United States Eventing Association

Fast Facts: The Eventing Championships at Galway Downs

*Update* Since this article has gone live, Jennie Brannigan has withdrawn Pascal.

One of the final CCI4*-Ls of the 2024 season takes place this weekend during The Eventing Championships at Galway Downs in Temecula, California. In addition to hosting the USEA Area VI Championships, Galway Downs is also offering CCI1*-L, CCI2*-L, CCI3*-L, and CCI4*-L divisions to allow West Coast competitors to close out their 2024 season with a bang!

The Field

• The busiest FEI field of the week will be the CCI2*-L with 31 entries on the roster, but all entries in the CCI4*-L field have had successful 2024 seasons which means the competition will be fierce!
• Jennie Brannigan has made the trip from the East Coast to the West Coast with two of her horses to compete at Galway this year—the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding FE Connory (Conrato x Hocaponta) whom she co-owns with Tim and Nina Gardner and The Pascal Syndicate’s 9-year-old Holsteiner gelding Pascal (Pasco x Z-Corrada I).
  • FE Connory has had a really nice 2024 season, with a fourth-place finish in the CCI3*-S at Plantation Field (Unionville, Pennsylvania) in September and a sixth-place finish in the CCI4*-S at Morven Park (Leesburg, Virginia) earlier this month.
  • Pascal was the winner of the CCI4*-L at The Event at Rebecca Farm (Kalispell, Montana) this summer, so both of Brannigan’s selections to bring to Galway have strong odds in their favor!

• USEA EA21 graduate Molly Duda will be competing her 15-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Disco Traveler (Donatelli x Cadence) and is coming in off of a win earlier this month in the CCI4*-S at Woodside.
• Tamie Smith will be bringing The Kynan Syndicate’s 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Kynan (Envoy x Danieta) back up to the four-star level after racking up two wins at the CCI3*-S level at both Twin Rivers (Paso Robles, California) and Woodside (Woodside, California) the latter half of this year.
• After claiming the win in the CCI4*-S at Twin Rivers this September, James Alliston and Alliston Equestrian’s 9-year-old Hanoverian mare Cora (Commissario x La-Montana) are also itching to bring home the win in the mare’s first time at the CCI4*-L level.
• Cora is the lone lady in the field horse-wise, while James is the only male in the CCI4*-L field of riders.

The Facts

• Martyn Johnson (GBR) is the Technical Delegate for the four- and three-star and will be assisted by Wendy Wergeles (USA), who is also serving as the Technical Delegate for the one- and two-star.
• Anne Mitte Binder (DEN) is serving as President of the Ground Jury for the four-star and will be joined by Valerie Pride (USA) and Xavier Le Sauce (FRA).
• Clayton Fredericks (AUS) is the cross-country course designer.
• Marc Donovan (USA) is the show jumping course designer.
• The CCI4*-L is a qualifier for the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final that will take place at the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds.

The FEI Schedule

• Wednesday, October 30
  • First Horse Inspection | 2:00 p.m.

• Thursday, October 31
  • CCI3*-L Dressage | Grand Prix Ring | 8:00 a.m. - 10:41 a.m.
  • CCI4*-L Dressage | Grand Prix Ring | 11:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
  • CCI2*-L Dressage | Grand Prix Ring | 1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
  • CCI1*-L Dressage | Ring 2 | 1:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

• Friday, November 1
  • CCI3*-L Cross-Country | 10:05 a.m. - 11:05 a.m.
  • CCI4*-L Cross-Country | 11:34 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
  • CCI2*-L Cross-Country | 12:45 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.
  • CCI1*-L Cross-Country | 2:50 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.

• Saturday, November 2
  • Second Horse Inspection | 8:00 a.m.
  • CCI1*-L Show Jumping | 11:30 a.m. - 12:02 p.m.
  • CCI2*-L Show Jumping | 12:38 p.m. - 1:42 p.m.
  • CCI3*-L Show Jumping | 2:18 p.m. - 2:48 p.m.
  • CCI4*-L Show Jumping | 3:23 p.m. - 3:31 p.m.

Helpful Links

• Galway Downs Website
• USEA Prize List
• Ride Times
• Schedule of Events
• USEA’s Coverage

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