Little and Clearwater Conquer $35,000 1.50m Welcome Stake CSI 3* at TIEC

Mill Spring, N.C. – July 5, 2018 – Marilyn Little (USA) and Clearwater scooped up a win in the $35,000 1.50m Welcome Stake CSI 3* to officially open FEI Tryon Summer IV competition at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC), sweeping through the short-course timers in 31.617 seconds. Aaron Vale (USA) and Major, a 2007 Danish Warmblood gelding (Carmargue x A’khan Z), claimed second place after clearing the jump-off in 32.701 seconds, while Samuel Parot (CHI) and Thriller P, a 2004 Swedish Warmblood stallion (Cardento x Lucky Light) finished third on a fast, four-fault round of 31.416 seconds.

Marilyn Little and Clearwater. Photo: © Sportfot
Marilyn Little and Clearwater. Photo: © Sportfot

A total of 39 entries contested the first-round track set by Alan Wade (IRL), with seven pairs welcomed back for the short test. After watching both Parot and Vale’s performances, Little and the 2007 Holsteiner gelding (Clearway x Come On) put in a quick and clean round that could not be beat.

“It’s always exciting to ride one of Alan’s courses,” said Little of the competitive class. “He does an incredible job and they’re always extremely technical and challenging. I think he usually evaluates the field that he has very well. Today’s was a well-planned course and there were not too many clear. It’s a step up for the 3* week, which was nice and it was a lot of fun.”

Little further elaborated about the course’s technical nature, which plays to Clearwater’s strengths. “There was a center line that was quite difficult – [Wade] included three doubles today and he does that somewhat regularly. It really allows the course to be even more technical. The doubles really caught a lot of people out, but my horse is very technically able. He’s really easy to ride and when I see those kinds of lines in a course, it’s definitely to his advantage,” she explained. “He’s a very quick horse in the jump-off.”

“I knew that with that group of people, whether some had rails or not, I’d have to put in a personal best to win,” Little described, noting the day’s stiff competition. “Clearwater is very fast, and he was really excited to be here, too, since it’s his first week here this summer. He’s had a lot of good rounds in this ring, so we’re looking forward to Saturday’s [Grand Prix].”

Marilyn Little and Clearwater pose for their awards presentation photo with groom, Fernando Rodriguez. Photo: © Sportfot
Marilyn Little and Clearwater pose for their awards presentation photo with groom, Fernando Rodriguez. Photo: © Sportfot

Little has been keeping things light with Clearwater in the Jumping discipline while she focuses on preparing her FEI World Equestrian Games™ (WEG) mount, RF Scandalous, after the duo were recently being named to the Land Rover USA Eventing Team Short List for the event.

“I was last here for The Fork. But recently, I took Clearwater to Upperville in June and then to a small national show to give him an easy round. He won that and so we haven’t been doing a ton, but I’m just trying to choose well-planned, well-timed shows and not push it leading up to September.”

In addition to preparing and maintaining her horses, Little is also still mindful of an older, but serious foot injury and has recently completed a six-month stint in a boot, she added. “It’s pretty good. I expected by now to have had surgery. I did spend six months in the boot, which had I known I was going to be in it for that long I would have tried something different, but in the end, it really let it heal. I won’t say it feels normal now, but it’s certainly manageable and I don’t notice it when I’m riding.”

Javier Fernandez and End Good All Good. Photo: © Sportfot
Javier Fernandez and End Good All Good. Photo: © Sportfot

Earlier in the week, the $5,000 1.40m Power & Speed Stake CSI 3* congratulated Javier Fernandez (MEX) and End Good All Good, a 2009 Dutch Warmblood gelding (Mr. Blue x Caretino) for their victory, stopping the short-course timers in 29.316 seconds to best the field of 32.

Kristen Vanderveen (USA) and Bull Run’s Almighty, a 2008 Hanoverian gelding (Caspar x Quidam De Revel) slid into second place after their 29.569-second jump-off performance, while third place honors went to Mattias Tromp (USA) and the 2009 Dutch Warmblood mare (Harley VDL x Orthos), Eyecatcher, after they completed the short-course in 30.964 seconds.

Javier Fernandez and End Good All Good in their awards presentation ceremony. Photo: © Sportfot
Javier Fernandez and End Good All Good in their awards presentation ceremony. Photo: © Sportfot

Tryon Summer IV continues through Sunday, July 8. The week will feature the highlight $132,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix CSI 3* on Saturday, July 7, at 8:00 p.m. EST, with free “Saturday Night Lights” activities and entertainment beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Tryon Summer Series continues through Sunday, July 22, and features six weeks of international and national hunter, jumper, and equitation competition.

RESULTS

$35,000 1.50m Welcome Stake CSI 3*
Place / Horse / Rider / R1 Faults | Time / R2 Faults | Time
1. Clearwater / Marilyn Little / 0 | 70.69 / 0 | 31.617
2. Major / Aaron Vale / 0 | 70.62 / 0 | 32.701
3. Thriller P / Samuel Parot / 0 | 69.04 / 4 | 31.416
4. Silteplait De Circee / Darragh Kerins / 0 | 68.48 / 4 | 31.677
5. Caillou / Luis Pedro Biraben / 0 | 70.71 / 4 | 32.479
6. Carlo / Jack Hardin Towell / 0 | 69.68 / 4 | 33.151
7. Finou 4 / Aaron Vale / 0 | 73.28 / 4 | 40.922
8. MTM Vivre Le Reve / Brian Moggre / 4 | 69.54
9. Quality Girl / Todd Minikus / 4 | 70.13
10. Sombrero Brimbelles / Roberto Teran Tafur / 4 | 71.57
11. Quincy Car / Fernando Cardenas Jr / 4 | 72.04
12. Ardente Printaniere / Sydney Shulman / 4 | 72.38

For full results, click here.

$5,000 1.40m Power & Speed Stake CSI 3*
Place / Horse / Rider / R1 Faults | Time / R2 Faults | Time
1. End Good All Good / Javier Fernandez / 0 | 37.37 / 0 | 29.316
2. Bull Run’s Almighty / Kristen Vanderveen / 0 | 38.31 / 0 | 29.569
3. Eyecatcher / Mattias Tromp / 0 | 36.54 / 0 | 30.964
4. Quincy Too / Fernando Cardenas Jr / 0 | 38.59 / 0 | 31.892
5. Valentine Car / Fernando Cardenas Jr / 0 | 39.23 / 0 | 33.357
6. Kirschwasser SCF / David O’Brien / 0 | 40.77 / 0 | 33.407
7. Liroy 30 / Taylor Land / 0 | 40.22 / 0 | 41.283
8. Dy Zento / David Blake / 0 | 41.08 / 1 | 45.743
9. Caillou / Luis Pedro Biraben / 0 | 40.03 / 1 | 45.997
10. MTM Vivre Le Reve / Brian Moggre / 0 | 36.1 / 4 | 27.457
11. Sandetto / Jack Hardin Towell / 0 | 36.55 / 4 | 28.786
12. Dustin 254 / Brittni Raflowitz / 0 | 39.63 / 4 | 29.635

For full results, click here.

No Comments Yet

Comments are closed