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Sophie Click and her 9-year-old Oldenburg gelding Tarantino 54 (Quattro B x Los Argentina) jumped clear with just 6.4 time faults on the cross-country track designed by Morgan Rowsell to win the CCI3*-S at Aspen Farms Horse Trials in Yelm, Washington on Sunday.
"He was amazing," said Click of Tarantino's clear cross-country ride. "The ground was definitely wet, so I was just trying to give him a good ride, and he was really good today. He had one of those hard-to-find weekends where he was really good in all three phases, and it all came together."
Up next the pair is aiming for the CCI3*-L at Rebecca Farms in Kalispell, Montana.
Californian Tommy Greengard and his 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Joshuay MBF (Foreign Affair x Fernacchy MBF) finished second in the CCI3*-S. It is the gelding's first season at the Intermediate three-star level.
"He was absolutely perfect," said Greengard. "He didn't put a foot wrong anywhere. He felt amazing. The course rode to plan everywhere. We are so happy with him. He has come up to play at this level."
Looking ahead, the pair will be headed to the USEA American Eventing Championships at Rebecca Farms in Montana in August.
Greengard also won the Open Preliminary aboard Andrea Pfeiffer's 6-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Leonardo Diterma (Gullet HBC x Gracie Terma). They led the division from start to finish, earning their third consecutive Preliminary level win in a row.
"He was super," said Greengard. "He kept trying the whole way around. It was a big ask for him, especially with the rain we got earlier in the week. He kept showing up and was totally on task. We're thrilled with him."
Anna Stein and her 8-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred (OTTB) mare Lucy Lucy Lucy (Kantharos x Heavens to Beauty) moved up from fourteenth place after show jumping to finish second, thanks to jumping a clear cross-country round with the fewest time faults in the division.
In the CCI2*-S, Karen O'Neal and the 8-year-old Westphalian gelding Clooney 14 (Captain Jack x Zauberfee), owned by Annika Asling, led from start to finish. They jumped clear cross-country and added just 4 time faults to win on a score of 30.4. Kerry Groot and her own 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding Borasco (Bravo x Faunja) finished second on 34.3.
In Open Intermediate, Meika Decher finished first aboard her 12-year-old homebred Thoroughbred gelding, Archie McPhee, after producing the fastest clear cross-country round in the division. It was thirteen years ago almost to the day that Decher returned home from Aspen Farms Horse Trials to meet her newborn foal, “Archie”, out of her three-star mare, A La Mode, by Ariadus.
"This is a long-time coming," said Decher. "I've gone up and down with this horse from Preliminary to Intermediate for the last two years, and he has not been easy. This time it felt like everything was right in its place. He answered every single question beautifully."
In Preliminary Rider, Amy Haugen and her own Ebenholtz (Ehrentusch x Levantine), a 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding, held their lead thanks to a clear cross-country round with only time faults. No combinations made the time. Brianna Lerner and Ashley Loucks’ 14-year-old Holsteiner gelding, Horton finished just .7 points behind the leaders to claim second.
"He is amazing, and I'm so thrilled with him," said Haugen. "He's an incredible horse; he's so honest. We had a great round. We're still working out some kinks early on in the season, but he kept getting more and more confident all the way around the course. We had some great fences. We weren't fast today at all, but the wet conditions weren't suited for fast today anyways."
Later this season they hope to make their FEI debut at the two-star at Rebecca Farms in Montana.
Over 300 hundred horse and rider combinations competed at Aspen Farms Horse Trials, and more than $25,000 worth of prizes went to top finishers on Sunday, thanks to generous show sponsors. Aspen Farms Horse Trials looks forward to hosting the USEA Area VII Championships at the September Aspen Farms Horse Trials, September 16-18, 2022.
Full results from the Aspen Farms Horse Trials can her found here.
