Selena Oâ€™Hanlon Earns Top Ten Finish at Jersey Fresh CCI 3*

Ottawa, Ontario— Selena Oâ€™Hanlon of Elgin, ON contested her first CCI 3*, placing seventh overall at the 2007 Jersey Fresh CCI 3* Three Day Event, held May 31 â€“ June 3 at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown, New Jersey, USA.

Paired with Elaine and Michael Daviesâ€™ 13-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Colombo, Oâ€™Hanlon got off to a great start, scoring 52.3 in the dressage phase, to sit in 11th place. Next, the duo tackled FEI course designer John Williamsâ€™ (USA) technical course, where they added no jumping faults, and just 3.6 time faults to move up to seventh position. After lowering one rail for four jumping faults, and incurring three time faults in the show jumping round, they kept their seventh place position with a final score of 62.9.

â€œColombo was really on the ball in dressage, he was up to par and moving well,â€ said Oâ€™Hanlon, who is competing with Colombo for the second season. â€œWe did our cross-country in the middle of the day when it was really hot, but he was fantastic, and had good energy.â€

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Not far behind was Jessica Phoenix of Uxbridge, ON, who earned 11th place aboard her 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Exploring. A dressage score of 54.2 put them in a tie for 14th place, but they moved up to 12th after putting in a clean jumping effort, and incurring 8.4 time faults in the cross-country phase. Four jumping faults and no time faults put their final score at 66.6.

Also placing in the three star division was Ontario native Wendy Southam of Stouffville, who received 15th place with her longtime partner, the 15-year-old Zangersheide mare Ruba Z. Despite a slow start, placing 29th after dressage, Southam shot up the standings to 15th after adding only 4.8 time faults cross-country, and kept her final placing after adding eight jumping and one time fault in show jumping for a final score of 74.2. Canadian Olympian Mike Winter rounded out the top 20, paired with his up and coming mount, Wonderful Will, a nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, owned by Sher and Elliott Schwartz. They finished on a final score of 80.2.

In the CCI 2* division, veteran rider Penny Rowland of Orangeville, ON was the top placed Canadian, riding Usha Knubeâ€™s 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Eric to a 12th place finish. A dressage score of 56.4 had them in 10th position and after adding no jumping, but 13.6 time faults they were tied for 16th place. A clear performance in show jumping kept their final score at 70.

Vanessa Fenwick of Pefferlaw, ON rode her nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Magic Carpet to a 14th place finish. Standing 26th after dressage, they completed cross-country, adding 11.2 time faults, to move up to 18th. After repeating Rowlandâ€™s faultless show jumping phase, they finished on a score of 73.

Canadians made their mark in the Advanced division, with Young Rider Waylon Roberts of Port Perry, ON claiming third place, paired with Paleface, a 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding owned by his mother, Kelly Plitz. The duo were in 17th place after scoring 44.6 in dressage, but after tackleing the cross-country course, finishing with just 3.6 time faults, they shot up the standings to sixth place. Only one rail came down in show jumping, for four faults, leaving them on a final score of 52.2.

Finishing in fifth place was west coast rider Sandra Donnelly of Calgary, AB, riding her homebred 10-year-old Canadian Warmblood gelding Buenos Aires. A dressage score of 42.2 put them in 14th place, but they moved up to eighth place after finishing cross-country with 13.2 time faults. A clear performance in show jumping brought their final score to 55.4. Kyle Carter, a Canadian rider currently based in Sparr, Florida finished right behind Donnelly in sixth position, riding Madison Park, a nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding he co-owns with Nicole Shinton. With the highlight of their performance being the cross-country phase, where they incurred no jumping, and just 5.2 time faults, the duo had a final score of 57.7.

Other Canadians in the top 10 included Samantha Taylor of Richmond, BC and Livewire, who took eighth place with a final score of 66.6. Rowland took ninth place (86.7) this time riding Windswept, while Winter rounded out the top ten aboard Kingpin.

The CCI 3* and Advanced divisions were the final outing for Canadian competitors looking for a spot on the team which will compete in the Pan American Games which will be held July 18-22, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

American rider Bonnie Mosser, took top placings in both the CCI 3* and advanced divisions with Merloch., And Close the Deal.respectively Fellow American Clark Montgomery won the CCI 2* division riding Up Spirit.

â€œJersey Fresh was super well organized, and the stabling was really nice,â€ commented Oâ€™Hanlon. â€œThe organizers were very friendly and helpful, and every aspect of the event was well done.â€

For more information and full results, visit www.horseparkofnewjersey.com.