It was a nail biter to the end at the Fork Horse Trials this weekend as the United States Eventing Association (USEA)/Adequan Gold Cup Advanced division and the CIC*** wrapped up with show jumping. Neither overnight leader was able to hold on to their lead, and even the winners were pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the competition.

In the USEA/Adequan Gold Cup division, the "little horse that could" came from behind to take home the blue ribbon. After starting the day in fourth position, St. Barths, ridden by Hannah Sue Burnett, jumped a fabulous double-clean round and was able to move into first after riders ahead of him took some costly rails down.

“This was only his second Advanced,” Burnett said after the competition. “We’ve had some issues in the show jumping, so I was really just going for a nice confident round. I wasn’t going to be upset if he had one or two down. I just wanted to leave the arena with confidence. He tried so hard. I couldn’t be any happier. I wasn’t expecting this at all.”

Looking back on her weekend, Burnett was thrilled with how St. Barths handled both the dressage and the cross-country in addition to his brilliant jumping round.

“He was so good on the flat. I couldn’t be happier with him. He was really flashy and I could really push him in the ring. He just gave it his all. I wasn’t planning to go so fast on cross-country. He was really strong and confident out there. I went a little faster than I was planning to go, but he was so confident that I just wanted to keep going.”

Hannah Sue and St. Barths will be heading to Jersey Fresh for the CIC*** in a few weeks time.

Finishing just behind Hannah Sue and St. Barths were Buck Davidson and Titanium. The pair entered show jumping in second, but took one rail down as they navigated the course. After the dust had cleared, that rail proved costly. Overnight leaders Phillip Dutton and Waterfront pulled two rails to drop into fifth place. Had Davidson and Titanium gone clear, they would have taken home the blue.

Moving up from eighth to finish in third were Rock On Rose and Boyd Martin. While many of the leaders dropped a rail or two, Martin and “Lusty” ran a fast and clean jumping round to move up in the standings.

The standings were also shuffled in the CIC*** division. But in the end, it was a repeat of last year as Buck Davidson took home the blue with My Boy Bobby.

“I’m honored to ride a horse like him,” Davidson said. “I said to [Captain Mark Phillips] the other day, he hasn’t been beaten by another American horse in two years. He’s just fantastic. I know him now and he knows me. We just go out and do the business.

Buck admitted to having concerns about Bobby’s fitness level coming into the event, but his concerns were quickly put out of mind as Bobby handled both jumping courses with ease.

“He’s a completely different horse here this year than he was last year. He was on the bridle the whole way. Even this morning he was out bucking and playing. It’s great. He gets to rest now and we’ll see him in the summer.”

A single rail proved costly for Allison Springer and Arthur as their four faults bumped them into second place. The pair jumped an otherwise beautiful round and are looking forward to competing in Kentucky in a few weeks.

Just behind them, finishing in third, were Phillip Dutton and Tru Luck. The pair started the day in seventh, but jumped brilliantly and were able to move up as other leaders dropped rails to move down in the standings. Dutton currently has Tru Luck entered in Kentucky as well.

The results remained the same in all four of the Intermediate divisions with Jennie Brannigan, Diana Brown, Doug Payne, and Danielle Dichting retaining their overnight leader positions.

The Preliminary divisions competed in the cross-country phase, and unfortunately the phase was not without mishaps. Will Coleman fell from War End in the Preliminary D division and it is reported that he broke his collarbone. Coleman was taken to the hospital and forced to withdraw his CIC*** horses, Nevada Bay and Twizzel.

The Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series is made possible through the support of its many sponsors: Title: Adequan; Legacy: Nunn Finer and Nutrena, and Patron: Broadstone Equine Insurance Agency, Mountain Horse, and Succeed.

Winners of the Advanced division, the designated "Gold Cup division," will take home $500 in prize money, a seven-dose box of Adequan, a three-month supply of SUCCEED, and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots. Second-place finishers take home a Nutrena feed gift certificate and a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots, and third place receives a pair of the Nunn Finer boots as well.