FAIR HILL, Md.--Felix Vogg of Switzerland on his 14-year-old mare, Cartania, won the CCI5*-L at the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill with a clean show jumping round on Sunday, Oct. 19 to finish on a final score of 28.7.
Feliix Vogg on Cartania (Photo by Allen MacMillan for MacMillan Photography)Monica Spencer of New Zealand on Artist, the leader gong into jumping, had a two rails down to drop to second, finishing on 31,7.
Although Spencer competes for New Zealand, she is a neighbor of Boyd and Silva Martin, and this coming February she will be located in the U.S., for two years.
In the 3*, Maryland Native Isabelle Bosley on Conner won on her dressage score of 24.8, with Alyssa Phillips on Rockett 19 second on her dressage score of 25.5
Two very familiar names finished third in the 5* and 3* respectively, Martin and Dutton, but in this case, although it was Boyd Martin, it was Olivia Dutton, not her father Phililp who was on the leaderboard.
Martin on Commando 3 with a clean round on Sunday jumped two places to finish third on 32.9 in the 5*, while Dutton on Jewelent finished on 35.4 to place third in the 3*.
Caroline Pamukcu was fourth on HSH Blake in the 5* with a score of 39.4.
With this win, Vogg makes history once again.
FOLLOWING his 2022 triumph at Luhmühlen aboard Colero, Vogg became the first and only Swiss rider to win a five-star since Hans Schwarzenbach’s Badminton victory in 1951.
Boyd Martin on Commando 3 (Photo by Allen Macmillan for Macmillan Photography)Now, he becomes the only Swiss rider ever to capture two five-star titles.
Vogg has been riding Cartania for more than seven years.
He lived for a year at Martin's farm in Cochranville, Pa., during which time his career with Cartania began with their first international start together at Plantation Field in the fall of 2018, when the mare was just 7 years old.
Since then, the pair have competed across the globe, including in the United States, England, France, Poland, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy and secured a top-15 finish at the 2022 World Championships.
Now they have a career-defining victory at the sport’s highest level.
“It is unbelievable, and the horse was unbelievable,” Vogg said. “Of course, I wanted to win all week, many people wanted that. She was all week mentally so strong.”
Vogg’s participation was made possible in part by support from the Maryland 5 Star International Riders Travel Grant Program, which assists in bringing elite horses and riders from around the world to Maryland.
Isabelle Bosley on Conner (Photo by Allen MacMillan)“Many people invite me to the U.S., but costs are quite high and to be honest, without that grant, I wouldn’t be here,” Vogg said. “I am very thankful that people donated and put money together so that we can all come over.”
In the CCI3*-L competition, Bosley led from start to finish, first all three phases of competition, and her win marks her first CCI3-L victory.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Bosley said. “It means so much to have my family and friends here supporting me this weekend. Conner was incredible, he’s such a good boy, and he’s definitely not for sale.”
Alyssa Phillips stayed in second place throughout the competition, and Dutton also was third in all three phases.