LEXINGTON, Ky.--Boyd Martin on Shanroe Cooley surged into the lead in the featured $60,000 USEA Advanced Final after a clean and fast cross country round on Thursday, Aug. 27 in the Kentucky Horse Park.
Boyd Martin on Shanroe Cooley (Photo by Lindsay Barreth)Ariel Grald on Obalix won the Open Intermediate Championship after finishing eighth in dressage, moving up to first after cross crountry and then going clean in show jumping to finish on 30.8 for the win.
Martin, just 10 days after helping the U.S. Eventing Team win the bronze medal at the World in Aachen, Germany, was third after dressage with Shanroe Cooley, barn name Dallas, and when overnight leaders Lainey Ashker on Lovedance and second-placed Isabelle Bosley on Conner had runouts on cross-country Martin moved into the lead, adding just 8.8 time penalties.
That was the fastest round of the day over Jay Hambly’s course at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Martin has Dallas five-star fit because he was named as an alternate for the World Championships, so he was confident heading out on course this morning.
“I SORT OF let him run on gently a bit knowing that he's very fit at the moment just because of the preparation we did in case we needed him for the World Championship,” he said. “He gave me a fantastic round. I really gelled with him, and we're just so on the same page now through the cross-country. He's a champion horse, and he shows a lot of grit and determination. We stumbled into the ditch at the coffin, and I thought it was the end of me, and he shuffled his steps and jumped out over C like a champion.”
Liz Halliday had developed Dallas to the Advanced, but after she had a serious fall in 2024, Martin took on the ride and has been working on developing a partnership.
Martin finished third on Dallas in his first five-star at Luhmühlen in June.
“It's a championship course, and there’s a lot of prize money on the line, and so it needs to be a high level of standard,” he said of the cross country course.. “It took some riding, but it was sort of a four ½-star in my opinion.”
Martin will likely aim for CCI4*-S classes this fall with Dallas and will continue working on the gelding’s weaker phase, the dressage, with the help of his wife, Grand Prix dressage rider Silva Martin.
“I definitely feel like he's just learned a lot,” he said. “He’s the same age as my other horse here, Fetiche des Rouges, and the other horse feels three years younger, you know. And I think doing that mega effort at Luhmühlen, he's just learned a lot. He feels bulletproof, and I think his best attribute is his heart. He is a real tryer, and I think the run around Luhmühlen proved to me mostly that this horse is a champion animal.”
Hambly’s cross country course shook up the leaderboard, with 18 of 21 pairs completing, but seven had refusals, while there were two that retired and one rider fall, but horse and rider were reported to walk off course.
Fence 5b, a narrow brush out of the first water, proved to be a tough test, with a handful of runouts there.
Martin goes into show jumping with less than a rail in hand ahead of Maya Clarkson on Maks Mojo C, and Katie Lichten on Hickstead Musterd moved into third.
Grald used the Eventing Championships to go quick on cross-country and thus be competitive in a CCI3*-L this fall.
Sshe was eighth after dressage in the Open Intermediate Championship out of 50, moved into first place after Wednesday's cross-country and then a clear show jumping round under the lights of the Rolex Stadium ave her the win on a score of 30.8.
“I really can't say enough good things about the horse,” said Grald. “This is his first season at Intermediate and three-star, but he's just a really special horse. I was very happy with him in the dressage. I think he put in about as good of a test as he can at the moment. There's a lot more in there, but we're just sort of building strength.”
“As long as I ride well, he's perfect cross country,” she said. “And then today, show jumping's been a little bit of his weaker phase. He tries really hard, but he just gets a little distracted. He's a little green sometimes, so we've been working at that this summer and just spent a little bit of time show jumping at Culpeper, and that was really helpful. He jumped great in the warm up, and again, it's just on me to pilot him reasonably well and let him do the rest. So, I was really happy with him.”
Reserve Champion Will Coleman has been all around the globe lately.
Having just returned home to the states from the Eventing World Championship in Aachen, Germany, and with the five-star at Burghley on his list next week, Coleman still decided to bring Box Como to the AEC to compete.
“I think it’s always good to get them in this stadium and just let them see the Kentucky Horse Park,” Coleman said. “He was kind of just due for a run, to be honest. And everything was sort of pointing to this being a nice outing for him.”
