“It (the showcase format) has a real market and a real niche in our sport, but it is not what our sport is, compared to Kentucky or Badminton.”
for the horse’s confidence,” Chris says. “It was really special to have him ride him.” William Fox-Pitt says that he was grate-
ful for the generosity of Sandro Star’s owner and rider sharing such a nice horse, and he hopes Chris will go on to do great things with the horse. “He’s a lovely horse, and it was very generous of them to share him with me,” he notes. Sandro’s Star was the only stallion competing at the event, and he was a perfect gentleman. While he hopes that the showcase format will not become the sport of eventing in the future, William continues, he recognizes it has become an important part of the modern sport of eventing and demonstrates to audiences what the sport is about. “It has a real market and a real niche in our sport, but it is not what our sport is, compared to Kentucky or Badmin- ton,” he says. “I think a horse that does well here
is very much a specialist at performing under pres- sure, in a closed environment, and being very nippy and turny but not necessarily having great stamina to gallop ten minutes over terrain across country.” Boyd Martin, who winters at Stable View in Aiken,
rode three horses in the Grand Prix Eventing but opted to only run one horse on cross-country since Ray Price and Tsetserleg were heading to Red Hills in Florida the following week. He completed the compe- tition with Christine Turner’s mare Kyra, a 12-year-old Canadian Warmblood (Eastern Echo x Miner’s Girl, by Miner’s Mark), who finished fourth overall. Alexandra Knowles on Sound Prospect, a 17-year-
old Thoroughbred (Eastern Echo x Miner’s Girl, by Miner’s Mark), owned by the Sound Prospect Syndi- cate, initially tied with Boyd for fourth place but ulti- mately finished in fifth, as Boyd was closer to the opti- mum time. Phillip Dutton, who spends winters at his own Red
TOP: Doug Payne and Trakehner Vandiver placed second, moving up from third place after dressage. BOTTOM: Eventing legend William Fox- Pitt, Olympic medalist for Great Britain, borrowed U.S. rider Chris Talley’s top horse, Sandro’s Star (11-year-old Oldenburg stallion owned by Hannah Salazar) and placed third.
36 May/June 2019
Oak Farm in Aiken, was a longtime friend of Bruce Duchoissois, for whom the venue is named. For his efforts in bringing the event to life and his contribu- tions to the local horse community, the mayor of Aiken presented Philip with a “Key to the City of Aiken.”
“It was a bit of a shock and a great honor to receive the key to the city,” he
says. “It was very generous and thoughtful of the mayor and it’s certainly been a great privilege to be a part of this community.” The cross-country portion of the event was featured on EQTV
Network, and coverage can be found on
www.EQTVnetwork.com under “Eventing.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
