Elkton, Md. – Saturday’s cross-country day at the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill presented by Brown Advisory was an excellent day of competition. Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol HIM held onto their lead in the USEF CCI3*-L Eventing National Championship, while Tim Price (NZL) and Coup de Coeur Dudevin moved into the lead in the CCI5*-L.

USEF CCI3*-L Eventing National Championship

Great displays of cross-country riding meant not much changed at the top of the USEF CCI3*-L Eventing National Championship leaderboard. Despite the torrential rain earlier in the week, the footing held up well and the majority of the field easily galloped around the hilly terrain to finish inside the time allowed. However, only six-tenths of a point separate the top three heading into Sunday’s show jumping phase, making for an exciting finale. Hollberg (Kennett Square, Pa.) and Capitol HIM lead the charge in the CCI3*-L division, having a textbook round over the lovely track designed by Ian Stark (GBR). Hollberg and Christa Schmidt’s 2007 Holsteiner gelding were double-clear to add nothing to their dressage score of 26.0.

Hollberg got to ride the course first on her other mount, Lukeswell, who sits in 27th place on a score of 35.0. While Lukeswell is a fast cross-country horse, Capitol HIM requires more finessing to make the optimum time.

“[Capitol HIM] was really good. He is a quite different ride than Lukeswell. He has got one or two speeds unlike a really quick horse like Lukeswell is, so I have to ride him a bit differently,” said Hollberg. “To be quick on him, I have to be very accurate, which I wasn’t completely. But he made up for it. He did all the combinations really well and came back to me nicely and actually picked up speed at the end really nicely. It was great.”

Though Capitol HIM has competed at higher levels, Hollberg hasn’t had the year she had hoped with him due to some setbacks and wanted to end the season on a high note.  

“[The setbacks] held us back enough that I didn’t want to overface him and make him feel like he can’t do something. After coming here last year in the three-star, it was such a grand event even though it is the three-star level. It nearly is a four-star with the terrain and course design; it is difficult,” said Hollberg. “The atmosphere in dressage and show jumping is something I have been trying to work on with him, so I thought this would be a really nice end to this year, and I’m really glad I made the decision.”

Elisa Wallace (Reddick, Fla.) and Renkum Corsair had a great cross-country round to remain in second place. Wallace and Corsair Syndicate, LLC’s 2010 Holsteiner gelding looked confident as they finished the course and added no penalties to their score of 26.4.

Young rider Cassie Sanger (Lakeville, Conn.) and Fernhill Zoro delivered another stellar performance on cross-country to stay in third place. Sanger and Nina Sanger’s 2008 Irish Sport Horse gelding were the last to go in the CCI3*-L and quickly turned in a double-clear round to remain on their score of 26.6.

CCI5*-L

While double-clear rounds were attainable over Stark’s CCI5*-L track, the combinations had to navigate challenging jumping questions and hilly terrain along the way. There was a leaderboard shake-up with Price (NZL) and Coup de Coeur Dudevin taking the top spot at the end of the day. World number one Price gave Jean-Louis Stauffer’s 2012 Selle Français gelding an educational ride in the horse’s first CCI5*-L. The pair managed to finish clear and inside the time to sit on their dressage score of 27.4.

“I have been a little nervous. Is it the right thing to bring a horse who lacks experience halfway around the world?” said Price. “I have always believed in the horse. Today was a perfect education for him. It was peak conditions, a great course. I wanted to give him an education while also being competitive. He was exceptional and really jumped beautifully.”

Sitting two points behind the leaders are Tamie Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) and Danito. Smith, one of the U.S. team silver medalists at the FEI Eventing World Championships, piloted Ruth Bley’s 2009 Hanoverian gelding around the horse’s first CCI5*-L track, having an excellent round to move up from sixth to second. The duo had a double-clear round to stay on a score of 29.4.

Danito’s performance was more impressive considering he had an accident in the barn in January that resulted in a broken wither. He made a full recovery and is peaking at the right time for Maryland.

“He has been low on the competition miles this year, so to have him go out and do that and step up was great,” said Smith. “Sometimes with five-star horses you never know. He doesn’t have a high percentage of blood. I ride other horses like that and it is a lot of work. I would rather be riding a horse with a lot of blood at the end [of the course], and he sure felt like he did. I was super happy with him."

Close behind in third place are Oliver Townend (GBR) and As Is on a score of 29.9. Yet another scenario of an experienced athlete riding a horse in the mount’s first CCI5*-L, Townend and John Peace’s 2011 Spanish Sport Horse gelding were double-clear to move up from 10th into a podium position. 

Course designer Stark said the highlight of his day was seeing the experience rider-developing horse combinations at the top of the CCI5*-L leaderboard do so well on Saturday.

“For me, it was perfect footing, perfect ground, some great riding. Some bold, fast riding,” said Stark. “I would much rather see them get inside the time than if they hadn’t. I was a little concerned by so many getting inside the time, but I thought it was some great riding, so I can live with it. And it puts a bit more pressure on these guys with show jumping tomorrow.”

With the scores being very close at the top of both leaderboards, the competition will come to an exciting conclusion with Sunday’s show jumping phase at the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill presented by Brown Advisory. The CCI3*-L begins at 10:15 a.m. ET with the CCI3*-L, followed by the CCI5*-L at 2:08 p.m. ET.

Competition Information

Schedule

Ride times and results

For more information, visit www.maryland5star.us.

Live Stream Information

The CCI3*-L and CCI5*-L will both be streamed live on USEF Network from October 12-16 and available on-demand to USEF members after the conclusion of the event on Sunday. Get a free fan membership by joining now and using the promo code Maryland22.

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