Good Day at Millstreet for U.S. Contingent

[Benchmark]

Assuming EN will cover this at some point, but the U.S. has 4 riders and 6 horses (after Fernhill by Night’s withdrew after showjumping) running at Millstreet this weekend ahead of Burghley. Looks like the ground was very very wet and multiple riders commented on the footing in dressage and showjumping being looser than they’d like.

4*-L
Caroline Martin and Islandwood Captain Jack are in 5th after just 0.4 time XC. Will Faudree and Pfun are in 7th and were clear inside the time on XC. Dressage scores weren’t great but the judging definitely seemed harsh across divisions, in my opinion.

4*-S
Liz Halliday-Sharp brought 3 horses, Deniro Z, Cooley Quicksilver, and Carpe Diem. Deniro & Carpe Diem on a 29.2 and 28.0 respectively after dressage with Cooley Quicksilver on a 32.3. All three showjumped clear and ran conservative clears on XC. Cooley Quicksilver finishes 8th, Deniro Z finishes 11th, and Carpe Diem finishes 22nd.

Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan did a 34.6 dressage, showjumped clear, and had a conservative clear on XC to finish 20th.

In my opinion, this was a very good showing for the U.S., particularly considering we had 4 horses in the 4*-S all showjump clear over a tough course on less than ideal footing and also jump clear XC in very deep ground. Showjumping for the 4*-L will be tomorrow and both Caroline and Will could easily finish top 5 with clear rounds.

Hopefully a good omen for Burghley in a few weeks!

[gardenie]

Great update! Go Teddy! I’ve been watching Great Meadow on EQ Sports Net this afternoon.

[Benchmark]

Both Caroline Martin and Will Faudree showjump clear to finish 3rd and 5th respectively in the 4*-L. Caroline added just 0.4 XC time penalties to her dressage score and Will finishes on his dressage score.

Very proud of our U.S. riders at Millstreet this weekend. To have 7 horses across the 4* divisions all add nothing in showjumping and all jump clear XC in terrible conditions is a big bright spot for the U.S. on the international stage.

Maybe I’m not quite patient enough, but I’m disappointed in EN as of late, and it does seem to correlate with Jenni leaving. If we have U.S. riders competing overseas, especially as we build toward the Olympics next year, it deserves to be covered in more depth than a paragraph or two at the end of basic event report…