It promises to be an extremely exciting day tomorrow in the cross-country competition of the SAP-Cup at the Aachen CCIO4*-S. After the dressage and jumping, the British team Olympic gold medallist Tom McEwen is heading the field, but Germany's Michael Jung is close at his heels. The British team is also in the lead, ahead of Germany, while the U.S. team fell from second after dressage to fourth.
The jumping test alone completely shook up the rankings in the SAP-Cup after the dressage. McEwen and JL Dublin had achieved the second best dressage result (24.3) and added no faults to their score in the show jumping. They have their team colleague, the World Champion gold medallists, Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir to thank for the fact that they are lying in first place prior to the cross-country, because after heading the field after the dressage on a score of 23.5, Ingham and her 12-year-old French chestnut gelding picked up 2 time faults in the ring, which brought their total up to 25.5, dropping them to third place in the individual classification.
Not only Ingham’s fellow countryman, but also Jung profited from her time faults. He and his top horse, fischerChipmunk FRH, are currently in second place, with only one tenth of a point separating them from McEwen and JL Dublin.
The Brits also rank first in the team classification on a total score of 80.8. In addition to McEwen and Ingham, Kirsty Chabert with Classic IV (31.0) and Gemma Stevens with Flash Cooley (35.0) are flying the flag of the CHIO partner country.
Germany (89.1) and New Zealand (90.3) follow in second and third place respectively. Germany’s team comprises of Jung, last year’s winners Sandra Auffarth with Viamant du Matz (31.1), Christoph Wahler with Carjatan S (33.6) and Malin Hansen-Hotopp with Carlitos Quidditch K (36.9).
Tim Price with Falco (26.0), Caroline Powell with Greenacres Special Cavalier (31.9), Jonelle Price with McClaren (32.4) and Clarke Johnstone with Menlo Park (37.1) are representing New Zealand this weekend, and their team is currently in third place.
The U.S. team is on a score of 91.1. Will Coleman and Off The Record, who made history as the first U.S. pair to win Aachen in 2021, are the highest-placed American pair in fifth (28.1). Tamie Smith and Mai Baum dropped one rail to land in ninth, while Liz Halliday-Sharp and Miks Master C are in 14th with 4.8 penalties added in show jumping.
Phillip Dutton and Z are in 18th with a clear jumping round, and individual rider Dan Kreitl with Carmango dropped two rails to sit 35th.
As Tropical Storm Ophelia brought soaking rains to the region today, the Plantation Field International continued its four days of competition with CCI3*-S and CCI4*-S show jumping and cross-country for CCI1*-S, CCII2*-S, and CCI3*-S divisions.
The USEA Area IX Championships took place during two different horse trials this summer, with the Modified Championships as part of the The Event at Archer (Cheyenne, Wymoming) in August and the Preliminary, Training, Novice, and Beginner Novice Championships taking place during The Event at Skyline (Mount Pleasant, Utah) in September. In addition, Area IX offered additional championship tests at the Starter and Tadpole levels at Skyline.
The CCI4*-S division at the 2023 Plantation Field International Horse Trials kicked off today with 39 horses headed down centerline. Local rider Boyd Martin of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, topped the leaderboard riding Luke 140, owned by the Luke 140 Syndicate, and is also tied for third (28.8) with the Annie Goodwin Syndicate’s Fedarman B. Martin is also placed 23rd with Contessa, owned by the Turner family.
The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is humbled to announce the return of long-time partner The Dutta Corporation as the “Title Sponsor of the 2023 USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships,” which include the East Coast Championships at the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill in Elkton, Maryland, on Oct. 19-20 and the West Coast Championships at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, on Oct. 27-28.