United States Eventing Association

Kehoe and Daktaris Crowned CCI3*-S Winner at Virginia Horse Center

The CCI3*-S and the CCI2*-S wrapped up on Saturday, May 24th, at the Virginia Horse Center Eventing horse trials, presented by Capital Square, but the CCI2*-L and the CCI1*-L still have one more phase to go. The weekend has been characterized by pioneering moments for horses and riders alike.

CCI3*-S winner, Ashley Kehoe, claimed her first win at the level with Daktaris. The pair took the lead from FEI rookie Meagan Hopkins and Altaskin Jack, with a score of 47.4 after an influential cross-country phase. The time proved hard to catch in the weekend’s top division; not a single pair achieved the optimum time, with every horse and rider combination having a minimum of 12 time penalties.

“He was so good,” Kehoe said. “I haven't been here in probably seven or eight years, and I didn't know how he was going to handle the big climb up the hill at the end and then the corner combination. But he never stopped going. I never had to kick him once.”

It’s a momentous weekend for Kehoe, marking her first win at the three-star level. Just two weeks ago, Kehoe had her first-ever FEI win with Daktaris at Tryon International. “He’s amazing,” Kehoe said. “He’s a winner. He's incredibly talented and scopey. Actually, I had my first FEI win two weeks ago at Tryon International. I did the two-star with him, just as a confidence boost before coming here, and he won that, and now he's won this.”

It’s been a long road for Kehoe and Daktaris, who purchased the 9-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Dinken x Europa VIII) after she had to sell her best horse during COVID. Sourced from a friend in Germany, Kehoe said she had been looking for something spicy—and he definitely fit the bill.

“He acts like a little stallion, to be honest,” Kehoe said. “He sort of shows up and struts around, you know, puffs out his chest. Kind of like Muhammad Ali— it's his vibe.”

“We used to clear warm-up rings,” Kehoe continued, laughing. “He would stand up on his hind legs, but after ten minutes he would settle and say, ‘Okay, what can I do for you?’”

Kehoe chose to come to VHC Eventing with Daktaris to see how he would handle the roller coaster-like terrain. “For this horse and myself, I just wanted to see how he was gonna do with the hills,” Kehoe said. “I didn't want to go all the way up to Bromont, but this venue just has such great terrain that's so different from Florida. And it just has wonderful show jumping— it has the whole shebang.”

Meanwhile in the CCI2*-L, Emily Hamel continues to navigate a challenging event aboard another first-timer— Black Flag Option’s Kingston (Verdi x Ulette), who is tackling his first FEI event with ease so far. It’s safe to say that his first FEI cross-country went smoothly, as the pair added nothing to their dressage score and finished exactly on the optimum time of seven minutes and four seconds.

“Oh, I'm so proud of him,” Hamel said. “He was just awesome. We're still a pretty new partnership and I've only done three prelims with him, so this is kind of a big ask. He definitely hasn't seen this many hills before but he was really game and he had a great time. He just loves the job, so that's fun.”

With the weekend being Kingston’s first crack at the international level, Hamel’s goal for the cross-country phase was to boost the Dutch Warmblood gelding’s confidence. As it turned out, she was able to both give the 10-year-old a good ride and stay in the lead.

“Going into the day, I was like ‘Oh I really hope I make time, but also first and foremost, I need to give him a good ride,’” Hamel said. “Again, he's new at this level, so I decided I'll go as fast as I can safely go and it worked out.”

Heading into tomorrow on an unproven FEI horse and holding onto the first place slot can be a nerve-wracking situation. Hamel is relying on Kingston’s show jumping background and her ability to keep a cool head to hold the lead.

“He came from a show jumping background in Europe,” Hamel said. “He did around 1.35m over there, so in theory it should go well. But again, it's his first FEI, so we're just gonna do our best and hopefully that's good enough.”

“I am trying not to think of it like I'm going in there as the lead,” she continued. “I'm just gonna try to give him the best ride I can and hopefully everything works out.”

Hamel is coming to VHC Eventing fresh off a 12th place finish with Corvett, an 18-year-old seasoned five-star horse also owned by Black Flag Option, at the Kentucky Three-Day Event. Hamel says that Corvett and Kingston offer her very different rides.

“I'm never really in the lead,” Hamel said. “I'm used to [Corvett], where I have to claw my way up so it's a new feeling. But it'll be good practice and I think I have a good mental game. Hopefully that'll be true tomorrow.”

In the CCI2*-S, Lucienne Bellissimo’s up-and-coming young horse, Duke’s Jory, finds himself in second place while tackling his first long-format, losing the lead to Bellissimo and one of her other entries, the Trakehner mare Tremanton (Grafenstolz x Trevia). Together, Bellissimo and Tremanton won the division with a score of 24.9, adding nothing to their dressage score after a double clear cross-country round.

“So, I've had Tremanton for many years,” Bellissimo said. “She's campaigned at the four-star level, and I was hoping to have taken her to Kentucky, but sadly, she cut her leg quite badly in the paddock and has had a few months out. She's fine, it was superficial, but I thought off the back of having a bit of a break, it would do her brain and body good to actually come and do a two star and just sort of start over and plan for bigger things for later in the year.”

Bellissimo’s plan worked. VHC Eventing marked Tremanton’s first two-star round since 2020 and the 13-year-old mare answered the course’s questions with ease. “Once I got on course with her, she hit the bottom of the big hill and just attacked it and found the time very, very easy,” Bellissimo said. “She really, really galloped and overtook her brother, Duke’s Jory. Dropping down to the two-star level did her no harm at all. It did her brain some good so she feels in a good space, and she was good on the flat. Hopefully now we can plan some bigger things for later in the year for her.”

An experienced event rider, Bellissimo has been campaigning various horses at the four-star level for several years. Still, she found the terrain at the Virginia Horse Center to provide a unique challenge that is difficult to find in the United States.

“[The course] was beautifully built,” Bellissimo said. “It's just the undulations, you know? It adds a little bit of complexity for the younger ones when their balance still isn't quite there. It's such a nice bit of terrain, and having that hill is always interesting to see how the horses actually cope with it. You don't always get that privilege of really getting a chance to stay galloping for a couple of minutes uphill. But all in all, I thought it was built really well.”

Now that she’s back and fighting fit, Bellissimo is aiming to ride Tremanton in the Advanced at the Horse Park of New Jersey, before possibly entering her in the Maryland Five Star or in the CCI4*-L at The Event at Rebecca Farm. Bellissimo says that VHC Eventing was a great fitness run for her horses.

“I think it's great,” she said. “Normally I would go to Bromont, but I sadly can't this year because we've got other commitments. I love the new flavor for the cross-country. Over the last couple of years, it's really changed. They've obviously invested heavily. For a fitness run, I think it’s super.”

Finally, in the CCI1*-L, Alyssa Phillips and Centerfold are poised to claim their first FEI win as a pair— should they have a clear show jumping round tomorrow. The combination claimed the lead in the CCI1*-L, after Lisa Chan and Picture This parted ways at fence five on the cross-country course. Centerfold is a young, up-and-coming horse that is still learning the ropes at the FEI level. Originally in third place at the end of the day yesterday, “Playboy” put in a double clear cross-country round to finish on his dressage score of 31.8.

“He was great,” Phillips said. “He is still a young horse. He's six this year. He did the five-year-olds last fall at the Maryland Five Star, and came in second. I thought it would be a great educational trip to bring all my horses up here, because I'm based in Florida year round, so we don't have these types of hills. So it was really great for both my horses to run on the terrain and the courses were prepared beautifully.”

It’s notoriously difficult to prepare for an event with plenty of terrain coming from a particularly flat area like Florida. Despite the additional challenge, the 6-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Sligo Candy Boy x Temple Polly) crossed the finish flags with more gas in the tank.

“I was very happy with him,” Phillips said. “He came home with plenty of run, which was nice. Hopefully we'll jump well tomorrow.”

As VHC Eventing is only his second FEI event, the young gelding found the course difficult, but came home more knowledgeable and more confident than when he left the start box. The biggest challenge on course proved to be a tree at the combination in the final water complex.

“He spooked pretty hard off of [the tree], but he's such a genuine brave horse that he was like, ‘That's scary, but okay, I'm gonna go,’” Phillips said. “But it was nice to feel him grow in confidence the whole way around. With every show, he just keeps getting better and better and improving, which is nice to see in a young horse."

Moving up to the International level isn’t a simple process; Phillips credits the addition of the one-star level for making it easier.

“It's been a really smooth transition, and it's really nice to have the Modified level and the one-star level,” Phillips said. “I really love it. I take all my horses, all my young horses, through it. So really appreciative for that in between Training and Preliminary level. Hopefully things go well, and we'll move up to the two-star level this fall.”

Phillips isn’t putting pressure on herself or on Playboy going into the show jumping round tomorrow. “He’s a good boy,” Phillips said. “Whatever happens, happens. But I'm proud. I'm proud of him and the horse that he's grown into.”