Friday
Morning Dressage
Ten
Horse and rider combinations rode their Dressage Tests on Friday morning. Only
one of these ten acheived a score in the forties. This was Amy Tryon riding Leyland
whose score was 48.8, good for eighth place over all thus far.
Friday
Afternoon Dressage
This
afternoon's story is a simple one Bettina Hoy and Lucinda Fredericks first and
second - everyone else nowhere!
Bettina
had a FABULOUS test on Ringwood Cockatoo to score 28.8 - this
very likely was the best Three Day Dressage Test any of us will ever see. Bettina
said, "Cockatoo has been wonderful He is getting better as he gets older.
We are like an old married couple (we are so used to each other.) I was lucky
to be the first one after the break. It was very hot in there. Outside you get
a bit of a breeze." (Bettina and Ringwood Cockatoo are pictured at the
right and below center.)
Lucinda
Fredericks, in second place n 32.3, said of Headley Britannia, "Brit is different
to most horses.She has to work very hard to produce exhileration. I've been all
over the park to try to keep her amused. We are 
like
two old women." Lucinda commented on the Cross Country course, "I'm
looking forward (to it). The fences are fair. It's big enough. There's plenty
out there where you can make a mistake."
Buck Davidson is in the third
position with My Boy Bobby on a score of 39.0. "I
was scared to death out there He's an easy horse to ride. He has a great brain.
It's wonderful to sit up here (at the Press Conference) with these greats!"
It
is interesting to note that, of the top three finishers, Bettins Hoy's husband,
Andrew Hoy, won on Masther Monarch in 2006; Lucinda Frederick's husband , Clayton
Fredericks, won on Ben Along Time in 2007: and Buck Davidson's father, Bruce Davidson,
won in 1989 0n Dr. Peaches and again in 1993 on Happy Talk. It seems success runs
in families.
The
Cross Country begins at 10:00 AM on Saturday. There is a lunch break from approximately
12:10 PM until 1:30 PM.
*
* *
Bettina
Hoy Goes into Overall Lead After Dressage for Germany with Record Score; American
Buck Davidson Leads the 2009 Rolex/USEF National Eventing Championship at the
2009 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event
By Joanie Morris
Lexington, KY – The American riders had some catching up to do after
the first day of dressage at the 2009 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. The European
riders swept the top three places after Thursday and the US riders returned on
Friday to find only a little bit of room at the top of the leaderboard.
Germany’s Bettina Hoy wasn’t going to be bested
in the main stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park, and the striking grey Irish Sport
Horse, Ringwood Cockatoo, seems to continue to improve at 18 years old. The pair
went first after the lunch break and put in a phenomenal effort, from the halts
to the flying changes, to all the lateral work, Hoy really mastered what is proving
to be a very difficult new CCI**** test.
“Cockatoo
has been wonderful all these years, especially in this phase,” said Hoy.
“He’s a bit like a professor. He excels in the test, he’s getting
better and better as he’s getting older which is a nice feeling.”
On a 28.8, this pair achieved the lowest dressage score in
the history of the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, and the best score of their career
at the four-star level.
“I think I was lucky
to go after the lunch break,” said Hoy of an arena that really effected some
horses because of the atmosphere. “I don’t think that Cockatoo knew
anyone was watching until they started clapping.”
Hoy’s
husband Andrew won the 2006 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event on Master Monarch.
Hoy is well clear of second placed Lucinda Fredericks on her
diminutive mare, Headley Britannia. The Australian rider and the 16-year-old Thoroughbred
cross mare (Owned by Fredericks and her husband Clayton – who also won this
event in 2007) does consistently good flying changes and can always be counted
on for a good score. They finished on 32.3.
“Brit
is very different than most of the horses on the eventing circuit,” said
Fredericks. “ She has to work very hard to produce exhilarating work. I love
riding her but I don’t really like schooling her as she doesn’t give
you the greatest feeling and there are only so many flying changes you can do,
which is the best part. Brit and I are like two old women, we go in an have a
bit of fun and I trust her to behave.”
Both
Ringwood Cockatoo and Headley Britannia are veteran CCI**** winners, however they
are feeling some pressure from a new American horse on the proverbial block.
My Boy Bobby put in an awesome effort for Buck Davidson to
be best for the US. They put in an accurate and very polished performance to finish
third going into Saturday’s cross country. Davidson was in England for most
of last summer, and found Hoy and her dressage expertise very helpful to his riding.
“Bobby is a very easy horse to ride,” said
Davidson. “He has a great brain. I want to thank Bettina for all her help
last year. She changed my riding and my horses. But hopefully I can give them
a run for their money the rest of the weekend.”
The
13-year-old Irish Sport Horse owned by Carl and Cassandra Segal looked very much
at home at his first CCI****. The pair scored 39.0 off the strength of their accuracy,
fantastic canter work, and overall quality.
Davidson,
son of Eventing legend, Bruce (who is also competing this weekend and a previous
winner) will get to test drive the course tomorrow when he rides the Segal’s
BallyNoe Castle RM in the lead-off spot. A former winner of the Markham Trophy
for the highest placed Young Rider at this competition, Davidson’s best finish
here previously was in 2003, when he was fourth with Mystic Mike. Ironically,
he was the highest placed American that year which meant he also won the Rolex/USEF
National CCI**** Championship.
Cross
country, run over Mike Etherington-Smith’s beautifully designed and challenging
course begins at 10 am Saturday morning.
For complete
results and a live feed please see: www.rk3de.org.
William
Fox-Pitt is live in the Rolex Grand Slam, which offers $350,000 to any rider who
can win the three most prestigious CCI**** events in the world (Badminton, Burghley
and Rolex Kentucky) in any order in succession. Fox-Pitt won last year’s
Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with Ballincoola, if he wins Rolex Kentucky he
will head to Badminton in two weeks time to attempt to accomplish a feat only
done once before. Fellow Brit, Pippa Funnell won the Rolex Grand Slam in 2003.
Currently he lies sixth and ninth with Seacookie and Navigator respectively.
For the first year ever, the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event
is part of the HSBC Classics Series. This series features $150,000 in prize money
to the rider who accumulates the most points at the five global CCI****s. The
series begins in Lexington and finishes in Pau, France in October. For more information,
please visit: ttp://www.fei.org/Disciplines/Eventing/Pages/HSBCFEIClassics.aspx.
ENDS
For
more information, please contact Joanie Morris, jmorris@usef.org.
The vision of the United States Equestrian Federation® is to
provide leadership
for equestrian sport in the United States of America
by promoting the pursuit
of excellence from the grassroots to the Olympic
Games, based on a
foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare
of
its human and equine athletes.
