That left the door wide open for clean and fast rounds to move up into the top placings. Corinne Ashton and Dobbin flew up to first with a double clear round. They sit on 47.2, just .7 ahead of Will Coleman and Twizzel.
Fresh off a CIC*** win at Wit’s End in September; Ashton understands how lucky she is to have a phenomenal horse like Dobbin at this level.
“It’s always good to be first even if it’s just for a day,” said Ashton. “We’ve been partners for 10 years and he feels the best mentally and physically that he’s ever felt. This has been a bit of my nemesis, Fair Hill. He was ninth here last year with a run out.”
Ashton knows that she has a phenomenal athlete in the 14-year-old Thoroughbred but as he is her only upper-level horse, their progress hasn’t been flawless.
“I have one horse at this level so it has taken me awhile to catch up with him,” said Ashton who lives in Princeton, MA. “The course compared to other years, it always asks good, tough questions. It was hard in a good way.”
Ashton went 14th in the order, so she spent most of the day waiting to see where the chips were going to fall.
“I was wishing time penalties on everyone else,” she said of hoping other riders would exceed the 10 minute optimum time.
Her wish worked on Coleman, who finished with two time penalties on Twizzel to slip behind Ashton. Coleman is kicking himself as he knows he could have gone quicker on the 13-year-old Wesphalian gelding.
“The CCI*** really slowed you up at the end,” said Coleman, who lives in Gordonsville, VA. “I was on my minutes until the end. The last minute I was slower than I thought. You couldn’t make up time that easily.”
Twizzel had surgery on a cyst in his shoulder after getting hurt at Fair Hill International in 2006. Coleman wasn’t sure he would have the horse back ever, but the surgery at New Bolton Center was a success and Twizzel is back on top form.
“Twizzel is an amazing horse,” said Coleman. “I honestly felt like I was jumping around a Preliminary. I should have made the time, he was going so fast in the beginning and he’s a half-bred so I slowed down. I’m really lucky to have him. He’s a super star and he loves his job. If a horse could smile he would have been showing his teeth when he crossed the finish line.”
Amy Tryon and Leyland were just two seconds over the time and slipped into third place (48.2) on Elizabeth Nicholson’s Leyland. The 8-year-old Thoroughbred gelding gained confidence around the course and Tryon echoed the sentiment of the rest of the riders in the praise of the course.
“He’s matured,” said Tryon. “He has a little bit of an ADD thing but he’s perfectly happy to jump anything in front of him. He’s absolutely 100% genuine. I think he’s gotten stronger. These horses gain strength over years not months. It’s a challenging thing to get an 8-year-old to jump around at this level but this course made a better horse.”
Tryon, from Duvall, WA is also sitting in sixth on Coal Creek.
Molly Rosin refused to relinquish her lead in the USEF National CCI** Eventing Championships on Havarah's Charly. The 9-year-old Hungarian Warmblood cruised around Derek DiGrazia's cross country course, starting off conservatively and picking off the fences very confidently. The impressive chestnut jumped beautifully around the track and Rosin added nothing to her dressage score, finishing on 46.2, leaving her .4 over Kelly Prather and Balinakill Glory, who also added nothing to remain in second place.
"I thought the course rode fantastic, my horse was perfect and the footing was great," said Rosin. "I thought it rode really well. It is hard for me to compare as I haven't ridden a CCI** since (the NAJYRC) in 1998."
Havarah's Charly is owned by the Minyan Syndicate and came with Rosin when she relocated from Northern California to the Fair Hill area. She is based just over the border in Oxford, PA. Rosin appreciates Charly's ability but has taken her time to develop a relationship with him. They won the CIC** at the Plantation Field Horse Trials as their Final preparation.
"He's the best athlete I've ever come across," said Rosin. "He's a phenomenal horse in every aspect but he's by no means an easy ride."
Prather made her trip from Bodega, California worth the miles with Balinakill Glory. The 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse was retired on the cross country last year in the CCI*** so Prather regrouped and went back to the CCI** level - it paid off in 2008.
"She learned a lot and came off the course with a ton of confidence to go on," said Prather of Andrea Pfeiffer's mare. "She came off ears forward and looking to go on. She's not that old and I don't have that much experience but this definitely gave her a ton of confidence."
Sinead Halpin and Manior de Carneville and Will Coleman and Nevada Bay are tied for third, both had very positive rides on horses that look to have serious potential for the future on 47.9. They jumped double clear inside the optimum time of nine minutes to remain tied on their dressage scores.
Halpin just returned from a stint in the UK working for William Fox-Pitt. The experience and exposure returned dividends, and she picked up a very exciting prospect.
"I got him in France last October, he severed his extensor tendon on January 22 in June," said Halpin of the Cogdell Carriag Syndicate's 8-year-old Selle Francais gelding. "I ran him in two events and he reopened the wound behind in June and had to have another month off. He did Southern Pines and then qualified at Plantation and came here."
Halpin and Coleman both evolved in the Karen and David O'Connor's program in Virginia and have a friendly rivalry despite the tie.
"Will was a bit closer to the optimum time than I was," said Halpin. "I know I have a young and exciting horse. Will and I are good friends from a long time back so its fun."
Nanki Doubleday bought Nevada Bay in England last fall for Coleman to ride and the 9-year-old Dutch/Thoroughbred cross gelding has continued to improve. Blessed with a tremendous length of stride and scope, he cruised easily across the undulating terrain. Coleman and Nevada Bay had a run-out at the Jersey Fresh CCI** in May but made amends today.
"The two star was as tough as a CCI** gets," said Coleman, who also rode Cool Connection to 11th place. "The courses rode well, they weren't easy -- in places you had to make a last minute adjustment and make sure your horse understood the question. I was down on both horses early on by a lot and I caught up. You had a good chance to make up time there at the end."
The horse inspection gets underway at 8 am beginning with the CCI**, show jumping is expected to start around 10 am.
For complete results please see www.fairhillinternational.com . For more information, please contact Joanie Morris at [email protected].