United States Eventing Association

Halpin Secures Adequan USEA Gold Cup Advanced Win at Millbrook Horse Trials

Sinead Halpin was looking for a confidence-building weekend for herself and Manoir de Carneville before heading to Ireland for the Millstreet International Three-Day Event, and their solid performance earned them the win in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Advanced Division at the Millbrook Horse Trials at Coole Park Farm in Millbrook, NY.

All top five horses show jumped around double clear, and “Tate,” a 16-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by the Manoir de Carneville Syndicate, performed a solid round in front a crowd of hundreds of spectators whose attention was divided between the competition right in front of them and the Olympic competition on the live stream in the VIP tent, since Phillip Dutton’s dressage test in Rio coincided with Halpin’s round.

Halpin said, “The only downside to today was that I didn’t get to see Phillip kill it in the dressage in Rio!” But she opted to wear her own Pinque coat and put the USA saddle pad on for today’s competition, showing her American pride in honor of the Olympic Games.

“It was a great, competitive weekend and a really fun event,” said Halpin, who did catch the Olympics this morning, along with a group of fellow competitors. “Everything was well organized and it was an ideal preparation for riders going overseas like Kurt, Holly, Lillian and myself.” Halpin and Tate head to the Millstreet CCI3* later this month after they earned a Land Rover/USEF and USET Foundation eventing competition grant.

Buck Davidson and Caroline & Sherrie Martin’s Petite Flower finished in a strong second place on their dressage score of 28.2. “The exciting thing for me is that she was really, really good at Kentucky, she felt like she knew what she was doing, and again this weekend she feels like she knows what she’s doing and I’m not having to do everything so much for her. I’m really proud of her, I’ve always known I’ve had a nice horse, but we had some stuff to work through. Hopefully we’ve got some good things coming.” Amber Heintzberger Photo above.

Davidson plans to take the mare to the 2016 Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Land Rover in Mill Spring, N.C. at the end of the month and possibly to Fair Hill International (Maryland) in the fall.

Davidson had three rails down with The Apprentice, making room for his student and the owner of several of his horses, Caroline Martin, to move into 6th place riding Spring Easy. He also finished 13th riding Carl and Cassie Segal’s Park Trader.

“It’s great that this whole community is behind the sport,” said Davidson. “It was exciting to be able to watch the Olympics here, and it’s good for the sport. Quite a few people from this area are behind some of the Olympic horses and it’s great that they’re doing all this and there’s excitement about it. It bodes well for us in the future.”

Patrons enjoyed a Rio-themed luncheon sponsored by the USET Foundation, as well as a silent auction in the Party Tent, overlooking the show jumping arena.

Live scores available here.

About the Adequan USEA Gold Cup

Qualifying for the 2016 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Championship began last fall with the Richland Park Advanced & CIC3* (Mich.), Aspen Farms Advanced (Wash.), Plantation Field Advanced & CIC3* (Pa.) and the Woodside International Advanced & CIC3* (Calif.) and features 11 qualifying competitions throughout the United States at the Advanced Horse Trials and CIC3* levels. The final will take place at the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships, August 31- September 4 in Tryon, North Carolina. Riders who complete a qualifier earn the chance to vie for $40,000 in prize money and thousands of dollars in prizes in the Adequan Advanced Division and the title of Adequan USEA Gold Cup Champion.

The 2016 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many loyal sponsors: Adequan, Standlee Forage, Nunn Finer, Nutrena, Merck, Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, and FITS.