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MacPhail and O’Neal Come Away with USEF National One-Star Eventing Championship Titles

Elinor MacPhail and Rendezvous with Charly (Xpress Foto)

Lexington, Ky. – National titles were awarded to riders on Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park upon the completion of the USEF National One-Star Eventing Championships. Held October 17-19 in conjunction with the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event & Team Challenge, 42 horse-and-rider combinations tackled the CCI1* in hopes of being crowned champion.

The USEF National One-Star Championship title went to Elinor MacPhail (Bluemont, Va.), who demonstrated excellent riding throughout the competition aboard her own Rendezvous with Charly. She had a lovely dressage test with the seven-year-old German Sporthorse gelding, despite him feeling a bit fresh in the brisk fall weather, to score a 49.1. The pair had a textbook round over Derek diGrazia’s challenging cross country course, going double clear. MacPhail and Rendezvous with Charly retained their strong form over Mary Fike’s show jumping course, to add nothing to their dressage score and claim the Richard Collins Trophy.

“It feels great,” MacPhail said of winning the championship title. “I mean “Rudy” is a great jumper, he has been so consistent this year. I think he has done four Prelims and won two of them, as wells as winning a CIC1*, so I’m so thrilled with him. I feel so lucky to have him.”

“It was a great weekend. In dressage they were both a little wild,” she said of “Rudy” and her other mount, Shadow on the Wall, with whom she was sixth in the championship. “They started out in the jog and they were kind of jumping around everywhere and I didn’t quite get it out of their system before dressage, so they were tenser than I wanted so they scored higher. For cross country though, they were great. They were definitely greener so I took the option at the second water and just trying to keep them confident. Then for show jumping they jumped fantastic so I couldn’t be happier.”

Leah Snowden (Winchester, Ky.) and Ivy League finished on their dressage score of 51.3 to be named the USEF National One-Star Reserve Champions. She and the 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding were one of five pairs to have a double clear round in the CCI* Division A in Sunday’s show jumping phase.

Twenty-one-year-old Alexander O’Neal (Ocala, Fla.) came out on top as the USEF National Junior and Young Rider One-Star Champion with his mount Esquire. He and the eight-year-old Hanoverian gelding started off with a 51.9 in dressage. The pair made light work of the cross country course and knocked a single rail in show jumping to end on a score of 55.9, winning the Harry T. Peters Trophy.

The Reserve Champion title in the USEF National Junior and Young Rider One-Star Championship went to Woods Baughman (Lexington, Ky.) and Truckee Bash. After scoring a 60.0 in dressage, he and the seven-year-old Thoroughbred gelding had double clear rounds in the cross country and stadium phases to move up to receive Reserve Champion honors.

By Kathleen Landwehr

For more information on the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event & Team Challenge, visit: http://www.kyevents.net/shows/info/tchallenge.

For complete results, click here:  http://www.kyevents.net/scores.

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