The Race for the Cup Continues at The Fork
Contact:
Amy J. Daum, (703) 779-0440 ext. 3017,
amy@useventing.com
The final leg of
the spring events in the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series took place April 6-9
at The Fork Stables in Norwood, North Carolina during their BB&T Heritage
Days. Owner Jim Cogdell, with his staff and cadre of volunteers, did a
marvelous job of putting on a first-rate event, the site’s first CIC***-W,
despite some uncooperative weather.
Darren Chiacchia
and Windfall II, Timothy Holekamp’s 14-year-old Trakehner stallion, put in
a wire-to-wire victory in the CIC***-W, finishing on their winning
dressage score of 33.8. Due to incoming inclement weather the event’s
schedule was flip-flopped, so all of show jumping and the preliminary
cross-country took place on the cold and wet Saturday, with cross-country
for the remainder of the divisions (OI, CIC***-W, and CIC***, and A)
following on Sunday. The CIC***-W served as an FEI World Cup qualifier,
as well as the Advanced division for the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series.
When they headed
out to tackle Capt. Mark Phillips’ imposing CIC***-W course, Chiacchia and
Windfall II had just a 0.9-penalty lead over their 2004 Olympic bronze
medal winning teammates, Kim Severson and Winsome Adante. They put barely
a foot wrong and finished right on the optimum time, leaving the other
competitors no option except to try to keep their placings. Their
performance made up for an unfortunate tack malfunction at the East
Coast’s other World Cup Qualifier (and one of three Gold Cup events)
several weeks before at the Red Hills Horse Trials, when in the middle of
one of the water complexes one of Darren’s reins snapped in half, causing
a run-out. Darren was able to hop off, “MacGyver” the rein together, and
still managed to finish the event in 13th place.
Severson and
“Dan”, Linda Wachtmeister and Plain Dealing Farm’s 14-year-old
Thoroughbred gelding, also put in a stellar round at The Fork to finish in
second place on their dressage score of 34.7.
Chiacchia’s and
Windfall’s performances put them in the third spot on the Adequan USEA
Gold Cup Advanced Leaderboard with 365 points. They are followed by
Severson and Winsome Adante in fourth position with 330.
It’s the
practically indomitable Aussie, Phillip Dutton, with Nina Gardner’s House
Doctor, who sits atop the Gold Cup Advanced Leaderboard with 630 points.
The pair won the Southern Pines Gold Cup division a few weeks ago and
followed that performance with a third place finish at The Fork, on their
dressage score of 39.1.
They are
followed on the Leaderboard by Heidi White and Northern Spy, her
13-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, in second position with 425 points
accrued after a fifth place finish at Red Hills, and an eighth place
finish at The Fork. Both these pairs can expect some stiff competition
when the Series heats back up this summer, beginning with the Maui Jim
Horse Trials in Wayne, Illinois, July 7-9.
It was relative
newcomer, Kate Luce, a student of Chiacchia, who won the Intermediate Gold
Cup division with her ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding Tia Lusso. This was
a very competitive division, with the top six scores separated by less
than two penalty points. Luce and Tia Lusso put in double clear
cross-country and show jumping rounds to finish the event on their
dressage score of 33.8. Tucked in behind them, also finishing on their
dressage scores, were Becky Holder and Glorious Joy in second with 34.5,
and Colleen Loach and Duke of Somerset with 34.8.
Luce and Tia
Lusso earned the third position on the Gold Cup Intermediate Leaderboard,
tied with Phillip Dutton and Happy as Larry with 205 points (Dutton and
Happy as Larry had been previously incorrectly reported as having 235
points). Stephanie Butts and Zydeco, Gretchen Butts’ 14-year-old
Thoroughbred-cross gelding, hold the top spot with 260 points after an
eighth place finish at The Fork and a ninth place finish in the Red Hills
CIC**. They are followed by Robyn Fisher and Lady Calido who won the
Galway Downs CIC** last weekend, putting them in second position on the
Leaderboard with 225 points.
After a
two-month break the Race for the Cup picks back up in July, first in the
Midwest at the
Maui Jim Horse Trials as mentioned above, followed by the
Cosequin Stuart Horse Trials in Victor, New York July 20-23 in the
Atlantic Division, and
The Event at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell, Montana July 21-23 in the
Pacific Division.
The USEA is
pleased to welcome back many of our 2005 sponsors, including Title sponsor
Adequan, Presenting sponsors
Nunn Finer,
Amerigo, and
Nutrena, and Contributing sponsors
Cover-All and
UlcerGard. A new Contributing sponsor,
Premier Equestrian, has joined us this year, along with Patron
sponsor,
Mountain Horse.
Winners of the
Gold Cup divisions at each event take home a seven-dose pack of Adequan, a
Mountain Horse jacket with the Gold Cup logo, and front and hind pairs of
Nunn Finer American Style brushing boots. The second and third place
finishers at each event will receive front and hind pairs of Nunn Finer
brushing boots.
This December at
the 2006 USEA Annual Meeting and Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, a
grand prize Gold Cup trophy and Amerigo saddle will be awarded to the
rider from each division with the most points at the end of the year. In
addition the Gold Cup champion at the Advanced level will receive a check
from the USEA for $6,000, and the Intermediate champion receives a check
for $4,000. Both winners will also receive an additional supply of
Adequan. The second placed rider at Advanced wins a $3,500 Bit of Britain
gift certificate, and their Intermediate counterpart wins a $2,500 gift
certificate.
For more
information on the Gold Cup, visit the USEA website (www.useventing.com)
and click on the
Gold Cup logo on the home page.
