United States Eventing Association

Lucinda Fredericks Gallops Into the Lead with Headley Britannia After Cross-Country, Hoy and Davidson Hot on Their Heels

The top three riders were back for interviews in the press tent after the cross-country phase this afternoon at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, but were seated in a slightly different order. Australian Lucinda Fredericks, aboard Headley Britannia, jumped to the head of the pack after posting a brilliant double-clear round over Michael Etherington-Smith’s course, finishing right on the optimum time of 11:02, adding no penalties to her dressage score of 32.3.

Bettina Hoy of Germany and Ringwood Cockatoo, yesterday’s dressage leaders with an astounding 28.8, dropped to second after racking up 9.6 time penalties, leaving them with a score of 38.4. Top American rider was Buck Davidson, who rode My Boy Bobby to a fast round in the talented gelding’s first four-star. Davidson added only 1.2 time penalties to their dressage score, rounding their score up to 40.2 heading into tomorrow’s show jumping phase.

Tim Lips of the Netherlands and Concrex Oncarlos posted a beautiful double-clear round to hang onto their fourth place position, and French rider Nicolas Touzaint and last year’s Badminton winner Hidalgo de L’ile jumped from seventh to fifth.

Lucy Wiegersma of Great Britain and Woodfalls Inigo Jones dropped from fifth to sixth after picking up 1.2 time penalties, while fellow Brit Oliver Townend and Carousel Quest posted a double-clear to stand in seventh.

William Fox-Pitt had a run-out on his first horse Navigator at the brush after the Normandy Bank, but finished in eighth on Seacookie, who only picked up a handful of time penalties.

Last year’s Rolex champions Phillip Dutton and Connaught had a foot-perfect ride, and moved up one position to ninth with his double-clear finish. Stephen Bradley and Brandenburg’s Joshua also performed a faultless round, settling in right below Dutton in the standings. Nine-year-old Leyland coasted easily around the challenging course for Amy Tryon around his first four-star and finished inside the time, to take home the twelfth place heading into tomorrow.

Nicola Wilson of Great Britain and Opposition Buzz also posted a double-clear round. Rolex rookie Ralph Holstein and Arctic Dancer also pulled off a fault-free round as did Sara Dierks and Somerset.

First Place Finish for Fredericks

The 15.3-hand Irish Sport Horse mare sired by Jumbo, performed a beautiful round, and though she doesn’t have the biggest stride, she worked her little legs double-time to get inside the time. To be on the safe side, Fredericks took a very long route at the Head of the Lake (#15ABC), swinging quite wide to go make it cleanly through. She ended up clear, but wasted several precious seconds.

“Things didn’t quite go according to plan at the Lake,” said Fredericks. “Brit’s a funny little thing and she’s so strong and quite difficult to manage at the start of the course.”

“I’d always planned to do the long route at the Sunken Road," she continued. "I just had a bee in my bonnet about it, and that’s what I wanted to do. I was making up time and she’d opened up a fair bit and I came around the corner and saw this ‘not ideal’ sort of open distance to the logs [before the Head of the Lake],” said Fredericks.

“I’d planned to go on six strides and it turned into four,“ she laughed. “Brit took control and as I jumped in I sort of had a look to the right to see where the corner was, and I thought gee, no point in risking that. So I turned ‘round and kept going, and to be honest, from there I never took a pull.

“She just motored. I had a fantastic ride over the second half of course. It’s just easier riding to the bigger fences, but she had to really stretch at the top of the quarry (The Hollow, #21ABCD), which I knew she would do. She can stretch if she’s got speed, but she only has a tiny stride, and it doesn’t honestly get that long, even when we’re really going. We did motor! I don’t think we’ve ever been so fast, but I really enjoyed it."

The Squirrels (#8/9AB) combination, which consisted of a rails, ditch, and squirrel tail brush required correct presentation and good riding. “It was technical enough—there were lots of big uprights with something on the downward. And I think the Squirrels caused not any major problems, but certainly uncomfortable jumps because the horses just seemed to look into the ditch which then put you off your rhythm. I certainly had to push that hard to get the two strides to the squirrel brush.”

The quick mare easily made up the time on the second half of the course, taking all the direct routes through some of the technical elements such as The Hollow (#21ABCD), the Double Diamonds (#22ABCD), and skipped easily through the challenging Normandy Bank (#25ABCD). She put the pedal to the metal, and the pair galloped home, and finished at 11:02, right on the optimum time.

“It sort of went to plan, really I just kept motoring and Brit just kept galloping. As I said, the second half of the course rode brilliantly--I just seemed to get my eye in and she just loosened up and really took me home full pelt.”

If Fredericks pulls off a win tomorrow, she’ll have won the top three four-star events in the world. She and Britannia won Burghley in 2006 and Badminton in 2007, and was a member of last year’s Australian silver medal team at the Hong Kong Olympics. Her husband, Clayton Fredericks, also won the Rolex Kentucky Event in 2007 aboard Ben Along Time.

Bettina Bumped to Second

Yesterday, German rider Bettina Hoy commented that she would go out and have fun and would continue on course as long as her longtime partner Ringwood Cockatoo was enjoying himself. “I never really pushed harder than I did, and I went as fast as I felt was good for him and his age. He gave me a fabulous ride. I had a few scary moments, but they probably looked worse than they felt,” she said.

They jumped into the Double Diamonds (#22ABCD) a bit sticky, though the scopey gelding easily made it out through the corner combination without racking up any penalties. “I thought I had a good spot and I pushed, but he was just a little bit backed off. He wouldn’t be the most confident horse at drop fences, and obviously there are a lot of drop fences on this course, but he was very much on my side. It felt, in a way, like we were an old married couple who sort of knew exactly what to do in our own time, and I’m very very proud of him.”

Though Cockatoo seemed a bit peeky at some of the other jumps on course, especially the technical combinations, he was dead honest and jumped cleanly for Hoy, adding only a handful of time penalties.

Buck & Bobby Perform Brilliantly

Buck Davidson was able to hang onto his third place position aboard My Boy Bobby today, giving the Irish Sport Horse gelding a great ride in the 13-year-old’s first four-star event.

“Both my horses were terrific today, and I couldn’t have asked for better rides on either one,” said Davidson. “My Boy Bobby stuck in there and tried harder than I ever thought he would.”

When asked what some of his favorite moments on course were, he replied, “To be quite honest…the finish! Not the last jump, not two strides away from it, but the finish. He gave me everything he had today—I’m really proud of him. It was so hot and he’s obviously not a clean-bred horse, but he dug in and kept trying.”

Davidson was thrilled to have a huge support crew of family friends on deck this weekend, including his father Bruce who competed two horses as well. “I was just so excited and so relieved to see Dad come home with [his second horse] Cruise Lion. He had a fall a couple weeks ago at The Fork and so it was a big relief seeing him come through the finish flags. He was so proud!”

The New Jersey native was the first to go of the day aboard his more experienced mount, Ballynoecastle RM, who had a great ride, but unfortunately had a stop at the first element of the Sunken Road (#13ABCD) after a loose dog ran out under the horse’s feet several strides before the fence, and bit the gelding on the hock.

The refusal and several of his time faults aboard ‘Reggie’ were later revoked by the organizing committee, and he was awarded a clear round with only 3.2 time penalties, bumping him up to 19^th place.

32-year-old Davidson, who’s won the Markham Trophy for the highest placed Young Rider a few times in previous years, gave his second horse of the day a very confident gallop around the challenging course. Not that the scopey gelding needed much coaxing, as he was bold and cleared the jumps with ease.

A Roller-Coaster Cross-Country Day

Though there were many brilliant riders across the course today, there were also a few unlucky rounds as well.

Mike Winter of Canada’s first ride of the day, Kingpin, had an unfortunate fall while negotiating Fence 10, the Trakehner, and died at the scene. Winter was evaluated by medical personnel on site and sent to Georgetown Community Hospital for further evaluation, and has since been released. Veterinary and medical personnel were in attendance at the time of the fall. The cause of the horse’s death is still under investigation, but a preliminary report shows that the horse bled into his abdomen.

“It appears that it was unassociated with the fence itself,” said the event veterinary delegate Dr. Catherine Kohn during Saturday evening’s press conference. “It’s possible that it may be determined as a rupture of a large blood vessel, which isn’t unheard of in human and equine athletes.”

All horses receive a complete physical by the event veterinarians upon arrival at the event, and Kingpin was found to be sound and healthy during his check-up.

During the press conference, Fredericks and Hoy expressed their condolences to Winter and his eventing team on the loss of Kingpin. “We’d both just like to say how sorry we were for Mike today and our thoughts are with him. There’s nothing like losing a horse and your best friend, and we’d just like to say on behalf of all the riders on how sorry we are,” said Fredericks.

Six other riders were eliminated on the course. French competitor Stanislas de Zuchowicz was unfortunately popped right out of the tack in the Duck Marsh (#6ABC). The Double Diamonds (#22ABCD) caused trouble for a few of the riders, as Barbara Crabo and Eveready were eliminated at the tricky combination, and Jennifer Wooten-Dafoe’s The Good Witch later fell at these corners. The black mare was thought to have sustained an injury to her leg, and was taken back to the barns in the ambulance, but Dr. Kohn later reported that she is in fact resting comfortably.

Canadian rider Sandra Donnelly fell after Buenos Aires had a stumble up the bank in the Hollow (#21C), and fellow Canadian Karl Slezak was also eliminated at the second jump on course, the Rock Walls. Susie Beale, of Great Britain, had some trouble at the Head of the Lake (#15ABC), eliminating her and Isabella II.

Tomorrow’s Finale

Find out if Fredericks and the spritely mare can hang onto their top positions as they negotiate Richard Jeffery’s show jumping course tomorrow afternoon.

The first horse inspection is at 8:30AM, and the show jumping will follow at 1:00PM in the main arena. Amy Tryon’s longtime partner Poggio II will be retired prior to the show jumping competition – don’t miss it!

Log on to www.rk3de.org to find out more information and the complete results.