Lexington, Kentucky-based US Olympian and first-time Bromont competitor, Liz Halliday-Sharp marked MARS Bromont CCI dressage day one with two firsts and a third at the Bromont Olympic Equestrian Park in picturesque Bromont, Quebec.
Halliday-Sharp leads the CCI4*-L following dressage on a score of 25.8 with the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse, Cooley Moonshine (Cobra x Kilpatrick Duchess) who is owned by The Monster Partnership. Dressage judges in the CCI4*-L were Marilyn Payne (USA) at C, Peter Gray (CAN) at E, and Sue Baxter (GBR) at M.
In the CCI3*-L Halliday-Sharp goes into Saturday cross-country with a top score of 28.1 on the 7-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Shanroe Cooley (Dallas x Shanroe Sapphire), owned by Ocala Horse Properties, just 1.2 points ahead of her other mount the Calmaria Partnership's 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse Mare Cooley HHS Calmaria (Cyrano x Chester Lass). Dressage judges were Sue Baxter (GBR) at C, Bea Di Grazia (USA) at E, and Peter Gray (CAN) at M.
When asked about her rides today Halliday-Sharp said, “I am really thrilled with the horses. Cooley Moonshine did one of the best tests he has done which is fantastic. He is a horse I think the world of. He went in and got sort of equal scores from the judges which is great, that is what you are looking for.”
When asked about the cross-country course following the rainy day Halliday-Sharp said, “my biggest thoughts are that it is unusually wet. I think it is a good track, strong enough but fair, big and bold like you would expect."
Ever on the minds of many top riders including Halliday-Sharp is that the MARS Bromont CCI is a team selection trial for the FEI World Championships happening later this year in Pratoni, Italy.
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It was a somewhat uneventful morning in the final horse inspection for both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L, which is always a great testament to the exemplary horse care that these top athletes receive and the horsemanship exhibited by their riders.
And just like that, it's the final day of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event and it's a full one in terms of the schedule. Before moving on to the final phase, competitors in both the CCI4*-S and CCI5*-L divisions will have to undergo the final horse inspection at High Hope Lane which will kick off with four-star competitors at 8 a.m. EST and be followed immediately by the five-star contingency.
When Will Coleman, the overnight leader in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S division at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, walked Derek di Grazia’s cross-country track, he knew time was going to play a major factor in how the results would shake out upon the completion of the second phase.
“I really love riding the horses,” said Michael Jung. “I do it every day— riding the horses, training the horses, going to many, many competitions. I am really into the sport and with horses. I know it can go wrong all the time. So I try to go out, do my best, take care of the horse; if it went wrong, OK. It can happen, now you just be prepared for the next day.”