Frankie Thieriot (McCool Photos)
Riding Uphoria, owned by Tory Smith, Thieriot, of Occidental, Calif., won the Horse Division with a score of 27.1 penalties. Riding her own Ping Pong, Flettner, of Petaluma, Calif., won the Rider Division with a score of 27.9.
The 4th annual Woodside Preliminary Challenge reached its nail-biting climax on Saturday evening, before a cheering crowd of more than 800 people gathered around the Bay Arena of the Horse Park at Woodside. A sold-out gathering of 350 people enjoyed a full-course dinner and other entertainment in a ringside tent, while the rest cheered from the rail around the ring.
And they watched a top-class competition. Barbara Crabo, of Scottsdale, Ariz., took the early lead in the Horse Division by achieving the excellent score of 25.9 on her homebred mare Over Easy, barely topping Thieriot and Uphoria by 0.4 penalties. Thieriot then gave Crabo just a bit of breathing room on Saturday morning by finishing the cross-county course 2 seconds slow (0.8 penalties).
Julie Flettner & Ping Pong (McCool)
Erin Kellerhouse, winner of the Woodside Preliminary Challenge in 2011, increased the pressure by jumping faultless rounds on both her horses, Cat Ballou and Bill’s Midnight Magic, to finish fourth and fifth.
Then Matt Brown, of Petaluma, Calif., rode Aida to a perfect round (28.5), just before Thieriot and Uphoria, an 8-year-old Holsteiner mare, did the same.
As a hush fell over the buzzing crowd, Over Easy, 6, just ticked the natural oxer at fence 3 to drop to third (29.9).
“I didn’t think there was any chance Barb would have a rail down!” said Thieriot, 25. Thieriot had previously competed her won horse, Fric Frac Berence, for 12 years, through the advanced level, and for the last two years she’s been the face in front of the camera for the video event coverage produced by the U.S. Eventing Association.
“The atmosphere was absolutely electric tonight—the crowd was really into it. It’s neat to experience that here, and I think it really helped Uphoria —she was just flying over those jumps,” said Thieriot.
The evening’s excitement had a bigger effect on the Rider Division, where just two of the top six finishers jumped faultless rounds. Besides Flettner and Ping Pong, the other belonged to Brynn Littlehale and Coup D’Etat. Their perfect round, along with a fault-free cross-country performance, propelled them from 10th place after dressage to a final second place (33.9).
So when Flettner, 36, entered the ring, she could afford to lower one rail and still win. It was a cushion she didn’t need.
Ping Pong is a 12-year-old Hanoverian mare she purchased in 2009 and rode in competition for the first time at the May Woodside Horse Trials that year, completing beginner novice. Flettner, an optometrist who works in a veterans’ clinic in Santa Rosa, Calif., trains with Matt Brown.
“I was definitely nervous tonight, and [Ping Pong} just went on with it. She really rose to the occasion,” said Flettner. “Even when they played the National Anthem, she stood there looking at the flag.”
Last November, Flettner and Ping Pong won the training three-day event at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. The Woodside Preliminary Challenge was their fifth start at preliminary level and the first one at which they’d finished cross-country under the optimum time.
“The Preliminary Challenge has been a goal for me to work for. For me, this is my championship,” she said.
For her” championship” victory, Flettner received $2,500 in prize money, a Devoucoux Saddle, and other prizes donated by Professional’s Choice, APF, Ride One Video and Four Star Equine Therapy.
Littlehale earned $1,875 in prize money, which was paid to 10th place, a total of $7,500 in each of the two divisions.
For winning the Horse Division, Thieriot received $2,500 and a JRD Custom Saddle, plus the prizes from Professional’s Choice, APF, Ride On Video and Four Star Equine Therapy.
Katie Groesbeck, of Canyon Country, Calif., rode her own Oz The Tin Man to win the advanced division. Groesbeck, 22, and the Anglo-Arab gelding took the lead in dressage, with the exceptional score of 27.5, and then recorded the only faultless cross-country round to win by 13.9 penalties. Kelly Pugh, on Copycat Cloe, took second.
The presenting sponsors of the Woodside Preliminary Challenge were Professional’s Choice and Equine Insurance of California. Both sponsors greeted competitors and fans with booths in the expanded trade fair at the Woodside Horse Trials.
The additional generous sponsors of the Woodside Horse Trials include: Auburn Laboratories Inc., Devoucoux Saddles, Equine Comfort Products, JRD Saddles, Ride On Video, Smartpak Equine, Sunsprite Warmbloods, Voltaire Design and Western Saddlery.
Proceeds from the Preliminary Challenge Gala Dinner benefited construction of the cross-country course at the Horse Park of Woodside.
To learn more about the Horse Park at Woodside or the Woodside Horse Trials, go to www.horsepark.org. To learn more about eventing, visit the U.S. Eventing Association’s website (www.useventing.com).