United States Eventing Association

What Happened Where? 2025 Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S Cross-Country Rewind

Lexington, Ky.—April 26—In Derek di Grazia’s CCI4*-S cross-country course this morning at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, there were two obvious challenges: the time and the Mighty Moguls question early on in the course at fence 4.

Historically, only five horses have ever been clear and inside the time across di Grazia’s four-star track and that fact remains true today as not a single pair made the time. Overnight leading pair, Will Coleman and Off The Record, came the closest, adding just 7.2 time penalties to their dressage score of 21.8 to go into the final phase on a score of 29.0.

“I am not sure there is a horse here who can do it,” Coleman said of making the optimum time of 6 minutes and 37 seconds. “It’s really hard; the course is set up in a way that you have to pay attention to your speed in spots. The way he has roped it, the genius that he is, Derek di Grazia has built an incredibly strong, incredibly fair four-star. It’s a real test, and I am glad I was sitting on the experience horse that I have here today in Timmy.”

The Mighty Moguls caused nine refusals total across the day.

Four pairs withdrew before the phase began, four pairs had eliminations while on cross-country, and six pairs retired on course.

You can check out the play-by-play of what happened where when issues arose below.

#102 | Pathfinder Heather Gillette and Vincent Chase had a stop at the first of the Mighty Moguls at 4A. The pair didn’t quite come in powerful enough for the three stride but they circled back around to attempt again and got over it the second time. Sadly, this duo had a second stop at the Hillside Oxer at 5 and Gillette put her hand up to save her beloved partner for another day.

#103 | Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake just had a bit of a chip into the chevron at 18B and took down a flag for 15 penalties.

#113 | Hayley Frielick and Dunedin Black Watch faced a refusal at 6A, the hanging rails at the Park Question. Upon reattempt, Frielick took the option on the way out and the pair got on their way, but were later eliminated after a refusal at 10A at the Rolex Crossing.

#115 | Briggs Surratt and Corture had a refusal at the B element at the Mighty Moguls at 4.

#117 | We also saw Hannah Sue Hollberg and Carsonstown have a refusal at the second element at Mighty Moguls shortly after.

#119 | Local veterinarian Chris Newton and Noble Discovery also got caught up at 4B at the Mighty Moguls. This is where the pattern is truly starting to form. This pair later decided to call it a day at 6A at the Park Question.

#120 | Master Class took exception to something in the crowd and spooked sideways on the approach to 6A, the hanging rails at the Park Question, and Taren Hoffos unfortunately parted ways from her partner. She got up quickly and walked away just fine.

#121 | The Mighty Moguls strikes again, this time causing issues for Tracey Bienemann and Menlo Park at the B element. The A seemed to surprise Menlo Park, causing them to get in a bit tight and it looked like the horse just never had his eye on the B element afterward. They picked up another refusal at the hanging rails at the Park Question (6A) and later retired at 7, the Fox’s Den.

#124 | Molly Duda and Disco Traveler also found themselves in trouble at the 4B at the Mighty Moguls question, but after an initial refusal, they circled back around to it and got back to work. They didn’t let that early penalty impact them and made great work of the rest of the track.

#126 | Kristi Foresman was another rider who opted to retire with her partner Kingston Reuvekamp’s at the B element of the Mighty Moguls after running into some problems there.

#127 | Allie Knowles and Morswood initiated a pin on the front rail of the oxer at 5, the Hillside Oxer. Later on in the course, they saw themselves picking up an additional 20 penalties for a refusal at 10B at the Rolex Crossing. Unfortunately, a refusal at 20C at the MARS Sustainability Bay would result in an elimination and calling it a day for this pair. Knowles gave Morswood a big hug and made her way home.

#129 | Olivia Dutton and Sea of Clouds appeared to jump the widest part of the corner at 12A, with Socs catching a hind on the landing causing Dutton to become unseated. Both horse and rider appeared to be fine and walked away.

#131 | Baymax was enjoying his job a bit too much, resulting in a miscommunication which led to him and Colin Gaffney picking up a refusal at the first of the three elements at the Rolex Crossing at 10.

#132 | The Mighty Moguls even caught up with Buck Davidson as he snagged a refusal at the B element there, and he decided to call it a day early with Cooley Candyman at the next obstacle, the Hillside Oxer at 5.

#142 | Ema Klugman and RF Redfern don't have the best start to their trip around the bluegrass when they had a refusal at the first jump on course, the cabin, but Klugman got the job done. They did have a second refusal later on in the track at 14B, the brush jump on the out of the Defender Sunken Road for 40 total penalties.

#143 | The second of the EEI Opposing Corners at 12 saw Arden Wildasin and Billy Beaufort pick up 20 penalties for a refusal. The corner at 16B, the Walnut Bank, also caught the pair off guard and they added another refusal to their score.

#148 | The first element at the Park Question caught Taren Hoffos and Regalla off guard, causing them to pick up 20 penalties for a refusal. They also found themselves facing a second refusal at 18B at Cosequin Cove for an additional 20.

#151 | The second of the EEI Opposing Corners (12) unfortunately resulted in a refusal for Allison Springer and Vandyke.

#158 | After a long pause, 4B at the Mighty Moguls reared its head again and caused a refusal for Elmo and Nilson Moreira Da Silva. This pair later ran into problems at 12B (the EEI Opposing Corners), the other tricky element of the day, and they opted to retire.

#159 | For the first time today, 6D at the Park Question caused issues for one of our pairs on course as Ariel Grald and Diara picked up 20 penalties for a refusal there. Grald wasn’t going to let that get in the way of the work they had left to do, however, and got the job done to keep on trucking.

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