Saturday,
July 9 - Cross Country Day
More
than 280 horses ran Cross Country on Saturday, between 7:30 AM and 6:30 PM, at
the Pratt Wayne Forest Preserve. A plethora of competitors at five different levels
all running at two minute intervals, completed due to the organizational prowess
of Katie Lindsay and the skill of Brian O'Connor, the Announcer, who also acted
as Control.
The
Advanced Section, ("C" Dressage Test)
eventingetc
owes the overnight leader, Kelli Temple, who
rode Paris to first place in the Advanced Dressage on Friday, an apology.
Due to a lack of 
planning
eventingetc
had no Dressage picture of Kelli and Paris. That omission
is hereby rectified with a picture of Kelli and Paris on the Cross Country at
the right.
Overnight
leadership was not a lucky place to be on Saturday. Both Kelli and Paris
and Ralph Holstein, who had been in second place after the Dressage, fell
from the top of the Leader Board. Paris had two stops on the course and
Ralph and Arctic Dancer had one refusal at the bank.
This
left the top slot up for grabs and Lexington, Kentucky's Cathy Wieschoff and
Ocotilla tucked it away on a score of 41.4, which included 8.4 time faults.
Cathy
commented, "He (Ocotillo) was great! He felt fantastic for a first
run since Rolex. People think this is an easy course and the single fences were
small; but, the combinations were serious advanced questions. Some people 
got
caught out. Everybody got home safe and it was a really, really good advanced
course." (Cathy and Ocotillo are pictured at the left jumping the skinny
out of the last water.)
Mark
Kraus, of Reddick, Florida, and Prospector's Claim, the only pair to
make the time and chalk up a double clear on Cross Country, are breathing down
Cathy and Ocotillo's necks on 41.7, a mere three-tenths of a fault adrift of the
leaders.
Hannah
Burnett and Keep The Faith are in third position, with 12.2 time faults
and a two day score of 47.2.
Others
atop the Advanced Leader Board are:
4.
Ursula Brush, Bru Maguire - 56.9
5. Megan Moore, Never Stop Dreaming
- 60.6
6. Dorothy Crowell, Radio Flyer - 64.7.
Of
the 24 starters on Cross Country, one made the time and ten jumped clear.
*
* * * *
The
CIC **
Lucia
Strini, of Scottsville, Virginia, riding her own Addis Abba leads the
CIC** on a score of 58.2, which includes 7.6 time faults for the second fastest
run in the Section in which no one made the time. (Lucia and Addis Abba are
pictured at the right jumping up onto the second step of the bank.)
Megan
Montegue and It's Otto, who had the fastest time Cross Country in the
Section, rose to a tie for second place after Cross Country on a score of 65.2
with 6.8 time faults.
Karen
O'Connor abdicated her leadership role with The O'Connor Syndicate's Mr.
Ripley when she took a wrong turn on a trail in the Pratt Wayne Forest Preserve
and picked up 18 time faults to drop into a tie for second with Megan and It's
Otto.
Karen,
hasn't competed in the state of Illinois since she was 18 years old and placed
second at the Wayne DuPage Horse Trials, in 1981, in a competition which was the
predecessor of Young Riders.
Karen
said, "Both my horses went very well. I felt it (the course) was up to standard.
There's a range within each standard. Both my horses were moving up so it was
perfect for me and perfect for the date (mid-July) for people preparing for the
big fall competitions. This is a spectator friendly and competitor friendly event."
Mike
Huber, up from Texas, rode Kittengala to fourth place with 15.6 time faults
for a two day score of 70.0.
* * * * *
Open
Intermediate/Open Intermediate Young Riders
Karen
O'Connor rode
Mrs. Jacqueline Mars A Phar Cry to a huge lead in the OI/YOI. In spite
of picking up 8.4 time faults, this pair finished on 36.9 and will have 17.2 faults
in hand going into Sunday's Show Jumping Phase. (Karen and A Phar Cry are pictured
at the left jumping into the last water.)
Catherine
Wade, who lives in Indiana, rode Powerpac to second place on a score
of 54.1 with 15.6 time faults.
*
* * * *
The
CIC*
Heather
Morris, from
Mike Huber's Texas barn, rode fourth and third to last in the 39 horse CIC* field
, and managed to tie with herself for first place riding Double Up and
Spot Me One both of whom picked up no time faults 
and
finished on their Dressage scores of 45.0.(Heather and Spot me One are pictured
at the right jumping off the top step of the bank.)
Coren
Morgan, of Kansas City, Missouri, is in third place with Early Achiever
whose score of 46.4 puts them a mere 1.4 faults behind Heather's co-leaders.
*
* * * *
The
Show Jumping begins at 9:00 AM Sunday morning with the Preliminary Sections in
the Grand Prix Arena.
(Siobhain
O'Connor and Flying Advance, pictured at the left, demonstrate the delicate art
of the Involuntary Dismount at the log on the mound before the first water in
the Advanced Section.)
