Fast Facts: Moven Park International

Returning this week for its third year is the CCI4*-L division at the Morven Park International in Leesburg, Virginia. This year the event takes place Thursday, Oct. 12 through Sunday, Oct. 15 and will not only feature the four-star long competition, but will also offer the CCI4*-S, CCI3*-S, CCI2*-S levels, the CCI3*-S and CCI2*-S Young Horse divisions, and national divisions at the Preliminary, Training, and Novice levels.

The CCI4*-L Field:

All of the pairs entered are representing the U.S. aside from Lucienne Bellissimo who is representing Great Britain with her two entries: Dyri and Tremanton.
New to the CCI4*-L level this weekend are:
- Samantha and Terry Tinney’s 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Cutty Sark ridden by Samantha.
- Horse Scout Eventing’s 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding Dyri (Diarado x La Calera) ridden by Bellissimo.
- Shannon Lilley’s 9-year-old Selle Français gelding Eindhoven Garette (Iowa 960 x Rose Rouge Garette).
- Redfield King’s HX Group’s 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding King’s Especiale (Connect x Cha Cha Cha Special) ridden by Caroline Pamukcu.
- Sheri Gurske, Renee Senter, and Julie Wolfert’s 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding SSH Playboy (Cit Cat x Stomeyford Black Pearl) ridden by Wolfert.
- Andy and Mollie Hoff, Sherrie Martin, and Caroline Pamukcu’s 8-year-old Anglo European mare She’s the One (Jaguar Mail x One to Watch) ridden by Pamukcu.
- Horse Scout Eventing’s 11-year-old British Sport Horse mare Tremanton (Birkhof’s Grafenstolz x Trevia) ridden by Bellissimo.
- Rico Syndicate LL’s 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Vandyke (Vancouver x Shannondale Willow) ridden by Allison Springer.
Six mares and 11 geldings make up the entry pool.

Of the CCI4*-L entries, there are two U.S.-breds competing, both of which are Thoroughbreds: Steven Berkowitz’s 11-year-old gelding Chilly (Zanjero x Tax Rob) who is being ridden by Lillian Heard Wood and Beth and Brian Brown and Madison Temkin’s 10-year-old mare MVP Madbum (Papa Clem x Dancing Stripes) ridden by Temkin.
- Both horses are off the track. Chilly raced under the name Ladron and had 29 career starts with $38,175 in earnings. MVP Madbum had three starts in her career with $315 in lifetime earnings.
Aside from those two Thoroughbreds, the rest of the entries were born overseas with four bred in the Netherlands, three in Ireland, two in Great Britain, four in Germany, one in France, and one in Canada.
Yankee Creek Ranch LLC’s 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 (Connor 48 x R-Adelgunde) and Boyd Martin have had quite the season so far, coming off of a fresh win in the CCI4*-S at The Fork at Tryon (Mill Spring, North Carolina) last month and having had a third-place finish in the CCI4*-L at the Tryon International Three-Day Event earlier this spring.
Also coming in off of a successful last event are Ariel Grald and Annie Eldridge’s 8-year-old Hanoverian mare Diara (Diacontinus x Lady Revens) who just won the CCI4*-S at Plantation Field (Unionville, Pennsylvania) a few weeks ago.
Cutty Sark is the oldest horse in the field at 16. There are two 8-year-olds taking the title of youngest entries: She’s the One and King’s Especiale.
The USEA is hosting a CCI4*-L Owners, Riders, and Grooms Sip & Taste Reception by the Grand Prix arena on Friday, October 13, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. Please RSVP to jennifer@useventing.com.

The Facts:

Gale Fox is the Technical Delegate for the four-star with Katherine Cooper assisting. Tim Murray is the TD for the two- and three-star levels, as well as the national levels.
Peter Gray is the President of the Ground Jury.
Derek di Grazia is the cross-country course designer for the four-star divisions with Jeff Kibbie assisting.
Chris Barnard is the show jumping course designer.
The CCI4*-L is a qualifier for the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final that will take place at the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds.

The Schedule:

Thursday, October 12