Thursday, April 27 - The First Day of Dressage

The first of the early contenders, Great Britain's Burghley winner from last fall and therefore the only person eligible to gain a second leg on the Rolex Challenge, (a $250,000 purse to any competitor who can win the Land Rover Burghley CCI****, the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, and the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI****), William Fox-Pitt and Coup de Coeur (The latter placed third here last year when ridden by William's compatriot, Leslie Law.) scored a 50.4.

William, who arrived in the USA last Sunday and will leave immediately after the Show Jumping on next Sunday, to arrive in England Monday morning to prepare for Badminton, the first trot up for which is Wednesday afternoon, commented on being back at Rolex for the fourth time, The Cross Country course, ". . . has very similar in feeling (as in prior years) and is beautifully presented. It is a positive track - very "on" and attacking.

"The three waters will be testing and will slow us down a bit," William continued. "I have two good horses (Coup de Coeur and Mr. Dumbledore). I am looking forward to it!"

William's lead lasted through only one horse until the test Stephen Bradley, of Leesburg, Virginia, and the 13 year old Russian bred gelding From. (Steve and From are pictured at the left.)

Steve rode in the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 and won the Burghley CCI**** in 1993. More recently Steve placed fifth here at Rolex in 2004 and won the A-A Advanced Section at Poplar Place with Brandenburg's Joshua this spring

Steve and From had an accurate and cadenced test to take over the lead on a score of 43.9.

Heidi White, of Aiken, South Carolina rode in the last slot before the Lunch Break and slipped into second place with her own Northern Spy on a Dressage score of 48.90. Heidi and Northern Spy placed 10th at the Mitsibishi Motors Badminton CCI****, in 2005, as well as 10th in the World Cup CCI*** Final, at Malmo, Sweden.

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Mara Dean and Nicki Henley were the fifth pair to complete their Dressage Phase after the Lunch Break, on Thursday. From the outset it was clear to observers that they were watching an exceptionally good test.

Nicki Henley is a ten year old Irish Thoroughbred owned by Willow Bend LLC, of Round Hill, Virginia. In 2005, Nicki Henley and Mara finished 27th at the Fair Hill CCI*** last fall and were sixth at the Red Hills CIC*** this winter. (Mara and Nicki Henley are pictured at the left.)

Immediately following Mara came Donna Smith for New Zealand with Francis Stead, of Whitford, New Zealand's ten year old New Zealand bred thoroughbred Call Me Clifton. This pair had a very nice ride for a score of 45.6 and a brief sojourn in third place.

Four horses later in the afternoon rotation, Becky Holder, of Mendota Heights, Minnesota, rode her husband Tom Holder's ten year old gray American Thoroughbred to claim second place, nosing out Steve Bradley and From by .2 of a fault and pushing the Kiwi pair out of the top three. Becky and Courageous Comet were the fifth pair of the day to score in the 40's.

Becky and Courageous Comet have an excellent Horse Trial record together including second at Wayne, Illinois, in 2004; winning Advanced divisions at Pine Top, in Georgia, and at Poplar Place, in Georgia, in 2005; and, most recently placing ninth in the CIC***-W at The Fork, in North Carolina earlier this month. (Becky and Courageous Comet are pictured at the right.)

Becky spoke about her warm up for the Dressage with Robert Dover, "I had a bit of a meltdown in the warm up. I must have missed six to eight flying changes in a row."

Becky continued that Robert was a great help. He told her, "Don't worry just get in the ring and go with the flow of the test. It's going to be OK. You are always good at your changes."

Becky concluded, "I had been trying too hard in the warm up. I just pretended that I was doing changes in my field." (Becky Holder and Mara Dean are pictured at the left below, at the Press conference.)

Regarding the Rolex and Cross Country course Becky commented, "The last time I rode here was two weeks before I got married. I think I will have to concentrate a bit more on the course this time. I will have to walk it a few more times before it gets to looking smaller."

Mara has not ridden at Rolex since five years ago. Regarding the Dressage Test, she commented, "They've certainly jumped up the level. We have been fortunate to train with Robert Dover. He has given us the idea of going into the ring and being expressive."

Mara got Nicki Henley from Jan and Craig Thompson. At that time she was riding with David and Karen O'Connor. David rode Nicki Henley at Radnor for Mara (and won the CCI**) when she had a broken ankle from a horse - not Nicki Henley - slipping and falling on a hard road.

David told Mara, "You are going to have to start lifting weights. This is the strongest horse I have ever ridden."

Later Karen said to me, " You've got to let go and let him run. I found that worked and that I could take him back when I wanted to."

" I ride with Phillip (Dutton) now and he's put it all together," for me.

The second day of Dressage begins Friday morning at 9:00 AM. (Not 9:30 AM as this morning. )The first to ride will be Australia's Boyd Martin with Ying Yang Yo.

The Top Placings After the First Day of Dressage:

1. Mara Dean, Nicki Henley - 43.2
2. Becky Holder, Courageous Comet - 43.7
3. Stephen Bradley, From - 43.9
4. Donna Smith (NZL), Call me Clifton - 45.6
5. Heidi White, Northern Spy - 48.9
6. William Fox-Pitt (GBR), Coup de Coeur - 50.1
7. Amy Tryon, Woodstock - 51.1_
8. Penny Rowland (CAN), Windswept - 53.3
9. Andrew Hoy (AUS), Yeoman's Point - 54.6
10. Buck Davidson, Hyperlite - 56.3

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At a Press Conference held during the Lunch Break, Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher announced that the 2010 FEI Games (the WEG) would include, for the first time, Para-Equestrian Games would be held in addition to the other disciplines - Eventing, Dressage, Show Jumping, Driving, Endurance, Vaulting, and Reining.

The message of para-equestrian sport is to foster the growth and excellence of international equestrian sport for athletes with disability and providing competition opportunities for riders and drivers with disabilities to enable them to achieve their personal best performance in their chosen discipline.

David O'Connor, the President of the United States Equestrian Federation welcomed the Para-Equestrian Games to the 2010 FEI Games.