United States Eventing Association

With a rail in hand, Michael Pollard and Icarus jumped double-clear to claim victory in the CCI3* division at the Jersey Fresh Three-Day Event in Allentown, NJ, May 7-10.

Pollard and his gray off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding started the event in third place after dressage. After a clean and fast trip cross-country on Saturday, they took the lead.

British Olympian Leslie Law led early in dressage on Guy and Beatrice Rey-Herme’s Selle Francais gelding Fleeceworks Mystere Du Val, but time faults on cross-country had the pair swapping places with Pollard and Icarus. Law ultimately finished in third. He also finished in 13th place on Carl and Cassie Segal’s Irish gelding Private Heart. Jan Byyny took second place on Waterfront.

Pollard was pleased that his horse went clear around cross-country yesterday, a round that qualified him to compete at the four-star level. Though his dream is to ride at Burghley, Pollard thinks the courses of Pau (France) would best suit Icarus.

The win at Jersey was a nice Mother’s Day gift to Pollard’s wife Nathalie, who rode Icarus before the couple’s son Phineas, now nine months old, was born. Will Coleman rode Icarus at Jersey Fresh in 2007 when Nathalie was pregnant and Michael was preoccupied with other work. That year, Coleman and Icarus also lead before show jumping where they caught two rails and two time faults to finish in fourth place.

Byyny was also looking for a four-star qualifying score for her horse and was relieved to obtain it this weekend. Waterfront had time off for a soft tissue injury following Rolex Kentucky in 2008 and had to re-qualify under the new rules. Byyny pointed out that she won Jersey Fresh on Task Force and placed second on Waterfront a few years ago. This year Byyny also finished in fifth place in the CCI2* riding Inmidair.

Martin Masters The CIC3*
In the CIC3* Boyd Martin (AUS) jumped double clear to win the division riding Kate Dichey’s bay Dutch Warmblood/Thoroughbred cross gelding Belmont. It was one of four double-clear rounds that Martin rode on Sunday.

He also finished fourth on Rock on Rose, owned by Bruce Davidson, placed second on his own Shatzi W in the CCI2*, and sixth on Ron and Densey Juvonen’s Dutch Warmblood gelding Remington XXV in the CCI3*.

Though Martin is trying to sell Belmont for Dichey, he hopes that he can find a sponsor to help him keep the ride on the horse in order to pursue his goal of riding on the United States team. Though he has dual citizenship and has applied to ride for the U.S., technicalities with the FEI have held things up and he is currently still riding for Australia.

Martin has spent the past couple of years working as assistant trainer to Phillip Dutton, but recently started renting a separate barn at Dutton’s True Prospect Farm in Unionville, PA, in order to strike out on his own. He and Dutton are still close and trade coaching for riding.

Martin expressed his most sincere sympathies for Dutton, who lost his partner Bailey Wick, owned by Jess and Sharon Sweeley of Acorn Hill Farm, in a fall on cross-country in the CCI3* division this weekend.

Dutton said in a statement, “Bailey and I fell at fence number 20, a straightforward oxer, after jumping until then a foot perfect round. I take full responsibility for this fall…I want to thank the officials, support crew and veterinarians at Jersey Fresh and my fellow riders, who have been so supportive.”

Dutton was uninjured and was able to complete the event on his two entries in the CIC3*, Tru Luck (6th place) and Kheops du Quesnay (9th place). Both horses went clean cross-country and accrued 22 time faults. Tru Luck jumped clear in stadium and had three time faults, and Kheops du Quesnay had one rail but finished in the time allowed.

Also in the CIC3*, Mara Dean and her 11-year-old California-bred Oldenburg gelding High Patriot jumped clear but added one time fault to finish in second place, followed by Tiana Coudray and her 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Ringwood Magister.

“I’m definitely thinking WEG now,” said Dean. “The cross-country yesterday felt great. I didn’t go fast, but the footing felt better than I thought it would. Today’s course jumped nicely and my horse was phenomenal,” she continued. “I have so much confidence in him.” Like many of the riders competing this weekend, Dean said her next event will be the CCI3* at Bromont (Canada).

Student and Master Dominate CCI2*
In the CCI2*, Emily Beshear and her student Kate Samuels on took the top two placings aboard Here’s To You and Nyls du Terroir, respectively. Beshear, 32 of Charlottesville, VA, has a six-year-old son, Nicholas, and said she also feels like a mother to the many teenagers who ride at her barn. Her win was a nice Mother’s Day gift to her.

She also said that she hopes winning at an event of such credence will help put her barn, Brickland Eventing, on the map. “We’ve had off and on success but this is a big accomplishment,” she said. “Kate’s horse is doing his first two-star, these are both horses we have brought along and I think it says a lot about our training program.”

Samuels commented, “Emily told me to come here with realistic expectations and my horse couldn’t have gone better. It was nice for me as a Young Rider to perform that well against people who have been doing this a lot longer than I have. I’m proud of my horse because I got him as a four-year-old and made him myself.”

Bits and Pieces
Torrential downpours plagued New Jersey and surrounding areas during the week of the event and forced the organizers to move the dressage phase to an indoor arena. Luckily, the rain moved on for the weekend.

Cross-country day saw its fair share of action, but many riders agreed that the footing held up well, though it got heavier and stickier as the day went on. While cross-country saw numerous horses and riders parting company, only two riders left in an ambulance and both checked out without major injuries.

- In the CCI2* 36 horses started the event, 2 withdrew and 8 were eliminated.
- In the CIC3*, there were 20 starters, 4 of which were eliminated and 2 retired.
- In the CCI3*, 30 horses were entered. One horse was spun at the jog, 7 were eliminated, 2 retired and 3 were withdrawn from the competition.

Complete results