Emily Beshear gets a big victory in the CCI** and Boyd Martin tops the CIC***.
Michael and Nathalie Pollard’s Icarus came into the show jumping at the Jersey Fresh CCI*** in a familiar leading position today, May 10, but his performance in this afternoon’s round ended with a much more satisfying result than it did two years ago.
In 2007, Will Coleman led the three-star field after cross-country with the striking gray Thoroughbred gelding, but two rails down and 2 time faults in the show jumping spoiled their win. Today, with one of his owners in the tack, Icarus flew over the course flawlessly.
“He’s just a little bit stronger in his canter now than he was back then,” said Michael, Chatsworth, Ga. “The horse jumped great today. My main goal was just to get him qualified for a CCI****, so I wanted to make sure that, barring anything else, I just got a qualifying result. And I did want to finish under 50, because that’s always kind of nice.”
Michael, in third place after the dressage on a mark of 44.0, moved into the lead on Saturday with only a handful of cross-country time faults. The pair finished well below Michael’s goal mark, on 46.4 penalties.
Unlike previous years when show jumping was held in one of the smaller outdoor arenas at the Horse Park of New Jersey, course designer Sally Ike was able to set this year’s course in the sprawling upper grand prix ring. The Pollards’ flighty gelding took to the larger space and pulled off a clear round despite having a rail in hand.
“I was much happier that it was up there than down [in the lower ring],” Michael said. “That ring gets pretty small when the fences get up to a decent size, and having some room to open up and take a little bit more time to set up to the jumps was really nice.”
Michael had hoped to run Icarus at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** two weeks ago but his FEI qualifications didn’t work out, so he now plans to aim the gelding for either the Pau CCI**** (France) or the Burghley CCI**** (England) later this year.
Jan Byyny, Purcellville, Va., and her CCI*** veteran Waterfront were close on Michael’s heels throughout the competition. They retained their second-placed standing after cross-country with a double-clear round today to finish with 50.8 penalties. This was their fourth time placing second in a CCI***.
Like Pollard, Byyny had hoped to take Waterfront to Rolex Kentucky but found her qualifications with the horse had expired, so she re-routed the 14-year-old gelding to Jersey Fresh.
“I’m just really glad that I got qualified again [for a four-star] with him,” Byyny said of Waterfront, who placed second here in 2006 behind her other mount, Task Force, but had a long break due to injuries and a mysterious allergy. “I kind of had to reassess [my career] about three years ago and try to figure out how I was going to have some more horses in the barn. My ideal plan was to have five horses, and I hoped that Waterfront was going to come back and be one of them.”
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Dressage leaders Leslie Law and Fleeceworks Mystere du Val lowered one rail today but still kept their third-placed standing. In contrast to Waterfront, the 9-year-old Mystere du Val has been slightly green and unpredictable at the level since Law, Bluemont, Va., got the ride on him in early 2008. He’s been at the advanced level for two years, but his three solid phases in the CCI*** this weekend was a big step up for the gelding.
“He has all the talent in the world, he just needs to establish himself at this level,” Law said on Friday. “He’s kind of got the CIC and one-day horse trials format down, but he needs to consolidate. He’s a very talented horse, so it’s worth being patient.
“I’m very satisfied,” Law added today. “The horse hopefully progressed a lot this week. It’s been very rewarding.”
Law’s other CCI*** mount, Private Heart, finished 13th and won the Irish Draught Sport Horse Award for the top Irish horse in the competition.
Icarus took home the ReRun Award for highest-placed off-the-track Thoroughbred and the award for the cross-country round closest to the optimum time, having incurred just 2.4 time faults.
Jessica Phoenix earned the Sportsmanship Award in memory of Bob Pattison, and her mount Exponential was named Best Conditioned Horse. Hilda Donahue and Extravagance were the best turned-out pair, and Karl Slezak’s 15-year-old Kachemak Bay won the Traveler Forever Young Memorial Trophy for the oldest completing CCI horse. Laine Ashker won her own award—the Saint James Award in memory of her late mount Eight Saint James Place—for the top owner/rider in the CCI***. Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch won the Markham Trophy for top young rider.
Beshear And Here’s To You Win The CCI**
Emily Beshear didn’t expect to win the CCI** with Here’s To You, but she certainly wasn’t complaining about the Mother’s Day surprise.
“Here’s To You belongs to myself and my mom, Linda Mastervich,” she said. “She’s been my biggest supporter from Day 1. When I called her up and said, ‘Mom, I have to have this horse, he’s the only one I’ve truly loved, will you help me?’ she did.”
Beshear, Somerset, Va., put the pressure on Becky Holder and Rejuvenate after posting a double-clear round in the show jumping. Holder had a rail in hand, but 4 penalties at Fence 3, in addition to a fallen rail in the triple combination, dropped her into fourth.
“It’s great for my career,” Beshear said of the win. “It certainly gets my name out there at the upper levels again. It’s my own horse that I chose. He has a tremendous amount of heart.”
Adding to Beshear’s excitement was her student Kate Samuels’ second-placed finish with Nyls du Terroir. The young pair also posted a double-clear round in the show jumping, maintaining their tie with Boyd Martin on Shatzi W. Because Samuels was closest to the optimum time on cross-country, she claimed the red ribbon.
“Emily told me to come here with realistic expectations,” Samuels said. “My horse couldn’t have gone better. I’m really proud to have taken him from a 4-year-old to where he is now.”
For Samuels, Charlottesville, Va., jumping in the bigger ring was a slight concern, as Nyls du Terroir tends to react to atmosphere.
“He’s extremely spooky,” she said. “He’ll jump anything, but he doesn’t like to go past other jumps. He’s really scopey and catty, but he’s not used to the big ring and open spaces.”
Samuels said she felt her horse really grew up over the weekend, though she hadn’t been sure he would hold up to the rigors of the two-star competition.
“I wasn’t sure if he would man up and do the job or if he’d start getting sloppy,” she said. “It was a little scary with the biggest things at the end of the [cross-country] course, but we’ve both increased our technical skills this spring, and he pushed on through and did the last part of the course brilliantly.”
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The pair is heading to the CCI** at the North American Junior and Young Rider’s Championship in July at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Boyd And Belmont Take The CIC*** Title
It’s safe to say that Boyd Martin had a successful weekend at Jersey Fresh, winning the CIC*** with Kate Ditchey’s Belmont after a double-clear show jumping round and placing in the ribbons with all four of his horses in three divisions.
“I thought it was quite a big course, but it was flowing,” Martin said of today’s show jumping track, on which he scored four double-clear rounds. “I was surprised how well all the horses went out and jumped.”
Martin was hopeful that Belmont’s results this weekend would help in the sale of the Dutch Warmblood/Thoroughbred gelding. Ditchey has had the horse on the market for several months.
“Ideally I’d like to keep the ride on him, because I think he has a genuine chance to be on the American World Equestrian Games team next year,” Martin said.
Martin was also thrilled with Shatzi W’s performance in the CCI**, where she finished third, and he has high hopes for the young mare. The pair did have a slight incident at the coffin on the cross-country yesterday, however, which resulted in a black eye for Martin.
“She left a leg and stumbled a bit and popped me forward,” he said. “I managed to jab the end of my whip into my eye.”
Despite a bit of bruising for today’s victory photos, Martin was thrilled with his little homebred’s progression.
“Shatzi put in a phenomenal effort this weekend,” he said. “She’s really proved she’s a high-level horse. It’s good to see her dressage score getting lower and lower with every outing, and she’s always show jumped clear.”
Mara Dean moved up the CIC*** ranks into second place with a double-clear round aboard High Patriot. Shannon Lilley competed the Oldenburg gelding until Dean acquired him just after the Pan American Games in 2007.
“When Nicki Henley broke down in Brazil, I thought life was over,” Dean said. “I thought I was never going to do this sport again. But Shannon came to me and told me she would sell him. He’s the best jumper I’ve ever had and is as scopey as can be.”
High Patriot is co-owned by Patty Overlund and Patrick O’Brien, along with Dean.
“I own a little bit,” Dean said with a laugh. “I own his tail.”
For Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister, the long haul to the East Coast from California proved to be worthwhile, as the pair had a very consistent three phases to finish in third place.
“He’s just immensely talented,” Coudray said of her Irish Sport Horse gelding. “He only had about two weeks of training on him when I got him. He’s got a funny personality and he can be difficult, but he loves life more than any horse I’ve ever known.”
Despite a somewhat frustrating preparation for their trip east—the pair had silly runouts at their two preceding events—they had no problems with the cross-country yesterday.
“I was so mad about those stupid glance-offs,” Coudray said. “I was not going to let it happen again. It was really nice to get to the finish yesterday and feel like I’d gotten that all behind me.”
Coudray plans to remain on the east side to contest the Bromont CCI***, but wasn’t sure what her next step would be after that.
“He’s such a young horse, he’s too good to rush,” she said.
Holder and Courageous Comet were in second place going into the show jumping, but rails at Fence 3 and 10B and 1 time fault dropped them down to fifth.
