United States Eventing Association

In his first outing since Rolex Kentucky last April, India McEvoy’s Jumbo’s Jake ridden by James Alliston, is one step closer to winning the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Advanced Division at Twin Rivers Ranch for the second year in a row. Alliston and Jumbo’s Jake, set the bar high in the heat of the day, putting forth a lovely test to earn themselves a 27.7 in dressage, and nearly an eight point cushion over second going into cross-country.

Alliston who has the ride on Jumbo’s Jake while McEvoy attends Veterinary school credited her with tuning up his flat work coming into the weekend, saying “ India takes them in the summer, and she does a fantastic job. When I get him back he is a bit flashier and down to business.” James was quite pleased with the way the 12-year-old bay gelding started off the weekend, noting that “he is really a very steady guy so now we are trying to take all the movements he knows and build on them.”

Mackenna Shea on her long time partner Landioso and Earl McFall aboard Ian Diery’s In a Dream sit behind Jumbo’s Jake to round out the top three spots going into phase two of competition. With cross-country taking place on what is set to be quite a warm day at Twin Rivers Ranch, time will most certainly shake up the leader board a bit on Saturday. The Advanced division gets underway in Paso Robles, CA at 12:55pm PST, where one rider will be a step closer to winning the Adequan USEA Gold Cup and a plethora of exciting prizes.

In the Intermediate division, another familiar pair strutted their stuff down the centerline to become the overnight leaders. Lauren Billys and her own Ballingowan Ginger put forth a lovely test in what is set to be their final outing before heading to the Pan American Games in October to represent Lauren’s Puerto Rican heritage. Billys was quite happy with the test her mare put forth, and hopes to “give her a very positive, confidence building ride tomorrow where she feels like it is easy for her to handle”.

Right on the tail of Ballingowan Ginger, in a tie for second place sits another Pan American Games hopeful. Hawley Bennett-Awad riding Sue Church’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere hopes to make the trip to Guadalajara, Mexico to represent her native country of Canada. Bennett-Awad thinks quite highly of the gelding she affectionately calls “Chunky” and says, “ I have a clear game plan for tomorrow that David and I talked about. This horse is amazing, I have always really, really liked him.”

Tied with Hawley to round out the top three in the Intermediate division is Sara Mittleider riding Harry Houdini, and with the top 10 riders separated by only four points, time faults tomorrow will prove to be very costly, making for a very exciting day of competition.

The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors: Title: Adequan; Legacy: Nunn Finer, Nutrena; and Patron: Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, and Succeed.

Adequan is proud to be the official joint therapy treatment of the USEA.