As many expected, Germany’s Michael Jung made his Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials CCI**** (Great Britain) debut a strong one, but it’s not over yet.
After taking the lead in the dressage on Saturday (36.0) with La Biosthetique Sam FBW, Jung rode a fast cross-country round, despite a hairy moment at fence 9, the Lake, to retain his top spot going into show jumping. (The event concludes May 6 due to a bank holiday in the U.K.)
New Zealand’s Jock Paget and Clifton Promise moved up from fourth after dressage with a double-clear round, and they’ll try to keep the pressure on Jung in today’s show jumping with less than a rail separating them (see cross-country results).
Last week’s Rolex Kentucky CCI**** winner Andrew Nicholson also put in a double-clear trip on Nereo, and he lies in fourth, while William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk also have a shot at victory, sitting in third. Both riders are hoping for a win to seal the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam.
The U.S. had a good day on cross-country with Olympian Tiana Coudray and her stunning gray Ringwood Magister jumping clear to move up to 10th place, while Clark Montgomery and Universe and Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz also jumped clear. Rutledge is attempting to become the first horse/rider pair to complete all five four-stars in the northern hemisphere.
Here at home, Rowdie Adams had a strong showing at the Weatherford and Greenwood Farm Horse Trials, taking the top spot in the CIC** with RF Blitsfee and winning the open intermediate with No Money Down. Heather Morris and Twizted Syster won the CIC* (see results).
Elsewhere in Texas, the Lonestar Roundup in Tyler saw plenty of action with Tracy Fenney and MTM Centano winning the $25,000 Lone Star Round Up Grand Prix. Fenney also finished second with Leviticus and fourth with MTM Southern Grace.
Peter Pletcher topped the USHJA International Hunter Derby with San Angelo (see results).
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At the Lexington Spring Encore (Va.), MaryLisa Leffler earned the top check in the $25,000 George L. Ohrstrom Jr. Grand Prix on Quastor Van De Helle Z, while Kelley Farmer dominated the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, winning with Mythical and taking the next four places as well (see results).
In New Jersey, the Garden State Horse Show featured a $10,000 USHJA Hunter Derby, which Amanda Steege handily won with Majestic. She also won the high performance hunter championship (see results).
The hunt seat portion of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships came to a conclusion on Saturday in Harrisburg, Pa. Chronicle staffer Megan Brincks and editorial intern Bernadette Palmeri captured all of the action as Cori Reich, a senior at Centenary College (N.Y.) won the USEF/Cacchione Cup.
It was a tense day, and by the end of it, the prestigious Collegiate Cup was awarded to both St. Lawrence University (N.Y.) and Skidmore College (N.Y.) in a tie.
In dressage, Heather Mason had a winning weekend at Bucks County Horse Park I (Pa.). She won the Grand Prix with Warsteiner (71.48%) and finished second with Respekt (65.74%). She also won the Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I with Zar (see results).
Other horse shows from the weekend include Saratoga Springs Horse Show I (N.Y.) (see results), Mid States Spring (Iowa) (see results), Louisiana Spring Classic II (see results) and Memphis In May (Tenn.) (see results).
Other events included MCTA Horse Trials (Md.) (see results), Poplar Place (Ga.) (see results) and the Heart Of The Carolinas Training, Novice and Beginner Novice Three-Day Event (N.C.) (see results).
