United States Eventing Association

Blessed with sunny skies, the second day of dressage at The Fork Horse Trials and CIC3* in Norwood, North Carolina wrapped up this afternoon. Clark Montgomery of Ocala, Florida, and Up Spirit were the early leaders in the CIC3*, posting a score of 38.9 during yesterday’s first half of the dressage phase.

Plagued with a chilly, wet forecast, thirty-two other riders competed yesterday in the CIC3*, and none came within seven points of Montgomery and the 9-year-old British Thoroughbred gelding (owned by Montgomery and Holly and William Becker). Michael Pollard and Tia Lusso were the closest with a 46.4.

Overnight leader, Montgomery, 27, recently returned to the States after training in England with several top trainers, including Capt. Mark Phillips and his wife Sandy.

“I was really happy with [Up Spirit], and I didn’t know [the score] was going to be that good,” said Montgomery with a smile. “And I sure didn’t know it would be that much better than everybody else!

“He really is coming into his own now and getting more experience and he’s coming out each time and doing a better test. It’s the first time I’ve ever been below forty in an FEI event, so that was great,” added Montgomery. “For this horse, he always gets in the ring and backs off, so I’m always asking him to go bigger and more aggressive. This time he really let us go with the movements and he stayed in front of my leg the whole time, and I could actually ask him to collect a bit more, which is all new for him.

After the rest of the 61 horses completed the CIC3* tests, Friday ended with a three-way tie for second place between Pollard, Corinne Ashton and her 2008 USEA Horse of the Year Dobbin, and Olympic gold medalist Leslie Law and Fleeceworks Mystere du Val.

“It went well, and I think I played it a bit conservative,” said Leslie Law of today’s test with Mystere du Val, also known as “Bean.” “There was a bit of wind and some [banner] flapping going on and I think I took a little bit of a steady approach to it, but it probably paid off because he got a good solid score and I think we have to be really pleased with it.”

Gearing Up for Tomorrow's Course

Nearly 250 riders from Preliminary to CIC3* will be competing over Capt. Mark Phillip’s rolling cross-country courses tomorrow. The three Intermediate divisions will kick off the day bright and early at 8:00AM, followed by the CIC3*, then the Advanced, and finally the four divisions of Preliminary will close the competition and finish at 5:30 in the evening.

“The [CIC3*] course this year means you have to stay straight, straight, straight, and straight!” added Law. “There are a lot of corners and a lot of skinnies, but there’s really not too much that's new. It’s beautifully put together, and it’s just a great venue for cross-country—it’s lovely open and galloping grassland, and it’s a great run to have leading up to a three-day.” Law plans to ride Mystere du Val at the Jersey Fresh CCI3* this May, along with his other Advanced horse, Troy and Ann Glaus’s Private Heart.

“There are lots of good questions out there,” said Montgomery who’s aiming Up Spirt for the gelding’s first Rolex Kentucky CCI4* in the next few weeks. “We had to have a course this year that really helped us make sure we were prepared. There are quite a few really technical lines and severe angles, so with that in mind, it’s good…it’s hard, but it’s good!”

For more information on The Fork horse trials, visit The Fork website or their Omnibus listing.

Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series

The CIC3* also serves as the Adequan USEA Gold Cup division, one of the premier programs for talented horse and rider combinations in the U.S.

Now in its fifth year, the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is an exciting format of competition and entertainment for U.S. Eventing, encompassing eight of the top eventing competitions from around the U.S. where the best of the best vie for prize money, trophies, and the title of Gold Cup champion!

Winners of the CIC3* (the designed "Gold Cup division") receive an Adequan USEA Gold Cup Trophy, $500 in prize money, 7-dose box of Adequan, a three-month supply of SUCCEED, an E.A. Mattes Couture Pad, and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots. Second place finishers take home a Nutrena feed gift certificate and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots, and third place receives a pair of the Nunn Finer boots as well.

The Series kicks off this spring with one more event: a new event for 2009, the Chattahoochee Hill Horse Trials on the third weekend in May down in Georgia. Five more events will round out the year, from July through September. The year-end champions will receive their trophies, prizes, and prize money at the USEA Annual Meeting and Convention this December in Reston, Virginia for the USEA's 50th Anniversary Celebration. Visit the Adequan USEA Gold Cup page to keep track of the Gold Cup leaderboard.

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.