McCallum’s 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Typically Fernhill (Dondoctro Ryal K x Castlefield Sarah). Both of these horses helped Law make a one-two punch in the Intermediate division at the 2021 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds with Lady Chatterley taking home the champion tricolor and Typically Fernhill bringing home reserve honors.
Other horses attempting their first four-star track are Alexandra Baugh’s 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding I Spye (Harlequin Du Carel x Lombardos Corner) and Jimmie Schramm with Mark and Katherine Bellissimo’s 10-year-old German Sport Horse mare Eclaire (Furejev x Evita).
Sarah Kuhn is entered in her first-ever four-star with Deborah Kuhn’s 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding Mr. Cash van de Start (Deauville de la Vie x Ishtar van de Start).
11 pairs are using this as a prep run for the inaugural Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill which is just three weeks away.
The Facts:
Peter Gray (CAN) is the president of the ground jury for the CCI4*-S and will be joined by Jan Conlon (USA).
Andrew Temkin (USA) is the technical delegate and will be assisted by Amelia (Muffin) Pantaze (USA).
Capt. Mark Phillips (GBR) is the cross-country course designer, assisted by Mogie Bearden-Muller (USA).
Chris Barnard (USA) is the show jumping course designer.
The CCI4*-S division is offering $30,000 in prize money, the CCI3*-S features $20,000 in prize money, and the CCI2*-S has $10,000 that will be divided between the top 25% of the starters.
Until this past May, qualifying for the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds let alone actually making plans to compete, seemed like a far-off dream. Going into this show season the AEC was a goal I had set in the back of my mind but maybe only said out loud a few times.
The Millbrook Horse Trials kicked off on July 25 with lower level dressage at Riga Meadow Equestrian Center at Coole Park in Millbrook, New York. There are more than 400 total entries competing at Millbrook, from Beginner Novice to Advanced level. Today the upper level horses cantered down the centerline, while the lower levels headed out on cross-country.
The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is thrilled to announce Adams Horse Supply as the new title sponsor of the USEA Adult Team Championships (ATC) at the American Eventing Championships (AEC). The ATC will now be titled “The Adams Horse Supply USEA Adult Team Championships at the AEC.”
The world’s best eventing horses and riders will be first out of the starting blocks when the equestrian action gets underway at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles, France, tomorrow morning with the opening dressage test.
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