Round 1 of the ASPCA Maclay Finals resulted in 30 riders being called back to flat in front of judges Billy Moroney and Jack Towell, and 24 continuing on from there to Round 2. There are familiar names at the top of the list and some missing.            

Samantha Harrison is on top—the judges put her on top after Round 1 and kept her there after the flat phase. Harrison, of La Canada, Calif., trains with Karen Healey.

Catherine Pasmore was called back second after Round 1 but moved down to third after the flat phase. Zazou Hoffman moved up from fourth to second due to her lovely flatwork. Laura Pfieffer moved up from eighth to fourth, but Chase Boggio’s flatwork moved him from third down to 10th.

The judges—Jack Towell and Billy Moroney—designed an ASPCA Maclay Finals Round 1 course that was deceptively simple, yet showed riders’ strengths and weaknesses well. It was a flowing, hunter-type course, with a few technical lines and a few fences to be ridden off the eye. The main feature was a square of fences built in the middle of the ring, with one corner open. 

Riders started out with a three-stride line from Fence 1 to 2, jumping into the box and out of it over inviting log and rolltop fences of a vertical to an oxer. The distance in this line was 50’. Then, riders had to ride a tight bending line of eight or nine strides to a fan jump set in the short end of the ring by the in-gate. From there, they turned right to jump through the box again, this time the other way over a two-stride of split rail verticals.

There were two panels of each element of verticals, and riders could jump the two right-hand panels, the two left-hand panels, or choose to angle their way through the combination, jumping the right-hand panel of 4A and the left-hand panel of 4B. The straight way through was a short two strides in 35’, the angled way was a long two strides.

Riders who angled 4AB rode a bending five strides to the left to another fan jump in the other short end of the ring. If they jumped the two right-hand panels, it was five or a short six strides to the fan jump. The vast majority of riders jumped either the right-hand panels, or angled through the combination.

From the fan jump at 5, they then rode a long bending line of nine or 10 strides out of the corner to an oxer on the long side right in front of the judges. This was a site of many problems, surprisingly enough, as some riders had trouble getting their horses back in front of their leg after the twists and turns of 3 to 4Ab to 5.

After landing off the oxer at 5, riders had to either turn immediately inside Fence 11 in a tight rollback or go outside the jump in a flowing turn, to canter into the box of rails in the center of the ring again. They cantered in the open corner and jumped a vertical with a hedge out of the box. A wide, open turn around the end of the ring followed to fences 8 and 9, set along the long side opposite the judges. The distance of 69’ between the oxer in and the vertical out got quite tight for some horses.

Riders then turned in a tight rollback to the right and jumped the ASPCA wall at Fence 10, a white and gray solid wall. The trick here was to keep the horse coming forward through the turn—some riders lost their rhythm around the turn and had an awkward jump over the wall.  They could also choose to go around Fence 3 to approach the wall. To finish, the riders made a wide, sweeping gallop around the box and turned left to the final oxer, off a long approach.

Without any trappy, technical puzzles, the course effectively tested whether riders had their horses in front of their leg and whether they could adjust their stride forward and back. The combinations of tight turns and long approaches meant that any loss of balance or impulsion would show clearly. It was a course where the truly exceptional riders could show off, while riders without as much confidence could choose a few more conservative options. 

After the first round, described below, they called back the following three groups for the flat phase….

CALLED BACK TO FLAT (in no particular order)

Group 1
Anna Becker
Laura King
Taylor Ann Adams
Shawn Casady
Hayley Barnhill
Kristen Mohr
Michael Hughes
Samantha Ramsay
Caitlin Ziegler
Tina DiLandri

Group 2
Lillie Keenan
Lucy Davis
Quincy Hayes
Christy DiStefano
Amber Henter
Samantha Schaefer
Victoria Birdsall
Hasbrouck Donovan
Julianna Richardson
Molly Braswell

Group 3
Samantha Harrison
Catherine Pasmore
Chase Boggio
Zazou Hoffman
Christina Lin
Alexandra Arute
Morgan Hale
Laura Pfeiffer
Jennifer Waxman
Sara Green

The flat phases involved sitting trot, counter-canter and extending the canter.

The final standby is:
1. Hayley Barnhill
2. Michael Hughes
3. Laura King
4. Tina Dilandri
5. Hasbrouck Donovan
6. Victoria Birdsall
7 .Lillie Keenan
8. Samantha Schaefer
9. Molly Braswell
10. Julianna Richardson
11. Quincy Hayes
12. Lucy Davis
13. Amber Henter
14. Christy DiStefano
15. Chase Boggio
16. Christina Lin
17. Sara Green
18. Morgan Hale
19. Alexandra Arute
20. Jennifer Waxman
21. Laura Pfieffer
22. Catherine Pasmore
23. Zazou Hoffman
24. Samantha Harrison