Liz Halliday-Sharp and Deniro Z Photo courtesy Amber Heintzberger
The final day of competition at the 2020 Plantation Field International Three-Day Event Presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services saw Liz Halliday-Sharp take her second CCI4* since competition re-commenced in the USA. The Kentucky-based rider, who also won at Great Meadow International in August, led from start to finish to win the CCI4*-S riding Deniro Z, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Zapatero VDL x Zonne-Tred) owned by Ocala Horse Properties on a score of 26.80.
Phillip Dutton riding Z, owned by the Z Partnership, finished second (29.3) followed by Woods Baughman of Lexington, KY riding C’est La Vie 135 (36.90). There were 53 horses entered in the division, and Halliday-Sharp rode two other horses at this level as well as one in the CCI3*-S.
“Deniro Z is such a star,” said Halliday-Sharp “I rode him around his first event ever, a few years ago now, and we’re just a good team. For the most part I felt the round was spot-on, I wanted to finish on the optimum time, I didn’t want to come in way inside the time or anything crazy, I just wanted a good round. I had a little bit of an exciting moment at the first water where he jumped so big over the jump in and then got really deep to the skinny and he sort of hooked a little leg and smacked me in the face, so I was seeing double on the way to the coffin, but luckily my vision came back just before we had to jump in! It shows what a great horse he is, he didn’t look at anything. He’s a world-class horse and I’m just lucky to ride him.”
She now plans to compete him at the CCI4*-L at the Tryon International Equestrian Centre in November and has her eye on the US Eventing Team at the Tokyo Olympic Games next summer.
Earlier in the day Halliday-Sharp had a fall when she was riding Flash Cooley around the four-star, which left her with a black eye.
“He’s still green and very careful, and he just panicked a little and jumped into the middle,” she said. Cooley Quicksilver, owned by The Monster Partnership, finished 13th overall, and Cooley Be Cool, owned by The Monster Partnership and Ocala Horse Properties, finished fourth in the CCI3*-S.
Dutton, who sits on the Board of the event, said, “I thought it was a great competition and the cross-country caused a little more trouble than expected – the time was tight and there were quite a few riders having a crack at the it.”
Dutton’s daughter Olivia was second in the CCI2*-S riding Iniesta. Phillip said, “She just started at the University of Kentucky, where she’s studying business, and flew in to compete this weekend. She won the dressage and had a little time on the cross-country yesterday, then jumped around clear today. This was the horse’s first FEI class and she was really pleased with him. She’s got Mighty Nice with her in Kentucky, so she’s still riding regularly.”
As for the event, Dutton said, “It would have been ideal to have spectators, it’s too bad they weren’t allowed due to Covid-19. A couple months ago we were trying to decide if we could actually do an event this year, and we had to keep it kind of bare-bones since we wouldn’t have spectators, etc. coming in. But people wanted to run their horses and we wanted to give them that opportunity. All credit goes to Denis and Bambi Glaccum and Mary Coldren, who put it all together”
With the future of the event in doubt due to a dispute over the name of the competition that prompted the landowner to terminate the lease on the property, Glaccum commented, “I had numerous people come to me today telling me this is an institution that we can’t afford to lose. This event this weekend went as well as any event I’ve been associated with, which is due to the expertise of the volunteers. We have people who have volunteering with us since 1986 and they all feel a great sense of pride over being involved with this. Hopefully we can keep it going somehow.”
Baughman commented, “The course today rode fantastic. The ground was quite quick, so I let him cruise along; there were quite a few turns that slowed everyone down but he just ate it up and I let him go.” This was his third time competing at the venue and he said, “It’s a beautiful venue and they’ve put a lot of effort into it, so it’s a big loss and on top of that it leaves a big hole in our calendar.”
Canadian Holly Jacks-Smither of Ontario claimed the award for the top-placing Thoroughbred when she finished fifth with More Inspiration, a horse that she galloped on the track and got off the track at age four and has competed internationally in eventing at Aachen (Germany) and Pau (France).
“He’s a true five-star horse. He’s a horse that I can choose where I take him out now, he’s 15, and I decided to go for it this weekend. I might put him away for the season, or maybe take him to Tryon. I’d like to take him to Kentucky next year or maybe Burghley.”
If she can get an athlete’s exemption from the two-week quarantine and a clear Covid test, she hopes to compete at Bromont (Quebec) in two weeks’ time
Maya Black of Upperville, VA won the CCI3* riding FE Black Ice on their dressage score of 25.20. Hannah Sue Burnett on Capital M finished in a close second on a score of 26.10 with Natalia Neneman and Electric Lux rounding out the top three on 28.80.
Overnight leader Boyd Martin, who was placed first and second after dressage and show jumping, took the cross country slow as was his plan after returning to competition following rehab from an injury. He finished well down the leaderboard in 10th place riding Christine Turner’s On Cue and 15th with the syndicated Long Island T.
Black was full of praise for her horse, who had also had some time off. “He had done a few four-stars a couple of years ago and then had a year off due to injury,” said Black, who explained that her preparation for the event was minimal since so many competitions have been canceled due to the Covid-19 virus. “I did one prelim a minute too slow at Waredaca earlier this year and that’s all. He’s an extremely honest horse and easy to jump; I didn’t give him the prep I normally would but with the lack of events this year, I came into the weekend less prepared than usual. He was prepared fitness-wise obviously but has hasn’t been out that much for the past year and a half and isn’t used to being around other horses. He definitely rose to the occasion and did a really nice dressage test.”
She said, “He’s a pretty big, lanky horse and a lovely mover. As a ten-year-old he’s finally getting strong enough to hold his big movements together, so I was pleased with his score of 25. He jumped double clear in the show jumping and on cross country he came out like the horse I remember: he just galloped around and was so easy.”
Black has won the four-star a Plantation Field and placed second in the three-star last year on the horse that she is now competing in the CCI4*-S. “I love putting in a good galloping round here and have a lot of fun doing it,” she said.
Meghan Donohue and Palm Crescent finished 13th overall to win the Valant Trophy for the highest-placing Thoroughbred in the CCI3*-S. Donohue only recently acquired the horse from the Shipka family, and said that she did a steady round with him today in preparation for the CCI4*-L at Tryon in November. “He’s 14 this year and has done quite a lot at the four-star level and hopefully with go to a five-star next year,” she said. The gelding previously raced at Charlestown, WV and was acquired by CANTER Mid-Atlantic before beginning his sport horse career.
