Canadian riders stage a coup d’état in Quebec, sweeping all three CCI divisions.
When Hawley Bennett’s horse hit a rail in the show jumping warm-up this afternoon, June 14, she got the feeling it might be her last knock of the day.
The Canadian rider and Gin N Juice were in second place in the CCI***, and they put in a foot-perfect round in the final phase of the Bromont CCI***. That left no room for error for the overnight leaders, Corinne Ashton and Dobbin.
Ashton’s round was fault-free until the second-to-last fence, a square oxer in the middle of the triple combination. With just .3 points separating the top two riders, that one rail cost her the win. The heartbreak was evident on Ashton’s face, and the crowd let out an audible “Awwww,” as she passed through the finish flags.
But Bennett, who had traveled all the way from her home base in Temecula, Calif., couldn’t help being proud of her 8-year-old Thoroughbred mare, “Ginny,” who won on her dressage score of 51.9.
“I know if she hits one in the warm-up she won’t do it again,” Bennett said. “The mare can jump. It’s just whether she gets nervous or not, if I pick down to the base of the fences. And she wasn’t tired from yesterday. You just never know in their first three-star how they’re going to come out of it, but she felt amazing.”
The course utilized most of the Bromont International Horse Park’s main arena, which made for an open, forward track. Ginny ate up the course with her usual eagerness, but she looked calm, focused and mature. Bennett was still relieved to have a neck strap on the young mare, though.
“That was coach Buck [Davidson’s] idea,” Bennett explained. “We’ve been using it the last couple months. It just helps me stay with her over the fences.”
Linda Paine of KingsWay Farm, where Bennett is based in Southern California, owns Ginny. She had to head back to the airport before the competition finished, however, and thus missed seeing her horse lead the victory gallop in her first CCI***.
“She’s a homebred horse, so [Linda and her husband Terri Paine] should be thrilled,” Bennett said. “I got her when she was going novice and then brought her up through the two-stars, but then she got a really bad splint last spring. So basically she had all last year off. Then we brought her out again this spring, and it’s just been amazing since.
“I’m so happy,” Bennett continued. “It’s been a lot of hard work, and it paid off. And it’s kind of cool having it be in my home country.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Ashton’s one rail with Dobbin dropped the pair to second place on a mark of 55.6. This was the second consecutive CCI*** where the duo had entered show jumping in first place, only to drop to second by a rail. They pulled the very last show jump at the Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) last October.
Phillip Dutton held on to third place at Bromont with a clear round with 1 time fault aboard Kheops du Quesnay (61.2). Mara Dean/High Patriot and Allison Springer/Destination Known put in fault-free rounds to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. The only other double-clears went to Peter Atkins aboard HenryJota Hampton and Boyd Martin with Rock On Rose.
Charley’s The Champ
Karl Slezak held on to his lead in the 25-horse CCI** division with a fault-free round aboard Penny Rowland’s Charley Farley, but he was slightly embarrassed about the way the horse had to save him over a few fences.
“He was so good,” Slezak said. “I’m still trying to get to know him, and it showed today, because it was not as pretty as I’d hoped. I left out a good stride and a half to Fence 10, and I felt like I was going to fall off over it. I lost my whip, and I was coming down on that pommel, and I knew it was going to hurt!”
The pair did show moments of brilliance, however. The gray gelding has a massive, ground-covering stride, and he balloons up over the fences with ease.
“We had a few great jumps where I felt like I had it, and that felt awesome,” Slezak said. “I just need to know him a little bit more so that it’s that way over every fence. But he feels comfortable in there, and he’s very careful. It was his day.”
Slezak runs a training business in Caledon East, Ont., in the summer months, and winters in Florida with his upper-level horses. He just got the ride on Rowland’s horse a few weeks ago, but he’d like to keep it for as long as possible. After “Charley’s” performance this weekend, however, the gelding is likely to be in high demand.
“I hope to have the ride on him until he does sell,” Slezak said. “[The Canadian team] is trying to organize a trip for some people to go over to England for the Blenheim CCI*** and Burghley CCI**** this fall, so if all goes well, I’d maybe have one for Blenheim in Charley.”
Another new partnership earned runner-up honors in the CCI**. Nick Cwick and his 7-year-old Australian Thoroughbred, Simply Priceless, have only been together for four months, but the two finally jelled at Bromont.
Cwick made a transcontinental move last year from California to the East Coast to work for Buck Davidson. He first came across Simply Priceless during their winter stint in Florida, just after the gelding had been imported by Simone Kann.
ADVERTISEMENT
“She brought two horses over and sold one to Phillip Dutton, and [Simply Priceless] was the greener of the two,” Cwick said. “She did one intermediate on him before I bought him. She spends her time really making sure that they’re very quiet, very rideable. She wants the development, so she’s not trying to win it.
“He’s very, very green, but he’s got an incredible attitude,” Cwick continued. “Now I’ve finally figured him out, and I feel like I can step up to the plate and be competitive on him. In the show jumping today he was super. I’m going to take him to the Maui Jim Horse Trials (Ill.) [in July], and he’s entered intermediate right now. But if he feels like he comes back right, he might go advanced.”
A Victory For Veelion
Canadian team veteran Kelli McMullen-Temple finalized the lead she’d begun in the dressage with Veelion, jumping double-clear to win the CCI* over Boyd Martin and Minotaure du Passoir.
Third-placed Olivia Todaro pulled two rails with Cosmic Girl to drop to fourth, but Martin put the pressure on McMullen-Temple with a double-clear round. Both riders finished on their dressage scores—McMullen-Temple on a 42.4 and Martin with 46.1.
“Honestly, I knew he would jump clean,” said McMullen-Temple, Round Hill, Va., “He doesn’t like to touch a rail, so it really was a foregone thing. It’s nice to go into the show jumping feeling that way.”
Veelion has a distinct and youthful jumping style, reaching up and over each fence with his left front leg first, but he’s quite catlike and careful over the jumps. After some feigned spooking and wiggling before the first fence, he cleared every jump on today’s course with room to spare.
McMullen-Temple found “Linus,” a 7-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, in England as a 5-year-old. Carl Bouckaert now owns the horse. While he’s only been eventing for two years, McMullen-Temple has moved the gelding up quickly. Last month he won his first-ever intermediate event, so he’s already looking like a prodigy horse.
“He appears that way now, but nothing in eventing is like that really,” McMullen-Temple said. “It always looks easier than it actually is from the outside. As a young horse he was always really talented, but it took a while for him to be competitive in the dressage because of his spookiness. But now he knows all the movements and is pretty comfortable and competent. We’ll bring him back into work in the fall and do some intermediates and hopefully qualify for a two-star. I think he’ll be ready for that.”
Penny Rowland’s one-rail round Aboard Flying Finn moved her up to third. A total of 27 horses completed the division.
