Norwood, N.C.—April 9

Two weeks ago, Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair were co-leading the Cloud 11-Gavilan North LLC Carolina International CIC*** (N.C.) after dressage, but dropped two rails to ultimately finish second.

This week Black came to The Fork CIC*** determined not to make the same mistake again, and she and “Cody” put in a stylish clear to put the pressure on dressage leaders Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti.

When Phoenix dropped two rails, Black took over the lead, but she’s only hanging on by .3 penalties over Lauren Kieffer and Veronica who moved up from fourth to second with a clear.

“I know he’s capable of it and has been capable of it, but I feel like I’m finally bringing a few different things together and tweaking a few different things and kind of taking him a little bit in a style I was riding him in last year with a bit more of the rideability I’ve been trying to get this year,” said Black, who started working with Karen O’Connor this spring. “I felt like at Carolina I was trying to maybe put him in a place where he was fighting me. He has his own free will a little bit, and it’s a little bit of a balancing act, so I think hopefully moving forward we can continue to work together.”

Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Kieffer suffered a rotational fall on cross-country on her preliminary horse, Landmark’s Miner’s Diamond, who was fine, and returned to show jump Veronica and Meadowbrook’s Scarlett clear in the CIC***.

While a little bit sore and “taped together,” Kieffer rode a stylish clear with her longtime partner.

“I was really happy with her. She jumped really well,” said Kieffer. “This kind of footing [bluestone] is not always her favorite, but she was great. It had lots of lines, lots of related distances, and a couple of places you had to make a decision, but for the most part it rode pretty consistent and well, and the rails were pretty spread out.”

Both Kieffer and Black are aware the ground is quite firm, but they also need final fitness runs before the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, so they’ll play it by ear as they head out on Tremaine Cooper’s course tomorrow.

So far, most riders are praising the reversed direction and long uphill gallop that comes towards the end of the course now instead of at the beginning. Big, galloping tables are plentiful, but there are also some accuracy and bravery questions, including a keyhole to two angled brushes at 6 and a corner in the water.

“I’m not totally sure what my plan is,” said Black, who’d only walked the course once so far. “As far as fitness wise, my plan would not be to go super slow because I think that my plan this year has been to run him a little bit more and use these gallops as our practice gallops leading up to Kentucky. Knowing Kentucky is our goal, I want to get through this safe, happy and healthy, but I also need to use this as a prep.”

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Black is eyeing her second Rolex with Cody. “Overall I think there’s definitely some questions, but there’s a lot of galloping fences, which leading up to Kentucky is great for me, not having a ton of horses to ride, just to practice,” she said. “He has some different questions on it, but it doesn’t look overly too complicated. There’s a few combinations that I think you can’t take for granted. With Cody, being his third year at advanced, I need to ride smart, but he should be able to answer the questions.”

“To be blunt, the ground’s not great, but hopefully it doesn’t sting them too much,” said Kieffer. “She likes to be quick anyway, so I’ll let her pick the pace. I won’t put the hammer down on her, just because of that, but she generally likes to go quick anyway.

“I think it’s much better reversed like that, especially being able to utilize that hill at the end as a fitness thing,” she added. “I think it’s a smarter way to use the property. Starting them the other way also gets them opened up a little better instead of going straight up and straight down the hill. I think it’s one of the best tracks I’ve seen Tremaine do here.”

Katie Ruppel and Houdini. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

There are two advanced divisions full of Rolex-bound horses, and at the end of show jumping, Katie Ruppel and Houdini are tied for the lead in the advanced, test B, division with Hannah Sue Burnett and Cooley Dream on 29.7.

Both pairs are headed to Rolex. “He was a little exciting between the jumps, but this weather doesn’t really suit him,” said Ruppel of Houdini’s spooky nature. “He’s really come along, and even when the conditions don’t suit him, he’s getting the job done. I’m really proud of him.

“He always tries hard,” she added. “He would never take advantage of you or do anything nasty. He is what he is. He’s a hot little Thoroughbred who spooks at everything. He’s got a ton of energy, so managing those things about him can be challenging, but I think I found a recipe that works.”

Ruppel will also head out on cross-country with a final fitness run in mind. “He seems to be getting better and better this season, so I just want to have a really good run tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll go as fast as he’ll let me go. I just want to keep the momentum up, keep him feeling good and confident. If he has fences down, or a bad dressage, or a run out on cross-country, it gets to him. It really derails his confidence. That’s my main priority; to just keep his confidence up and keep him feeling good about himself.”

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill By Night. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Liz Halliday-Sharp had a great day, holding her lead in the CIC* with Deniro Z and in the advanced, test A, division with Fernhill By Night.

“Blackie” dropped down to the CIC** at the Carolina International for a confidence boost after a runout at the Red Hills CIC*** (Fla.) and Halliday-Sharp thinks it’s served him well as he heads to Kentucky for a second try at Rolex, where they were eliminated on cross-country last year.

“It was a nicer track than last year. Probably a little softer course than we had at Carolina, which maybe isn’t a bad thing going into Rolex. It’s nice for them to have a good, confident round,” she said.

As for cross-country, she also plans to have a fitness run. “I’ll gallop him around because I think he needs it for his fitness, but I’ll see what the ground feels like now. I’m not going to go nuts, but I’ll jump all the jumps the right way and keep trucking along. I think it suits his brain better to gallop along a bit. If I get too quiet, he kind of shuts off,” she said. “He jumped really well at Carolina, and I got exactly what I wanted cross-country. He was perfect to every fence and felt really happy. I think it was the right choice because he came away feeling really good, and he’s been schooling at home and feeling really great.”

Hannah Sue Burnett and Cooley Dream. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.

Scores are available here.

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Check out a drone fly over of the CIC*** course here.