BROMONT, Canada--Caroline Pamukcu on HSH Double Sixteen and Phillip Dutton on Denim maintained their positions after cross country in the show jumping phase to win in CSI4*-L abd CCI4*-S divisions respectively at the Bromont CCI on Sunday, June 7.
Caroline Pamukcu on HSH Double Sixteen (Photo by Cealy Tetley)The CCI4*-L division featured three former racehorses, one of which was the winner,, HSH Double Sixteen, who had raced in Ireland before starting his career with Irish eventer Leila Barker and then went on with Pamukcu.
Pamukcu had ridden warmbloods, but changed her mind while based with New Zealand Olympic rider Andrew Nicholson.
“Andrew told me, if I want to be a proper five-star rider, I need to get more blood horses,” she said. “So I called up my business partner, Kelley Hutchinson, and said ‘We need a Thoroughbred!’ And she was like ‘I have one!’”
From the moment Pamukcu sat on HSH Double Sixteen, she knew he was the one.
Following a quick cross-country on Saturday, Pamukcu had a rail and some time in hand with “Six” but wound up with more space.
DESPITE two rails down, Pamukcu stayed on top in the standings to finish on a score of 47.5 and she also stayed second on She’s The One, who finished the weekend on a score of 56.6
“Both of them are just fabulous horses, and I'm just so happy for the owners – they deserve it,” Pamukcu said. “They've been with me since day one, so it's just great to do well for them, and do well for the horses. ‘Six’ was fabulous all weekend."
"There's so much more improvement that can be done, but again, remember, they're both 11 year olds, and I think they both have bright futures." she said. "Their cross-country rounds were immaculate. They're just absolute machines, but again, there’s a lot more work that can be done – the dressage and the show jumping – and even with the cross-country, I can fine tune some things. But I'm so happy because I felt confident this weekend. So that's the biggest thing – the biggest takeaway.
Maryland-based Tracy Bienemann on off-track Thoroughbred Venezuelan River finished third on a score of 57.9.
Bienemann had a friend at the racetrack who had a 3-year-old, Venezuelan River, who urgently needed a new home, so Bienemann saw him, liked him and bought him for a dollar.
“He was so naughty and dangerous as a baby horse that it took me three years to decide to spend money on a recognized event for him,” Bienemann said. “And all the foundation really paid off. He's been spectacular since he started showing when he was about 6. He moved up to Advanced at 9.
Dutton on Denim was clean show jumping to finish on a score of 44.5to win the CCI4*=S division.
“Denim usually show jumps really well. If there's any trouble, it's usually my fault,” Dutton said. “So it was good. It's great to be here in this big ring.”
FEI Eventing World #5 Boyd Martin on Fetiche Des Rouges was also clean show jumping to finish second on a score of 50.7, and Canadian Olympic rider Jessica Phoeniz on Fluorescent Adolescent was third on a score of 53.1.
Canadian Olympian Colleen Loach won the CCI3*-L on Chiaro Z Excalibur, clean in show jumping to finish the weekend on a 42.1.
Ariel Grald finished second on Obalix on 46.3, and Arden Wildasin was third on Dalegra on 49.8.
