Equine Insurance of California, Land Rover Professional’s Choice and the Professional Riders Organization are the presenting sponsors of the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. A portion of all tickets sales will benefit Operation Homefront, PRO’s charitable partner.
Two-time team gold medalist Phillip Dutton, of West Grove, Pa., and Olympic alternate Buck Davidson, of Riegelsville, Pa., will lead the contingent of riders who are bringing horses from the East Coast to compete at Galway Downs.
Michael Pollard, a member of the U.S. gold-medal team at the 2011 Pan Am Games, is also coming from Chatsworth, Ga. And two-time Canadian Olympian Hawley Bennett, who lives in Temecula, will be riding Gin ‘N Juice, the mare she rode in the 2012 London Olympics.
But James Alliston, who won the 2011 Galway Downs CCI3*, will be bringing three horses from his base in Castro Valley, Calif., to try to win for the second straight year.
Dutton, 48, won team gold medals as part of the Australian Olympic team in 1996 and 2000, but after riding on the Australian Olympic team again in 2004, he became a U.S. citizen and rode on the 2008 and 2012 U.S. teams. Dutton will be riding Atlas at Galway Downs. He and Atlas parted company on the cross-country course at the Boekelo CCI3* in Holland in early October, so “I felt that he deserved to finish the year on a better note,” said Dutton.
Dutton said he decided to ride at Galway Downs for the first time because, “I was very impressed with Galway Downs last year, when I was there as a coach. It’s well run, and it has a great course and climate and footing. Hopefully it will be a great trip for us.”
Davidson, 36, was the alternate for the 2008 Olympic team and a member of the U.S. team at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. In 2011, he rode Ballynoe Castle RM and Titanium in the CCI3* at Galway Downs, finishing ninth and 11th. This year he’s bringing The Apprentice. Pollard, 31, also rode at Galway downs in 2011, and this year he’ll be riding Schoensgreen Hanni.
Bennett, a member of the Canadian bronze-medal team at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, will be riding international veteran Gin ‘N Juice and Five O’Clock Somewhere, starting in his first CCI3*. The two horses are full siblings and were bred by Linda and Terry Paine at their Kingsway Farm, where Bennett trains, across the street from Galway Downs.
“Galway Downs is just a great event to ride in, especially since Ian Stark’s cross-country courses always make every horse a better horse than when they started,” said Bennett.
Alliston, 27, is also hoping to overcome adversity at Galway Downs. Jumbo’s Jake, his 2011 winner, won the CIC3* at Galway Downs in April 2012, but Alliston retired him on course at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in late April. Then, after winning the dressage at the Woodside CIC3* in mid-October, Jumbo’s Jake was eliminated on the cross-country course for three refusals.
“It’s been a bit of a rocky road, really,” said Alliston about his equine partner of four years. “He’s a super-careful horse, which is why he jumps so many clear rounds in show jumping, but I wouldn’t say he’s the scopiest horse, so I have to manage his confidence a little bit. We’ll see how he goes this time.”
But Alliston’s disappointment at Woodside was tempered by winning the CIC3* there on Tivoli, a promising horse on whom he finished second in the CCI2* at the 2011 Galway Downs. Alliston will also be riding Parker, who finished seventh in the 2011 Galway Downs CCI3*.
A fourth Olympian, Gina Miles, of Atascadero, Calif., will ride one of the 30 horses entered in the CCI2*. Miles, the individual silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics, will be riding SVR Ron, a relatively new mount for her. She’ll need to beat another Alliston threat, Mojo, with whom he just won the CIC2* at Woodside.
A total of 50 horses are entered in the CCI1* at Galway Downs. The favorites include Julie Flettner, of Petaluma, Calif., on Ping Pong, winner of the Woodside CIC1* and of the Woodside Preliminary Rider Challenge in May 2012; Frankie Thieriot, of Santa Rosa, Calif., on Uphoria, winner of the Woodside Preliminary Horse Challenge in May 2012; and Erin Kellerhouse of Temecula on Roxabelle, winner of the Preliminary Horse Challenge in May 2011.
Some 36 horses are expected to start in the popular training three-day event.
This year the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event will feature a wide range of musical entertainment for the first time. Ten different artists will perform a wide range of music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and during the cross-country competition on Saturday afternoon, headlined by Tony Suraci performing The Highwayman Show on Friday evening.
For the complete musical line-up and ticket information, go to www.galwaydowns.com.