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The second day of competition at the Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials and CIC** brought many changes to the top of the scoreboard in the International CIC** division and for points in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series. Less than 12 penalty points divide the top eight riders in the standings, some of whom are very familiar names in the sport and others who appear destined to be familiar names.

Corrine Ashton and Dobbin, her 10 year old Thoroughbred gelding executed a lovely dressage test to garner a score of 37.2 from the judges. This score placed her 3.4 points ahead of overnight leader Mara DePuy Dean with Good Stuff, who carry a score of 40.6 into tomorrow’s cross country phase. Corrine and Dobbin are pictured at the right in the Dressage Phase at the Southern Pines Horse Trials this spring.)

Samantha Allan of Brandywine, MD performed the complicated dressage movements aboard Every Wish with flair and is currently tied for third place with Kelli McMullen Temple and Paris II. Fifth place after dressage belongs to Bruce Davidson Jr., and Idalgo with a score of 46.9.

Karen O’Connor and Upstage share sixth position in the standings with Marcia Kulak and Mr. Glitz. Both rides scored a 47.8 from the judges. Darren Chiacchia and Gaspar II moved down to eighth place after today’s competition from their overnight standing of third, with a score of 48.4.

The Novice Divisions completed their final phase with no change in the overnight placings. In the Novice Rider Division, Kathy Bell and Snowy from Mobile, Alabama, took home the blue ribbon, finishing the competition on their dressage score of 35.5. With a clean cross country run and a fault free stadium round, they topped the field of 29 riders in this very competitive division.

Heidi Stuart Vahue and her 5 year old gelding, Triton, gave everyone a thrill when she captured the top prize in the Open Novice A Division with a total score of 32.5. Not only is Heidi the hometown girl, her mother Kyra Stuart was the main force behind the organization of the event for its first 15 years and the Stuart Horse Trials logo is a depiction of her former event horse Woody. Triton made every attempt to follow in the footsteps of Woody, with a relaxed and flowing dressage test, a faultless cross country run and only a two second time penalty over the stadium course.

With the best dressage score of any horse in any division, 20.5, Wotan Von Walkenstein II and rider Alexis Brown, of Gasport, NY, made quite an impression on the fans. This five year old stallion completed cross country without penalty but did not fare as well over the stadium course. The pair dropped two rails and were two seconds over the time allowed, but their spectacular dressage score gave them the breathing room to make a few mistakes and still stay on top of the leader board.

This popular event, which attracts over 15,000 spectators, features an international division (CIC**), which is one of ten competitions in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series and offers a total purse of $7,500. In addition, the event hosts five other divisions--Novice, Training, Preliminary and Intermediate, for which in excess of $50,000 worth of prizes will be awarded. An extra day has been added to this year’s schedule to accommodate the increasing number of entries. Competitors travel from all over the country as well as Australia, Canada, Mexico, Finland, Hungary and India to compete over these spectacular grounds. Cosequin is now in its fourth year of sponsorship of this event, which remains the highlight of local competitors' event schedule.

The Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials & CIC** takes place through Sunday, July 24th, in Victor, NY. Saturday features the cross country competition, the heart of the sport of eventing. Horses and riders will gallop over a challenging course of fences testing the jumping ability, bravery and fitness of the pair. For more information about the daily competition and directions to the event, please visit the Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials & CIC** website at www.stuarthorsetrials.org.

STANDINGS – CIC**

1. Corinne Ashton,Dobbin (Princeton, MA) - 37.2
2. Mara DePuy Dean, Good Stuff (Round Hill, VA) - 40.6
3T. Samantha Allan, Every Wish (Brandywine, VA) - 43.8
3T. Kelli McMullen Temple, Paris II (Round Hill, VA) - 43.8
5. Buck Davidson, Idalgo (Ringoes, NJ) - 46.9
6T. Karen O’Connor, Upstage (The Plains, VA) - 47.8
6T. Marcia Kulak, Mr. Glitz (Scotia, NY) - 47.8
8. Darren Chiacchia, Gaspar II (Springville, NY) - 48.4