Ottawa, ON—Karl Slezak of Tottenham, ON, and Jessica Phoenix of Cannington, ON, contested top finishes in the 2009 edition of the Jersey Fresh CCI 3* Three Day Event, held May 7–10, 2009, in Allentown, New Jersey, USA. The competition experienced heavy rainfall requiring the dressage to be moved indoors followed by warm and humid conditions on cross country day.
Riding Kachemak Bay, Frankie Simpson’s 15-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding, Slezak was tied for 20th place after dressage with a score of 63.4. Adding only 4.4 cross country time faults following a flawlessly ridden performance over John Williams’ (USA) cross country course, Slezak and Kachemak Bay leaped up the leaderboard to fourth place. A clean ride in the show jumping round kept the pair in fourth place, finishing on a score of 67.8.
“My horse was the best that he could have been,” said Slezak. “The cross country course held up really well despite the weather, and my horse was still going strong at the end. The organizers did a really good job of planning the event around the weather.”
Finishing close behind Slezak, was Pan American Games team member Jessica Phoenix with her up-and-coming 11-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding Exponential. The pair sat in 17th place following dressage on a score of 62.0. After a close to perfect cross country ride that added just six time faults, they moved up the leader board into the fifth position. Producing in a fault free jumping round, they remained in fifth place on a final score of 68.0.
“Exponential was amazing. He was very fit and strong on cross-country,” said Phoenix. “He jumped very well in both phases. I can’t believe what a great job the organizers did to maintain the cross-country course after all the rain. It rode quite well considering the downpour we had.”
Not far behind Phoenix was Jessica Hampf of London, ON, and now residing in Auburn, AL, competing with High Society III, her 13-year-old Australian Thoroughbred gelding. A dressage score of 59.6 put them in 13th place, but they moved up to 11th place after cross country with 27.2 time faults added to their score. One costly rail dropped and four time faults in show jumping kept the pair at 11th place on a final score at 94.8.
Also placing in the CCI 3* division was Chelan Kozak of South Surrey, BC, who finished in 12th place with her partner, Tasman Sea, her 11-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred gelding. In 27th place following dressage, the pair posted 11.2 cross country time penalties followed by two rails and three time penalties show jumping, to finish on a score of 97.2.
Rounding out the Canadian entries in the CCI 3* division was Young Rider Stephanie Rhodes-Bosch of Summerland, BC, and Port Authority, her 11-year-old Selle Français gelding, who finished their first CCI 3* competition in 15th.
American Michael Pollard and Icarus won the CCI 3* division with a score of 46.4.
In the CCI 2* division, Micheline Jordan, who currently resides in Ocala, FL, finished in eighth place with her horse Irish Diamonds, an 11-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding. A dressage score of 65.7 had them in 25th position, and after adding no jumping and only 8.4 time faults cross country, they moved up into 12th position. With a fault-free show jumping round the pair finished on a score of 74.1
Close behind Jordan, in 10th place, was Rebecca Howard originally from Salmon Arm, BC, and now residing in Norwood, NC, USA, and Riddle Master, an eight-year-old Canadian Sport Horse gelding owned by Jean Watson. Sitting in 20th spot after dressage on a score of score of 60.2, the pair quickly moved up to 10th place after adding only 3.6 time penalties on cross-country. With one rail for four faults in the show jumping, Howard finished with a score of 76.0.
Emily Beshear of the United States, won the CCI 2* aboard Here’s To You.
Complete results for the 2009 Jersey Fresh CCI Three Day Event may be found at http://www.horseparkofnewjersey.com/jersey_fresh_2009/results.htm.
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