Canadian Olympians, Selena O’Hanlon of Kingston, ON and Jessica Phoenix of Cannington, ON earned top-three finishes on the leaderboard at the Plantation Field International Horse Trials, held Sept. 14-17, 2017 in Unionville, PA.
In the CIC 3* division, O’Hanlon earned a third place finish against a stacked field of international competitors, riding her long-time partner, Foxwood High, a 14-year-old Canadian Sport Horse gelding, sired by Rio Bronco W and owned by John and Judy Rumble.
The duo started strong after scoring 41.80 penalties in the dressage phase for an initial placing of second. Up next was show jumping, where O’Hanlon and Foxwood High crossed the timers with just one rail lowered to add four jumping penalties, bringing their two-phase score to 45.80 penalties to put them into fourth position. An impressive, double-clear cross-country performance over 25 obstacles designed by Mike Etherington-Smith (FEI 4*) of Great Britain, kept their final score to 45.80 and moved them up to their final placing of third.
“I was really pleased with our performance overall,” said O’Hanlon, who was just 2.5 penalties off the lead of American, Buck Davidson Jr., who won with a score of 43.30 aboard Copper Beech. “I’m going to go home and work even harder at show jumping. We could have won this weekend without the rail, so hopefully we’ll be just one rail better again; that would make the difference. But Woody jumped phenomenally, it was an unlucky rail. He’s definitely on the up-and-up.”
O’Hanlon, who next has her sights set on the CCI 3* Dutta Corp Fair Hill International, coming up in October 2017 in Maryland, continued, “For dressage, I’ve been working a lot with Christilot Boylen and showing Woody in dressage at Palgrave, and it’s starting to pay off. Cross-country has been his strongest phase lately, he’s just gotten better and better.”
Fellow Canadian Olympian, Colleen Loach of Dunham, QC finished just outside the top 10 on the leaderboard, taking 11th place on a final score of 55.30 penalties with her partner from the 2016 Rio Olympics, Qorry Blue d’Argouges, a 13-year-old Selle Francais gelding sired by Mr. Blue and owned by Peter Barry.
In the CIC 2*-B division, it was Phoenix who shined, finishing second aboard Bentley’s Best (Hirtentanz x Eichendorff), a 10-year-old Trakehner gelding owned by The Bentley’s Best Group. A score of 40.60 penalties put them into third place after dressage, and they held that position following a foot-perfect show jumping round. Phoenix and Bentley’s Best moved up a spot to finish the day in second place after completing the 21 cross-country obstacles with no jumping and just 4.40 time penalties for a final score of 45.00.
“I was incredibly happy with Bentley’s Best – he had three very solid phases, and he loved every minute of the competition,” said Phoenix, who has been enjoying a strong 2017 season with her up-and-coming partner, having also picked up top-10 finishes at the CIC level at the Red Hills Horse Trials in March, and the Richland Park Horse Trials in August. “I am so excited for his future and I would like to thank the Bentley’s Best Group for all of their support with this amazing boy!”
Next on the leaderboard for Canada in the CIC 2*-B division was Shelby Brost of St. Albert, AB, who is an Individual Gold Medalist from the 2016 FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC), and the 2017 Stuart Horne Canadian Champion in the CCI 2* division. Paired with Namaste (Recruut x Screen King), her 17-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, she finished in 11th place on a final score of 56.10 penalties.
In the CIC 2*-A division, Canadians held eight of the top 20 spots on the leaderboard, with the highest-placed athletes including Waylon Roberts of Port Perry, ON. Riding Mindful (Maltstirker x Master Imp), a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Anthony Connolly and Skye Levely, Roberts finished in ninth place (52.10), highlighted by a double-clear show jumping performance.
Directly behind Roberts in 10th place was Brandon McMechan of Toronto, ON, who finished on a score of 53.60 after a double-clear performance on cross-country aboard his eight-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Oscar’s Wild. Dana Cooke, a Canadian currently residing in Mooresville, NC, wasn’t far behind, finishing in 11th place on a final score of 54.80 penalties with FE Mississippi (Cassini II x Legaat), a seven-year-old Dutch Sport Horse mare owned by Kingfisher Park.
The CIC 1*-B division saw Brost take ninth place, this time aboard Excellence, an eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding she co-owns with her mother, Teresa. The pair moved up from their 13th place dressage finish due to zero jumping and just 1.60 time penalties in cross-country, and a foot-perfect show jumping performance, to finish on 53.80 penalties. Dasha Ivandaeva from Newmarket, ON took 11th place after riding her seven-year-old Dutch Sport Horse mare, Valentina (Forever x Salut) to a final score of 58.00 penalties.
For more information and full results from the Plantation Field International Horse Trials, click here.
Top 20 Canadian Results
CIC 3*
Placing / Rider / Horse / Owner / Score
3rd / Selena O’Hanlon / Foxwood High / John & Judy Rumble / 45.80
11th / Colleen Loach / Qorry Blue d’Argouges / Peter Barry / 55.30
17th / Lisa Marie Fergusson / Honor Me / Lisa Marie Fergusson / 62.80
18th / Waylon Roberts / Kelecyn Cognac / Anthony Connolly & Skye Levely / 64.20
CIC 2*-A
Placing / Rider / Horse / Owner / Score
9th / Waylon Roberts / Mindful / Anthony Connolly & Skye Levely / 52.10
10th / Brandon McMechan / Oscar’s Wild / Brandon McMechan / 53.60
11th / Dana Cooke / FE Mississippi / Kingfisher Park / 54.80
12th / Jessica Phoenix / A Little Romance / Donald Leschied / 56.50
13th / Dana Cooke / FE Stormtrooper / Kingfisher Park / 57.00
14th / Dasha Ivandaeva / Autorytet / Daria Ivandaeva / 58.50
15th / Lindsay Beer / Kennystown Frankie / Lindsay Beer / 58.90
19th / Jordan Thompson / Femme Fatale / Jordan Thompson / 61.90
CIC 2*-B
Placing / Rider / Horse / Owner / Score
2nd / Jessica Phoenix / Bentley’s Best / The Bentley’s Best Group / 45.00
11th / Shelby Brost / Namaste / Shelby Brost / 56.10
13th / Waylon Roberts / Born Ready / Ashley MacVaugh / 56.90
CIC 1*-B
Placing / Rider / Horse / Owner / Score
9th / Shelby Brost / Excellence / Shelby & Teresa Brost / 53.80
11th / Dasha Ivandaeva / Valentina / Dasha Ivandaeva / 58.00
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