United States Eventing Association

Martin and Long Island T Tee Up for the Win at the AEC

Fast rides paid off today in the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final at the 2019 USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds, where none of the 24 competitors made the time.

Boyd Martin and Long Island T (Ludwig von Bayern x Haupstsbuch Highlight), the Long Island T Syndicate's 13-year-old Oldenburg/Thoroughbred gelding, remain in the lead after a clear trip across the country and the fastest ride of the day, picking up 6.4 time penalties to sit on a score of 32.0.

“I was actually very nervous going into it,” Martin admitted. “I hadn’t jumped a really big track on him since earlier this year and it was a pretty intimidating track, but typical Kentucky, you just get out there and it rides magic. Ludwig was brave and just jumping out of stride. I was trying to give him a good ride to every fence and he just really gave me a good ride today.”

“I didn’t go for broke, but I also need to start practicing trying to jump the fences out of stride,” Martin said of being the fastest time of the day. “A course like this that is so open and galloping, if you’ve got a good eye and you are a little bit brave you can catch a lot of those galloping jumps without touching their mouth. I worked hard at that and he’s a pretty experienced horse now, so I made a couple of tight turns and jumped some fences on the angle, and thinking of that big check tomorrow I kept running to the end.”

“I jumped a couple of Intermediates and Preliminaries [in the Rolex Stadium] yesterday and it is a great venue,” he said. “I am lucky because Long Island T has been in this ring a couple of times before – I have been coming down here for the jumping shows. He has been jumping really [well], but still anyone can have a rail or two rails and you don’t know how much today took out of them, so [I’ll] give him a bit of ice and give him a light ride tomorrow. We are jumping tomorrow evening so he should have plenty of time to freshen up and recover.”

“I think jumping in this ring will suit Ludwig because it is a bit more of an open show jumping course where you can let them roll on a bit. It is going to be a bit nerve-wracking, but whenever you compete at this level it is never easy.”

“He is a funny horse,” Martin mused. “It took a long time to get a hang of him. I think finally about nine months ago we started to real partnership. The more confident I got, the more confident he got, and we are sort of now we are both egging each other on a bit. At first I wasn’t sure he was going to go and he wasn’t sure I wanted to go. I think it takes about two years for a relationship to build with a horse and really click with your animal and we are hitting that stage now so I couldn’t be more happy.”

Leslie Law and Voltaire de Tre (Gentleman IV x Jasmina du Fresne), Tre’ Book’s 10-year-old Selle Francias gelding, picked up 8.4 time penalties over Derek di Grazia’s cross-country course this morning to move up from eighth to second on a score of 40.7.

“I haven’t run him since he was here for the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event in April so I was a little nervous,” Law said. “I think I get more nervous now than I ever used to, but he was a real machine out there. A lot of it went to plan. I would have liked for the second water to not be so dramatic, but apart from that it was very good.”

“Touch wood, he’s been a good show jumper,” Law said. “He’s not a horse that sort of balloons up above the jumps, he’s economical but he’s been good with it. The jumping phases have certainly been his stronger phases of the three but yesterday he put in a very good test for him as well so that was very rewarding.”

Phillip Dutton and Z (Asca x Bellabouche), who were in sixth place overnight, picked up 10.4 time penalties but still moved up to third place on 42.0. The 11-year-old Zangersheide gelding is owned by Thomas Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Suzanne Lacy, Annie Jones, and C. Moran.

“He was great,” Dutton said. “Obviously I wanted it to be a good round since Aachen didn’t go to plan but I didn’t think he really had a bad fence. It was a good round. I tried to go quick, I probably misjudged how fast you had to go because I probably could have gone a little faster on him. I thought [it would be difficult to make the time] walking it but I didn’t think it would be quite as difficult as it was. It’s a long year and I’m not too worried. I was very pleased with him.”

Looking to tomorrow, Dutton said, “Generally he’s a good jumper so hopefully he’ll do okay.”

Advanced will show jump under the lights in the Rolex Stadium tomorrow evening starting at 7:15 p.m.

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About the USEA American Eventing Championships

The USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is the pinnacle of the sport for the national levels. Held annually, the best junior, adult amateur, and professional competitors gather to vie for national championship titles at every level from Beginner Novice to Advanced. This ultimate test of horse and rider draws hundreds of horses and riders from around the country to compete for fabulous prizes, a piece of the substantial prize money, and the chance to be named the National Champion at their respective levels. This year, the AEC will be held August 27 – September 1 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Click here to learn more about the USEA American Eventing Championships.

The USEA would like to thank the following sponsors for their support of the AEC: Presenting Sponsor: Nutrena; Advanced Final Title Sponsor: Adequan; Platinum Level Sponsors: Bates Saddles, Equistro; Gold Level Sponsors: Charles Owen, Standlee Hay, Parker Equine Insurance; Silver Level Sponsors: Mountain Horse; The Jockey Club, Park Equine; Bronze Level Sponsors: Arnall’s Naturals, State Line Tack, Black Petticoat, Devoucoux, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Horseware Ireland, LandSafe SmartPak, Dubarry, The Chronicle of the Horse, Stackhouse and Ellis Saddles, Auburn Laboratories, FITS Riding, Ovation, Lanier Sand and Soil, Event Cooling Solutions, Farm House Tack; Contributing Level Sponsors: Ariat, Meanwhile Back on the Farm, L.V. Harkness, Lexmark, GLC Direct, Georgetown Tourism, FarmVet, FLAIR Nasal Strips, Nunn Finer, RevitaVet, Resvantage Equine, CrossCountry App; Prize Level Sponsors: GumBits, Ride Heels Down, C4 Belts, I Love My Horse, Mare Modern Goods, Bluegrass Vibershield, Bluegrass Animal Products, Caracol, Active Interest Media, Astrid’s Oil, Baekgaard, On The Bit Horse Supplies, Luxe EQ, EQ AM Magazine, Jetti Spa, Great British Equinery, Foxden Equine, The Scoring Chix, Pure Form Equine; Competitor’s Party Sponsors:Jacqueline Mars, Kat and Roberto Cuca, United States Hunter Jumper Association, and United States Dressage Federation.

About the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final

The $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final will take place at the 2019 USEA American Eventing Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, August 27 – September 1, 2019. Thanks to Adequan’s amazing support, the Adequan USEA Advanced Final will bring together the country’s top rides to vie for $60,000 in prize money and the title of Adequan Champion. To qualify for the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final at the AEC in 2019, competitors will need to complete a minimum of two events without cross-country jump penalties at any USEA recognized Advanced horse trials, CCI4*-S (2018 CIC3*), CCI4*-L (2018 CCI3*), CCI5*-L (2018 CCI4*), or the FEI World Equestrian Games. The qualifying period for the 2019 AEC is May 29, 2018 through August 19, 2019. Click here to learn more about the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final.

The USEA would like to thank Adequan for sponsoring the 2019 $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final.