United States Eventing Association

Elkton, Md.​​—Oct. 16— It’s not unusual to see the 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Jewelent (Vallent x Bellaney Jewel) at the top of the pack following dressage with former rider Phillip Dutton, and on the first day of competition at the MARS Maryland 5 Star the Jewelent Group’s gelding found himself leading the field this time with a different Dutton in the tack— Phillip’s daughter Olivia Dutton.

Olivia took the ride over from her father earlier this year, and the CCI3*-L here at Fair Hill is only their second FEI outing together.

“We're still getting to know each other,” shared Olivia, “so I'm just gonna ride the best that I can, especially on cross-country. We're just gonna do our best.”

The young rider shared that it wasn’t always the plan for her to have the ride on Jewelent.

“The intention was for my dad to ride him but he's not necessarily my dad's type of ride. My dad loved riding him, but I do think he's a little bit more suited to a girl rider,” she said. “He's quite sensitive, and even though he's a big guy, he's a bit of a softy. I've been lucky that the owners supported it and to get the ride on him. We've really clicked. I knew him from when my dad was competing him, but it's been great just to ride him every day and learn more about him. He's very experienced. He's done the five-star level, so he knows his job very well, and I'm just kind of learning what's the best way to ride him.”

The duo scored a 28.1 to snag the overnight lead, but the second-placed pair after the first day of dressage, Tommy Greengard and Balladeer Kilbrickens Lad, are hot on their heels with a score of 28.2.

Greengard connected with the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (A. Umonia 60 x Aubane Girl) now owned by Patricia Culleton overseas while working with the Prices in the leadup to his Le Lion debut with former Holekamp/Turner Grant recipient That’s Me Z in 2024. Since, the pair have worked their way up to the three-star level. Greengard, who is based on the West Coast, planned an entire trip out east just so that Balladeer Kilbrickens Lad could compete at Maryland.

“We ended up building the trip around him and bringing three to Morven Park last week,” he noted. “Back in January of this year, we said as an outside goal that the Balladeer Killbrickens horse could be a horse for the Maryland three-star, and he's done nothing but deliver all year on the West Coast and in Montana, and has done very, very well at the three-star level. We felt like it was worth the drive. It's four days, 700 miles each day, but we really feel so lucky to have made it to this event. It's beautiful. It's so well presented, and it's been nothing but worth the drive.”

He was thrilled with the horse’s performance today and is looking forward to the rest of the weekend with him.

“He always delivers on the flat,” shared Greengard. “He's never been in an atmosphere quite like this before, so for him to do a very reliable test, we couldn't be happier with him. And there's some really beautiful horses and riders in the field that really put forward nice tests, so to be up there with those horses is always a privilege.”

Wrapping up the top three on the first day is Laine Ashker and Lovedance LLC’s Dutch Warmblood mare Lovedance (Quality Time TN x S-Nodence). This is the 9-year-old mare’s second time competing in the CCI3*-L here at Fair Hill after finishing 14th in the division last year. Ashker first partnered with the show jumping bred mare as a 4-year-old.

“She's bred to be a 1.60-meter jumper, and she jumped a bit too slow in front. I got her off of a video, and it was my first syndicate that I made. She wasn't very expensive, so brought her over, and she's very different from what I'm used to riding. Every one of my five-star horses has been pure blood, off-the-track, so it's been a learning curve of bringing her up the levels from literally grassroots and Beginner Novice all the way to this.”

Ashker has had a look a the three-star cross-country track and is eager to tackle it with her partner.

“It’s a lot more open, so it really suits my horse. There's quite a bit more gallops, so it's more opened up than last year,” she noted. “Where I think I'll lose sleep at night is the last combination. Where I feel like some parts that are softer, I feel like she's never seen a question that difficult. The down banks to the double corners I think is going to be quite a game changer for Saturday and the three-star.”

Dressage in the CCI3*-L will resume on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m.

Helpful Links

• Maryland 5 Star Website
• USEA Prize List
• CCI5*-L Order of Go
• Results
• Schedule of Events
• Livestream
• USEA’s Coverage

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