Darren Chiacchia drove his string of advanced horses from the East Coast to Richland, Mich., and the long trip was more than worthwhile when he topped the Adequan/USEA Gold Cup series at the advanced level at the Richland Park Horse Trials, Aug. 25-27.

With three horses in the advanced division, Chiacchia, Ocala, Fla., and Springville, N.Y., took the blue ribbon with his longtime partner, Timothy Holekamp’s Trakehner stallion, Windfall II. His other two mounts, Gaspar II and Better I Do It, placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the field of 28 competitors.

Chiacchia and Windfall established an early lead with an impressive score of 24.6 in dressage, giving them an 8.3-point lead over Missy Ransehousen and Critical Decision. A rough trip cross-country for Ransehousen dropped her out of contention, but a fast go for Kristin Bond and Three Wishes II launched the pair to second only 1 point behind Chiacchia.

“The course is pretty challenging,” said Chiacchia, who jumped clean but incurred 12.8 time penalties. “It’s not the biggest out there but has a lot of combinations and requires good riding and steering. You really have to go out and be accurate and get it done.”

In show jumping, Bond eased the pressure on Chiacchia when she dropped one rail, giving the leader a little breathing room. Chiacchia and Windfall used their rail in hand, lowering one fence to hold onto their 1-point lead over Bond to finish on a 41.4.

“Since Rolex [Ky.], where obviously we did not have our best day, we decided to back up and rebuild,” said Chiacchia, who has placed first and second in two intermediate horse trials and won the two-star at the Stuart Horse Trials (N.Y.) since then. “I feel he’s back on form. This was a very solid performance, and at the beginning of the fall season it’s all about having a good quality round before fall championships.”

In addition to his advanced horses, Chiacchia’s intermediate mount, Southbound, placed fifth. In the young event horse classes, Chiacchia’s own Dynamik II, another Trakehner stallion, won the 5-year-old division, and his chestnut Trakehner gelding, Fantastik, placed second in the 4-year-old division. Chiacchia also guided the Holekamp’s bay, Trakehner gelding Hanno to third place in the 4-year-old division.

“This was a great outing for our babies,” said Chiacchia, who is a big supporter of the Young Event Horse series. “It’s all about encouraging people to invest and bring along high quality youngsters.”

The advanced level win at Richland Park secured Chiacchia a spot at the top of the Gold Cup Series leader board, but he now has his sights set for a trip to Europe for the FEI World Cup Finals, Sept. 23-25 in Malmï, Sweden.

“This was a good final go before the World Cup,” said Chiacchia. “I feel we are well prepared.”

In the intermediate division, Karl Slezak and Braveheart moved up from their fifth place after dressage to win the division. Earning a score of 34.8, the Canadian pair added 8.4 time penalties after a clean trip cross-country.

Slezak was sitting in third going into show jumping with 43.2 penalties, behind Jenna Kuzenko and Renegade and Allison Springer and Arthur who were tied for first with a 41.1. Further down the pack, Buck Davidson and Ballynoe Castle RM had moved from 10th up to fifth after cross-country with a 44.2, only .2 points behind Jane Patterson and Sir Casper and their score of 44.

Show jumping proved to be the ultimate test. Patterson added 4 faults to her score, moving Davidson, who had one of only four double-clear rounds in the division, up to fourth. Slezak and Braveheart really put the pressure on the leaders when they put in a double-clear round as well.

Springer and Arthur incurred 16 jump penalties and 12 time penalties, dropping them to sixth place. Kuzenko and Renegade dropped two rails but made the time to place fourth. Their misfortune propelled Davidson to second place, and Slezak became the winner on a score of 43.2.

Winning the Area VIII Preliminary Championships, Bethany Hutchins, Dryden, Mich., and her 9-year-old, Dutch homebred mare Precious Tango maintained an early lead. The pair earned a 31.3 in dressage, 3.3 points ahead of Annika Kramer and Cat Burglar.

“She was just awesome this weekend despite a hectic weekend for me,” said Hutchins, who learned the Thursday before that her grandfather had passed away. “My mom, Marianne Hutchins, is a U.S. Dressage Federation certified instructor so I have grown up with horses. When we started Tango, my mom said, ‘She’s way too homely to do just dressage.’ So she gave her to me.”

Hutchins and Kramer each turned in clean and fast cross-country rounds to keep their places in the standings going into show jumping. Kramer incurred 4 faults, giving Hutchins a rail in hand. One of only three of the 10 competitors jumping without faults, Hutchins and Precious Tango put in a double-clear round to secure the title.