Tag Archives: Land Rover/USEF CCI5* Eventing National Championship

Martin and Tsetserleg Hold On to Lead in Land Rover/USEF CCI5* Eventing National Championship

Martin and Tsetserleg (Photo by Alex Banks for US Equestrian)

Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class maintain lead at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event

Lexington, Ky. – In the second phase of the “best weekend all year,” Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg held on to their lead in the Land Rover/USEF CCI5* Eventing National Championship presented by MARS EQUESTRIAN on Saturday. Jumping a highly technical course designed by 2020 Tokyo Olympics course designer Derek di Grazia, Martin (Cochranville, Pa.) and the 12-year-old Trakehner gelding owned by Christine Turner finished within the 11 minute and 20 second time allowed to stay on their dressage score of 27.9. The double-clear cross-country run moved the combination into second place overall in the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5* presented by MARS EQUESTRIAN (LRK3DE).

“My little guy felt a lot more seasoned this year,” said Martin. “I feel like we are a bit more of a partnership. [Tsetserleg] is a real trier. For a half-bred horse, he has a wonderful gallop, plenty of speed, and he is very, very fit. Throughout the course, he just kept trying, and trying, and trying; he never looked for a way out. … He is a good little horse. He is a gutsy little trier and he had plenty left at the end. I couldn’t be happier with him.”

Watch Martin and Tsetserleg’s cross-country run here.

Fellow American combination Phillip Dutton (West Grove, Pa.) and Z, an 11-year-old Zangersheide gelding owned by Thomas Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Suzanne Lacy, Ann Jones, and Caroline Moran, also finished on their dressage score of 31.7 with a double-clear ride to firmly place them in second in the Land Rover/USEF CCI5* Eventing National Championship and moving them from seventh to fourth overall in the LRK3DE. Doug Payne (Aiken, S.C.) and Vandiver, a 15-year-old Trakehner gelding owned by the rider, Jessica Payne, and Debi Crowley, were just over the time allowed to finish cross-country on 35.9, sitting third in the national championship and moving from 19th to seventh overall.

Holding onto the lead in the LRK3DE, Great Britain’s Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class finished their cross-country run with 1.2 time penalties, adding to their dressage score to finish the second phase on 25.3. New Zealand’s Tim Price and Xavier Faer improved upon their fifth-place tie after dressage to move to third with a double-clear cross-country ride and a score of 30.9.

With a crowd of 34,889 watching closely, the 6,452 meter course saw just three combinations successfully complete the tougher option at the famed obstacle 20, the Normandy Bank: Martin, Dutton, and Townend. Martin, Dutton, Price, and American Will Coleman were the only four combinations to complete the course within the time allowed. Living up to the five-star expectations, the cross-country course required long gallops and strategic maneuvers by athletic horse and riders, resulting in 31 combinations completing the phase.

“My guy looks like he has come through [cross-country] alright; [Tsetserleg] is a good, tough horse,” said Martin when asked about his preparation for the jumping in the final phase on Sunday. “[Tsetserleg] is a bit tricky in the show jumping, so I will probably ride him for a bit after the trot-up [Sunday morning] and get him a bit more balanced. … I will do my very best, try to ride him well, and it will be what it will be.”

Tsetserleg served as Martin’s FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG) Tryon 2018 mount, and this is his second LRK3DE. The combination finished just outside of the top ten at the 2018 LRK3DE.

Visit the LRK3DE website for updated ride times, schedule of events, and scoring.

by US Equestrian Communications Department

Martin and Tsetserleg Lead Land Rover/USEF CCI5* Eventing National Championship after Dressage

Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg (Photo by Alex Banks for US Equestrian)

Defending champions Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class first at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event

Lexington, Ky. – In front of a home crowd of over 11,600 spectators, Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg earned a 27.9 after their dressage test to launch them into first place in the Land Rover/USEF CCI5* Eventing National Championship presented by MARS EQUESTRIAN as the leading U.S. combination at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS EQUESTRIAN (LRK3DE). Sitting third overall, Martin sits behind a duo of riders from Great Britain, Piggy French and Quarrycrest Echo in second on a score of 27.1 and LRK3DE defending champions Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class in first on a score of 24.1.

With both the LRK3DE and CCI5* national championship titles on the line, U.S. combination Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z, The Deniro Syndicate and Ocala Horse Properties’ 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, head into cross-country sitting tied for fifth overall and second in the national championship after their Thursday dressage score of 30.9. Phillip Dutton (West Grove, Pa.) and Z, an 11-year-old Zangersheide gelding owned by Thomas Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Suzanne Lacy, Ann Jones, and Caroline Moran, sit seventh overall and third in the national championship after finishing on a score of 31.7 after dressage.

Boyd Martin (Cochranville, Pa.) and his FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG) Tryon 2018 mount, Tsetserleg, a 12-year-old Trakehner gelding owned by Christine Turner, put in a stellar test as the third-to-last combination to finish out the dressage phase at the Kentucky Horse Park.

“I was happy with my bloke,” said Martin. “[Tsetserleg] put in a good test. Dressage is a frustrating sport because you can always look back on it and wish you did this a little bit better, or wish you did that a little bit better, but he is getting better and better. Last year, he was very green here and sort of scraped through all three phases. This year, he is a bit more seasoned and confirmed at this level. He has been working really, really well. He is a very quiet horse and relaxed. … I am really looking forward to tomorrow. It should be really fun.

“I think this is our third year together,” continued Martin. “It takes about two years to form a partnership. Last year, it was probably a little bit of a rush, getting through [LRK3DE] and then to the [WEG Tryon 2018]. It sort of felt like we were doing everything on a wish and a prayer, but it has been good just taking a bit of a moment to get to know each other well. He is a little bit of a quirky horse and we have had a bit of time now to figure each other out. … It is wonderful having a horse that tries his guts out.”

Watch Martin and Tsetserleg’s dressage test here.

Martin and Tsetserleg will be nearly the last combination to leave the start box on Saturday. However, Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z will start third on cross-country, following fellow American combinations Caroline Martin and Islandwood Captain Jack and Buck Davidson and Park Trader.

“I am very, very early on. I am third to go, so it is going be an occasion [where] I don’t get to watch any,” said Halliday-Sharp. “I’ve just got to make my own plan and stick to it, which actually suits me and [Deniro Z] anyway. I know him well and I think it is a strong track. I think Derek [di Grazia] builds a cross-country course that encourages bold riding. It is a good galloping course, which I hope will suit Deniro [Z]. There is a lot to do in the later part of the course. I think that is one of the biggest challenges – [the course] is sort of busy in that last minute and a half. … It will take a fit horse. I think the challenge is there and we just have to work hard and battle through it.”

Visit the LRK3DE website for updated ride times, schedule of events, and scoring.

by US Equestrian Communications Department