Springer Bounces to First at Rolex

By Staff Report April 27, 2012

When the dust settled in the dressage arena, U.S. rider Allison Springer and Arthur topped the charts after the first phase of the 2012 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, scoring a 39.8. Hot on their heels is Great Britain’s William Fox-Pitt and Parklane Hawk with a 41.3.

Clark Montgomery of Fairburn, GA, piloted Loughan Glen to third at his CCI4* debut with the horse. The second field of riders―30 in all―took to the arena on Friday, April 27 to finish what was started the day before.

Karen O’Connor rode Mr. Medicott into fourth place (44.2) today. Yesterday she stood second on Veronica (47.8), who has since dropped to ninth.

A chilly start to the day meant some fresh horses, but Springer rode Arthur with a lot of confidence and was rewarded by the ground jury of Nick Burton, Anne-Mette Binder and Michel Asseray. Now 13, Arthur can be relied upon to produce a good dressage test despite his seemingly worried outlook on life.

“Well, it is no surprise to anyone that my horse is a bit of a spook and nervous and all that,” said Springer, 37, who is based in Marshall, VA. “I’ve just really focused on my goals and the path I have to be on to get there with him,” she said, noting the emphasis has been on “having a good ride, not thinking about the results, to try to keep him as relaxed as possible.”

Arthur’s test was forward and very well executed, as Springer squeezed every point she could out of the Rolex Stadium.

Although this pair hasn’t won a CCI4* together yet, they have jumped around some very tough tracks, and they won their last outing, the Advanced division at North Carolina’s Fork Horse Trials.

They head into Saturday’s cross country with a slim lead, but are ready to tackle Monterey, CA-based course designer Derek DiGrazia’s cross country track. She’ll have a lot to think about with Fox-Pitt, the 2010 Rolex Kentucky winner on Cool Mountain, hot on her heels. The 43-year-old has been one of Great Britain’s top international event riders for more than a decade and has won more than 40 CCIs in his career.

Fox-Pitt said he isn’t yet sure if Parklane Hawk―the 11-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred on whom he won the Burghley Three-Day Event in England in September―will be ready to be his Olympic mount this summer.

“This week will tell me more about the Olympics and this horse. If he goes well, then he could be the one,” Fox-Pitt said. “I wanted to have another three-day run on him perhaps ahead of the Games in London. Because the course here is a little bit up and down and there are a few twists and turns and I am thinking it will be―I am hoping it will be―a good experience for him and another opportunity to form a better partnership.”

He said he was pleased with his mount’s dressage performance. “He did some lovely work in there. The test wasn’t perfect, and the slightly annoying thing was that the blips he made this year he didn’t make last year. There were just a few moments of tension.”

Fox-Pitt won Team and Individual Silver at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2010 at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the same year he won this event on Cool Mountain. With his win at Burghley he is teed-up to take a whack at the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, a trifecta that in also includes this Kentucky 4* and the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in England next week. If successful, he would pick up a $350,000 bonus for his efforts (but only one rider, Pippa Funnel, has been able to achieve this in the contest’s 14-year history).

Rounding out the top three is Ocala, FL-based Montgomery, who must be thrilled with the result from his 9-year-old Irish Sport horse Loughan Glen in their first CCI4* together.

A mistake in the turn on the haunches marred an otherwise stellar effort as the horse rose to the occasion. He produced beautiful flying changes in the difficult test. “He just handles it so well,” Montgomery said. “It makes him an awesome competitor.”

Cross country begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Team Gold and Individual Bronze medalist from the 2011 Pan American Games, Buck Davidson kicks off the day with Absolute Liberty and a star-studded field will follow to gallop over the Kentucky Bluegrass.

After walking the course Fox-Pitt said that no one fence was causing him unusual anxiety. “It’s a very clever course, and it’s a track that you can certainly attack, but I think it will have a cumulative effect going around,” especially since the third-last fence—two narrow brush fences with ditches below them—will require a tremendous physical and mental effort from horse and rider. There are lots and lots of opportunities for things to go wrong, and you’ve got to keep on doing it.”

Montgomery, 30, called di Grazia’s cross country course will be a big test for ‘Glen,’ but Montgomery will rely on his preparation and training to produce a result similar to the one that notched a fifth place finish at the Fidelity Investments Blenheim International Horse Trials last fall. They were recipients of a Land Rover Competition and Training Grant which made that trip to the UK possible.

“We’ll keep in mind he is a young green, horse. I’m going to try to be competitive, but if it any point I have to slow down or take a slower option, that’s what I’ll do. He needs to gain confidence from this event more than he needs to win this event,” the rider said.

“Derek designs a beautiful course, and there’s no one thing out there where I wondered what he was doing. But you do have to hold your line at almost every fence. They’re great questions, but there’s a lot to do out there,” Springer added.

For a complete list of results, click here.

For an overview of the 2012 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, including ride times, press releases and a photo gallery, visit rk3de.org.

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