United States Eventing Association

This year marks the seventh running of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series, an assembly of eight destination events across the country designed to reward top horse and rider combinations at the pinnacle of the sport. Gold Cup events are spread from coast to coast, giving any willing participant the chance to succeed in this elite series.

With three competitions already under our belts in this year's $10,000 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series, Hawley Bennett-Awad and Gin N' Juice take the early lead with 250 points. Bennett-Awad, a 32-year-old Canadian who trains out of Temecula, California, partnered with Linda Paine's 10-year-old 15.3-hand Thoroughbred mare "Ginny" to finish in third in the second Gold Cup event of the season, the Galway Downs International Horse Trials in California.

A third-placed finisher leads the Gold Cup Leaderboard? That's rights. The Gold Cup Series rewards more than just top placing. Here's how it works: Winners of the designated "Gold Cup division" at each of the eight events are awarded 200 points for their top placing, second place is given 175, third gets 160, and fourth gets 150. If there are a large numbers of starters, then the scores continue down the line-up. These are called "base points" - competitors can also earn "bonus points" for having double-clear rounds in the jumping phases of the competition (50 for a double-clear cross-country, and 40 for a double-clear show jumping), but they must first earn the base points. Bennett-Awad and Ginny finished on their dressage score, and were awarded 90 bonus points for their clear rounds, boosting them to the top of the leaderboard.

Complete Explanation of Gold Cup Points

With five events left for the Gold Cup Series, there is a three-way tie for second place on the leaderboard, with Hannah Sue Burnett/St. Barths, Tiana Coudray/Ringwood Magister, and Jennifer Wooten-Dafoe/The Good Witch each having 240 points, just 10 points behind the lead.

Tiana Coudray and the stunning Irish Sport Horse gelding Ringwood Magister took top honors at the Galway Downs Gold Cup event on March 30, earning 200 points for their win and 40 bonus points for a double-clear show jumping round. Coudray plans to make the long drive East to compete at the Jersey Fresh Three-Day Event in May, but chances are she'll be competing at Rebecca Farm, the next West Coast Gold Cup event and will have a chance to add more points to her tally.

Jennifer Wooten-Dafoe and The Good Witch used Galway Downs as a final prep for their third trip to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event at the end of April. They, too, had a commendable run at Galway, finishing in fourth on their dressage score. Hopefully, they'll have a fantastic trip at Rolex, and will be back to compete at Rebecca Farm in July.

With only two Advanced runs under her belt in her career with St. Barths, Hannah Sue Burnett must be pleasantly surprised to see her and Richard Thompson's Thoroughbred gelding tied for second on the Gold Cup leaderboard. Burnett, who trains with the O'Connor Event Team, picked up a huge win at the highly competitive Advanced division last weekend at The Fork in Norwood, North Carolina. Thompson was on hand at the event to present Burnett with not only cash and prizes for their Gold Cup victory, but also a hefty amount of Gold Cup points. Burnett is no stranger to the Series, having clinched the win at Cosequin Stuart CIC2* last summer, again partnered with St. Barths.

Tara Ziegler and her longtime partner, Buckingham Place, led the victory gallop in the first Gold Cup event of the series, Red Hills in Tallahassee, Florida, which was back on the calendar in 2010 after last year's cancellation. Though Ziegler wasn't able to secure any bonus points, she's currently tied for sixth with Boyd Martin, who coupled with Bruce Davidson's mare Rock On Rose to take home 200 points for his third place finish and clear show jumping round at The Fork. Both Ziegler and Martin are entered for Rolex on their respective mounts.

$25,000 or More On the Line

Perhaps one of the most highly anticipated events for the 2010 Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is the USEA American Eventing Championships in Fairburn, Georgia. This is the first year of the new location of the AEC at the prestigious Chattahoochee Hills, and will surely be one of the most competitive events to date as the $25,000 Merial Advanced division will be the final USEF Mandatory Outing for October's World Equestrian Games. Not only will this prove to be an incredibly important event for those team members, but also for Gold Cup leaders as well since it is the second to last event of the series.

Second only to Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, which offers a sizable purse amount, winners of the AEC Merial Advanced division could walk away with quite a substantial check for their effort. Winners of each of the Gold Cup events across the country receive $500, along with great prizes, so this would be added to the pot as well.

Don't forget that the overall winner of the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is presented a hefty check for $10,000 at the USEA Annual Meeting. Last year, Leslie Law and Beatrice and Guy Rey-Herme's Fleeceworks Mystere du Val were crowned Gold Cup champions, as well as pocketing checks for their two wins at Richland Park and the AEC. They were awarded $500 from each of those two Gold Cup events, and also an extra $5,000 for an Advanced win at the AEC. The pair's success throughout the season boosted them to SmartPak USEA Horse of the Year honors as well.

Each of the events in the Gold Cup Series are popular destination events that many Advanced competitors already include on their own competition schedule. Leslie Law won the Series last year by competing in three Gold Cup events (The Fork, Richland, and AEC). The 2008 Gold Cup champions, Tory Smith and Bantry Bay V, won two of the West Coast Gold Cup events (Rebecca Farm and Twin Rivers), and took fourth at Galway Downs early in the season.

There is no need to sign up to compete for the Gold Cup Series--just enter the designated Gold Cup division at each event, and the USEA takes care of the rest.

Interested in learning more about the Gold Cup Series? Here is the rest of the 2010 calendar:

Stuart Horse Trials www.stuarthorsetrials.org
July 15-18, Victor, New York
Level: CIC2*

The Event at Rebecca Farm www.eventatrfarm.com
July 22-25, Kalispell, Montana
Level: CIC3*-W

Richland Park Horse Trials www.RichlandPark.com
August 19-22, Richland, Michigan
Level: CIC3*

American Eventing Championships www.useventing.com
September 9-12, Fairburn, Georgia
Level: Advanced (Ch)

Twin Rivers Horse Trials www.TwinRiversRanch.us
September 24-26, Paso Robles, California
Level: Advanced

The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors: Title: Adequan; Legacy: Nunn Finer and Nutrena, and Patron: Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, Mountain Horse, and Succeed.

Questions about the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series? Email Emily Daily at [email protected]