Marilyn Little and RF Smoke on the Water
US rider Marilyn Little produced two very good results to finish fifth and sixth at the Rolex, Kentucky CCI 4* as the sole rider to have two horses in the top ten of the only CCI4* in North America
Raylyn Farms & Phoebe and Michael Manders nine year old Wurttemburg gelding RF Smoke on the Water (Samos x Zuchtbuch Rapaula - Rapaulo) gave an impressive performance in his first four star event with a double clear that elevated him from 16th place after the dressage to finish on his dressage score of 52.5. 'Smoke' was one of the youngest horses in the field from 60 starters of which 36 finished, and rose to the occasion to show why he is one of the most talented young event horses in the world.
Team Demeter's 12 year old Oldenburg Mare RF Demeter (Rubin-Royal x Patricia) was the first of Little's two rides performing her dressage test in the first morning session on Thursday to lay down a competitive score of 51.3 in 9th place. A foot perfect cross country round elevated them to third place going into the stadium for the final show jumping phase where 'Demi' lowered the last element of the combination just three fences from home to add four penalties to an otherwise immaculate performance that placed them in sixth at their fifth CCI4* event together.
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