BROMONT, Canada--Olympian Boyd Martin of Cochranville, Pa.,, had close to s clean sweep at Bromont, winning the CCI4* Saturday, Aug.12 with his Tokyo Olympic mount Tsetserleg on a final score of 52 points.
Boyd Martin on Tsetserleg wins Bromont (Photo by Cealy Tetley)He also placed third with On Cue on a score of 56.1, and fifth on Commando 3, 59.3, as well as third in the 3* on Contessa with a final score of 44.6.
With the event running as a ‘short format’, the dressage and show jumping phases were completed Friday, leaving the cross-country as the final and deciding phase Saturday.
Given the rain of the past three weeks, it was expected that galloping times would be conservative, and riders would be careful.
Thankfully the ground held up well, and the organizers were generous with stone chips and gravel as needed on takeoff and landings to ensure safety across all levels.
Time was the deciding factor Saturday, with every FEI rider save one, Canada’s Jessica Phoenix, winner of the 2* with Tugce, adding time faults to their overall score.
“THE FOOTING ended up being fantastic,” said Martin following his third and final round in the 4* division. "I think the whole field just looked after their horses, when the ground got quite boggy and soft. 80 percent of the course was very good. It was just small sections where everyone balanced their horses and looked after them a bit. Thomas (Tsetserleg) hasn’t jumped a cross-country jump since June so he was a little rusty at the beginning, but it’s a good fitness run for him. This was a perfect run over a big course and now we’ll wrap Thomas and 'Cue' up in cotton wool and be in England in a couple of weeks!”
Caroline Pamukcu on HSH Connor (Photo by Cealy Tetley)The overnight leader, Canadian Olympian Colleen Loach on FE Golden Eye, added a total of 22.8 time faults, compared to the 18 of Martin on Tsetserleg, to finish on a final score of 54.5 and settle for second place.
In the CCI3* division, it was Caroline Pamukcu (nee Martin, of Riegelsville, Pa.) who placed both first and second, leading wire-to-wire with HSH Connor and moving HSH Double Sixteen from sixth overnight up into second.
Both added time, but Double Sixteen held it to a very respectable 7.6 faults, with the two horses finishing on scores of 42.2 and 43.8 penalties respectively.
“For us, it’s important to schedule our horses for competitions where they will learn, and I always find Bromont has a hard cross-country track,” said Pamukcu. “It’s important for me to educate these horses for the future and for Teams, not just go to local shows and win.
“Connor found the course easy and it’s good for him to practice in the mud," said Pamukcu. "But he’s used to it. He spent six months in England last year, this wasn’t that muddy for us!"
“I didn’t have to push to make the time, as I was late to go.," she said. I" knew I could still win and had a few time faults to play with so we played it smart. What I love about Bromont is it’s super education for the horses. It really gets them ready for future team competition. If they go around here, I know they are ready for the world stage at whatever level they’re at.”
Lea Adams-Blackmore of Summit Point, W.Va., on Frostbite won the CCIU253* section, leading from start to finish.
She added no jumping faults over cross-country and just 9.2 time penalties, to finish on a final score of 47.1.
Canadian Olympian Jessica Phoenix won the CCI2* with Tugce, another wire-to-wire win and the only FEI rider on the property to finish on their dressage score of 29.9, having come in under the time allowed on cross-country.
Americans Ariel Grald on Adagio’s Nobility and Jennie Saville on Kismet finished second and third on 36.9 and 38.3.
Canada’s Kelly Belanger was the highest placed U252* rider, completing on a final score of 65.1 on Murphy’s Got Charm.
“The Dream Team” of Pamukcu on HSH Connor, Martin on Contessa), Adams-Blackmore on Frostbite and Ryan Wood on Check Point won i the CCI3* Teams competition, as well as finishing with the lowest team score overall of 133.90.
Full final results for all Individual sections and Teams can be found at www.evententries.com
Six countries were represented across the seven levels of competiton: CCI4*-S, CCI3*-S, CCIU253*-S, CCI2*-S, CCIU252*-S, EV110 and EV100 as well a Team Challenge modelled after the incredibly successful and popular MidSouth Team Challenge.
The fun Team Challenge was designed to give riders an introduction to the experience of riding on and strategizing as a team, with the end goal of finishing a full team with the lowest combined score possible.
