Karen O’Connor galloped into first place aboard pony wonder Theodore O’Connor after cross-country day today, July 21, at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  O’Connor led the way for the U.S. riders, who lined up second, third and fourth behind her, leaving the U.S. team in gold medal position going into show jumping day. 

Sue Benson designed today’s twisting track, which is located at the Deodoro Military Complex in the north of Rio de Janeiro.  The three-star course was finished just in the nick of time and posed special challenges for Pan Am riders.

“This style course is one of the most difficult because you don’t really know where you are,” explained Chiacchia.  “All you’re seeing is a path.  It’s not like Rolex [Kentucky CCI****] where you’ve got the whole field in front of you.”

Another challenge the riders had to face was logistical. “The condensed format that we had to deal with this week, not seeing the course until Thursday [July 19] is unusual,” explained O’Connor.  “We only had two days of preparation.  That’s unusual for us–we usually have three days.” 

The U.S. team decided to up their studs to get a better grip on the fresh grass. “Because it’s such a turning course and the course had newly laid sod on it, there was a real concern among all the competitors whether the sod was going to hold or whether the horse would go around the turn and take a piece of that sod and slip out from it,” O’Connor explained. 

O’Connor and 14.1 hand Theodore O’Connor were the first U.S. pair to run around the course, easily clearing the jumps with plenty of spring in their step. The pair accrued just 1.6 time faults throughout the ride, finishing the day with a score of 48.7 points. 

“I was very, very proud of Teddy today, he really stepped up” said O’Connor after their fantastic round. “He’s got such great heart.  I was down 15 seconds at the eight-minute mark, and I asked for some afterburners, and he took off like a rocket and finished only four seconds outside the time.”

Teddy actually dislodged a log off the top of a jump going into the water, but O’Connor didn’t even notice.  The log came down again for a later rider, whereupon the staff rebuilt the jump using thick rope from the galloping lane.  The log had been secured with what appeared to be twine.

Finishing just one point behind Karen and her pony was newly-minted U.S. rider Phillip Dutton aboard Truluck.  The pair submitted one of the day’s five double clear rides, finishing up with 49.8 points.

Despite his success, Dutton found the twisting track of the course quite challenging. ”The course really didn’t suit my horse well,” said Dutton. “I found that it rode harder than it walked.  He was a bit wound up and he didn’t settle as well as I hoped. When you’re in that situation the best way to settle your horse is to slow down a bit, which I wasn’t prepared to do today because we needed to get in under time, but he got better as we went around.”

Finishing up in the third position was Darren Chiacchia riding Better I Do It.  The pair raced around the course and finished with no jumping faults and just .8 time faults. 

Chiacchia praised his horse’s brave performance, noting that “Gus” jumped the best over the hardest jumps.  Gus gamely stepped up to the plate when Chiacchia made a last-minute decision to change his track.

“I did something I have never done before,” said Chiacchia.  “I was for sure going to go the long route at the drop to the skinny, knowing it was early in the course… But as I looked at my watch, and I thought I’m going to get close to this thing unless I do it, so I said, ‘Turn, turn!’  I know he’s as bold and honest as they come.”  Chiacchia’s gamble paid off and the moved helped scoot him up from fourth place to third.

California native Gina Miles and McKinlaigh made an impressive dash up the leaderboard from 11th to fourth place after a faultless run over the course.  The 17.3 hand Irish Sport Horse cleared the jumps with ease and showed no trace of the breathing difficulties that have plagued him in the past. 

Stephen Bradley and From slipped down from second to 13th place after a refusal in the water added 20 points to their score.  The pair also accrued 2.4 time faults as they circled round to re-present to the alligator jump in the water.  Bradley refused to lay any blame on From for the mistake.

“Coming away from the two corners and at the drop I realized that he was very quickly getting tired,” recalled Bradley. “When we jumped in quietly in the water, I underrode the alligator, and we had a stop there.  It was totally my fault.  Hindsight is always 20-20, and I wish I’d done it differently.”

The only major disappointment during the U.S. squad’s tremendous day came during Mara Dean’s ride on Nicki Henley.  The pair looked strong coming through the first water obstacle, but after fence 22 Dean felt something amiss.  She pulled up Nicki Henley, and the team veterinarian later confirmed that the horse had injured his left front leg.

“In this instance she really did the right thing for that horse,” said Chef d’Equipe Captain Mark Phillips.

The U.S. team enters tomorrow’s show jumping course with five rails in hand ahead of second-placed Canada.  Host country Brazil team sits third.  Four of the U.S. riders (O’Connor, Miles, Bradley and Dutton) are riding as members of the U.S. team, and Chiacchia is entered as an individual.

Team standings
After cross-country

1.    USA, 154.8
Karen O’Connor, Theodore O’Connor 48.7
Gina Miles, McKinlaigh 56.3
Stephen Bradley, From 68.9
Phillip Dutton, Truluck 49.8

2.    Canada, 177.1
Kyle Carter, Madison Park 56.3
Waylon Roberts, Paleface 62.9
Sandra Donnelly, Buenos Aires 61.7
Mike Winter, Kingpin 59.1

3.    Brazil, 192.6
Andre Paro, Land Heir 106.9
Renan Guerreiro, Rodizio AA 68.7
Fabricio Salgado, Butterfly 61.5
Carlos Para, Political Mandate 62.4

4.    Chile, 1418.5
(RT) Ricardo Stangher, Literal 1000
Sergio Iturriaga, Lago Rupanco 173.7
Felipe Martinez, Navideno 244.8

5.    Argentina, 2137.7
(EL) Rodolfo Grazzini 1000
(EL) Gustavo Jorge Schurlein 1000 
(EL) Jose Luis Ortelli, Jos Aladar 1000
Juan Mariano Chiara Vieyra, Varadero 137.7

Individual standings
After cross-country
1.    USA Karen O’Connor, Theodore O’Connor 48.7(team)
2.     USA Phillip Dutton, Truluck 49.8 (team)
3.    USA Darren Chiacchia, Better I Do It 50.2 (individual)
4.    CAN Kyle Carter, Madison Park 56.3 (team)
4.    USA Gina Miles, McKinlaigh 56.3 (individual)
6.    JAM Samantha Albert, Before I Do It 57.4 (individual)
7.    CAN Mike Winter, Kingpin 59.1 (team)
8.     BRA Fabricio Salgado, Butterfly 61.5 (team)
9.    CAN Sandra Donnelly, Buenos Aires 61.7 (team)
10.    BRA Carlos Para, Political Mandate 62.4 (team)
11. CAN Waylon Roberts, Paleface 62.9 (team)
12. BRA Renan Guerreiro, Rodizio AA 68.7 (team)
13. USA USA Stephen Bradley, From 68.9 (team)
14. BRA Saulo Tristao, Totsie 74.2 (individual)
15. CAN Jessica Phoenix, Exploring 74.8 (individual)
16. BRA Serguei Fofanoff, Ekus TW 76.7 (individual)
17. BRA Andre Paro, Land Heir 106.9 (team)
18. ARG Juan Mariano Chiara Vieyra, Varadero 137.7 (team)
19. CHI Sergio Iturriaga, Lago Rupanco, 173.7 (team)
20. ARG Martin Cornejo, Viejo Nacho 224.8 (individual)
21. CHI Felipe Martinez, Navideno 244.8 (team)

(RT) USA Mara Dean, Nicki Henley
(EL) ARG Rodolfo Grazzini, Remonta Desertora
(EL) ARG Gustavo Jorge, Remonta Desidia
(EL) ARG Jose Luis Ortelli, Jos Aladar
(EL) URU Alejandro Quintana Valerio, S.V.R. Quetzal
(RT) CHI Ricardo Stangher, Literal