United States Eventing Association

The atmosphere today at the Red Hills International Horse Trials in Tallahassee, FL could only be described as electric. The cross-country course was packed with families out for a day of fun and a bit of excitement as they got a chance to watch the best eventers in the country tackle a top-notch course.

Amid the carnival atmosphere Phillip Dutton was able to keep his cool with Mystery Whisper to not only maintain - but extend - his impressive lead in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup CIC3* division. Time is notoriously hard to make on the twisty courses at Red Hills and this year proved no different. Only one pair, Peter Atkins and HJ Hampton, were able to cross the finish line under the optimum time of seven minutes in the CIC3*. Although Phillip had an 11 point lead overnight he still put in one of the fastest times of the day adding only 4.8 time penalties to his dressage score of 27.9 over second placed, Marilyn Little-Meredith and RF Rovano Rex.

“This is quite a unique course,” said Phillip. “Horses and riders need to learn different courses and rely on different skills for whatever course you have. This one you have to know pretty well especially where to turn and it is a little bit more suited to a horse that doesn’t get strong so you can save time on the approach. It generally rides a lot harder than it walks because a lot of the time you will be approaching a jump off a turn and there will be a tree in your way or the different terrain, so that kind of stuff, especially with the greener horses, will take a bit of their confidence away. It is great for us to practice it though.”

According to Phillip’s explanation the course was well suited to Mystery. “I was pretty impressed with him today,” said Phillip. “He isn’t a huge jumping horse but he is very easy to ride, and I didn’t feel at all that he wasn’t wanting to go. He is very soft and easy to jump.”

In addition to leading the Adequan USEA Gold Cup division, Phillip brought home his seven other mounts without a single jumping penalty. Throughout the day the announcers were tallying the amount of miles Phillip had ridden and it ended up at 16 by the time the last horse crossed the finish.

Phillip says that he was pleased with all of his rides and believed that they all had a good experience. “Complacency is my biggest problem,” answered Phillip when asked about the biggest challenge of riding so many horses. “If it is going really well I might not give enough preparation to some of the jumps. I need to do just as good on my last horse as I did on my first one. It is honestly a bit of an advantage to do the course multiple times so you can adjust your ride for each horse.”

Marilyn Little-Meredith was able to claim the second position as her own when she added only 7.2 time penalties with RF Rovano Rex to break her tie with Allison Springer. “RF Rovano Rex is in second behind an absolutely crushing lead by Phillip,” joked Marilyn. “I was really thrilled with him though; I haven’t done a lot of courses like this with this terrain. Last time I rode a course like this it was at Blair Castle in Scotland and he didn’t handle it quite as well as he did today, so it is a great milestone six months later to have done so well.”

“The course rode really well,” continued Marilyn. “There were enough questions, enough terrain issues, and enough at the water. I definitely have a few take home messages for myself especially at the water before my next event. Which is all that I think you can hope for when you come to an event like this that goes as well as it can.”

Marilyn is also leading the CIC2* division aboard Phoebe and Michael Manders’ RF Smoke On The Water, a seven-year-old Wurttemburg gelding. The pair moved up from fourth overnight with one of the few double clear rounds of the day.

“This is the first eventer that Phoebe and Michael Manders have owned,” explained Marilyn. “They called me up last summer and told me that they were interested in buying me something to ride. I happened upon Smoke.”

“I was blown away by his performance today,” continued Marilyn. “He had plenty in the tank finishing, he was fast, he was easy, you would just turn him two, three strides out and he was on it and so honest. He is going to be heck of an Advanced horse a lot sooner than I thought. His future is coming fast. I am the most pleased with his round today of all.”

Michael Pollard moved into third position with Icarus, one of his three rides of the day. The pair added only 7.2 time penalties. Phillip slotted into the fourth spot with Ben while Allison Springer and Arthur dropped down to fifth with 12.4 time penalties.

Overall a very successful day for Red Hills competitors but especially for the division leaders: Jimmie Schramm and Bellamy who held onto their overnight blue ribbon spot in the CIC*, Kendal Lehari and Daily Edition who moved all the way up from 11^th to first in the Advanced, Caroline Martin and Petite Flower who are leading the Open Intermediate division, Siobhan O’Connor and Mizar sit on top of the Open Preliminary-A division, Jessica Phoenix and A Little Romance earn the first placing in the Open Preliminary-B division, and Rachel Dwyer and Filou held on tightly to their overnight position in the Preliminary Rider division.

The placings are sure to shuffle once again tomorrow as the show jumping is on terrain and will have a buzzing atmosphere as spectators take it all in.

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About The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series

Now in its ninth year, the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is an exciting format of competition and entertainment for U.S. Eventing, encompassing seven 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 each of the seven Gold Cup events across the country take home a trailer-load of prizes for their achievements. Winners receive an Adequan USEA Gold Cup Trophy, $500 in prize money, 7-dose box of Adequan, $200 Point Two Gift Certificate, and $500 worth of Nunn Finer Products. Second place finishers also take home a 7-dose box of Adequan and a $100 Point Two Gift Certificate.