United States Eventing Association

Reigning Richland Park three-star champions Leslie Law and Fleeceworks Mystere Du Val defended their title beautifully today as they galloped around Ian Stark’s Adequan USEA Gold Cup CIC3* cross-country course at the Richland Park Horse Trials in Richland, Michigan. The pair added 6.8 time faults to their score to bring their two day total to 49.5; only a fraction of a fault over second-placed Jennie Brannigan and Cooper.

Law and “Bean” will be looking for a quick and clean round in Sunday’s show jumping phase to assure the win.

“He’s a great show jumper and it’s going to be extremely tight,” Law said. “For us, it will depend on how tight the time is, quite honestly, because he jumps up in the air so high. He wastes a little bit of time doing that and we can’t even afford one time fault. We’ll go in there and jump our best and see what comes of it.”

Sitting in second place is Jennie Brannigan with her long-time partner, Cooper. They posted the only double clear cross-country round in the three-star to secure second place on their dressage score of 50.2.

“It’s one of the first times I rode him and truly thought, ‘wow he was really good today!’ So I was excited about that,” Brannigan said. “I’m still learning how to ride him and prepare him for events now that he’s become more fit and become a true advanced horse.”

Sitting in third place after cross-country are Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II. They had no jumping penalties and added just 3.2 time faults to bring their two-day total to 53.4. He still stands less than one rail behind Law and Brannigan.

Phillip Dutton and Woodburn woke up in second place this morning but added a controversial 4.8 time penalties to their overnight score, which dropped them into fourth place. They were held on course for several minutes after fellow colleague Boyd Martin fell at the bounce element of the first water complex.

Both Martin and Shatzi walked away from the fall with only bruised egos, perhaps thanks to the frangible pin technology installed on those particular fences. The horse’s front legs caught the second log of the bounce and caused the log to release from the pins and drop, and perhaps prevent what could have been a much more serious fall.

Martin went on to finish beautifully in the subsequent Advanced division aboard Remington XXV and currently sits in second place, only half a penalty behind class leaders Kelly Sult and Hollywood.

Bumps And Bruises But No Harm Done

Although the day went well for most riders, a few had it a little rougher. Canadian Kenal Lehari took the first spill of the day with Understudy at the first water complex. Kristen Bond and Are You Ready, who sat in seventh place after dressage, also parted company at the first water complex. Both pairs were slightly shaken, but uninjured. Long time partners Corinne Ashton and Dobbin also separated earlier on course but were okay. Will Faudree and Mr. McWhinney wisely called it a day after some trouble at the same water complex. Bruce Davidson and his typically steady homebred mare, Jam, were uncharacteristically eliminated after three refusals at the first element of the water complex.

The compound was composed of four efforts: Fence 19, a Rolltop into the water; fence 20A, a Leap Frog in the water; and fences 20 B and C, two logs in a bounce out of the water. Brannigan explained her take on the ostensible bogey question: “I had planned to ride the five [strides] from the frog to the bounce,” she explained, “and that seemed to be the right ride for my horse because he backs off so easily. But I think that bounce ended up riding short. But I felt like if you had to kick to get the four [strides] it didn’t ride as well, from what I saw and heard.”

Law also weighed in on the question: “That was quite a tricky distance from the frog to the bounce,” he said, “but it was good for my horse because he jumps a little slow in the water and I thought it was probably going to be five strides for him and, sure enough, it was.”

Law also put in two solid cross-country trips in the CIC2* division aboard Hugo Fast, with whom he now stands in third place, and Java, now in eighth place. “I’m really happy with the young horses,” he said of the 7-year-old geldings. “They’ve only done three Intermediates and there was plenty for them to do here in the two-star. We brought them here to get them qualified for a CCI2*. I think both of them have huge talent and are getting better and better.”

Gold Cup Sponsorship

The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors: Title:

Adequan; Legacy: Nunn Finer, Nutrena, and E.A Mattes; Contributing: Cover-All, and Patron: Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, and Succeed.

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

For more information on the Gold Cup Series or USEA sponsorship, contact Jo Whitehouse formore information at 703-669-9999 or email [email protected]