Price pulls through at Fair Hill

There’s a reason Tim Price of New Zealand rose to the title of the world’s number one-ranked eventer this month. He’s not only a great technician, he’s also cool under immense pressure.

With the USA’s Tamie Smith and Great Britain’s Oliver Townend breathing down his neck as the show jumping finale drew to a close at the MARS Maryland 5-star at Fair Hill today, Tim stayed on the steady route that is his trademark. According to EquiRatings, he is the only current rider to win five 5-stars on five different horses.

The top three were riding 5-star first-timers, which meant the possibility of an upset was very real. Several riders mentioned that the ring feels small, which increases the buzz factor, which always has the potential to wreak havoc on inexperienced horses. (Great Britain’s Harry Meade, for example had his hands full with Superstition in the dressage when his mount lost it after the crowd started applauding during his final halt.)

But the horses in contention for the 5-star championship were unfazed, despite their inexperience in an atmosphere generated by packed stands and the enthusiasm of fans.

After his ride over the demanding course designed by Ken Krome, Oliver gave a fist pump worthy of victory as he stayed on his 29.9 penalty dressage score with a double-clear round from As Is. Only four other riders in the field of 21 could achieve the same.But it wouldn’t be enough to make him a winner.

Even so, at that point, Oliver presented a real threat to the top two. Tamie, a member of the U.S. silver medal team at the world championships, added 0.4 time penalties to her score on Danito, for a total of 29.8 penalties. That put her a mere 0.1 penalties ahead of Oliver, who was the runner-up last year at Fair Hill with a different horse.

It was all or nothing for Tim, last to go as befitting the first-place standing, he achieved with a fault-free cross-country trip, after dressage leader Woods Baughman sank to nineteenth with a cross-country runout.

Tim was awake last night, not knowing whether his mount, Coup de Coeur Dudevin (Top Gun Semilly X LePrince de Bois), would be up to the task he faced after a taxing cross-country day.

“It’s been so tight at the top through the week,” explained Tim, reflecting on his thought process before the show jumping.

“So I knew there could be some faultless rounds at the top of the table. That was kind of what kept me from falling asleep.”

But Joker, as his Selle Francais mount is known, was up to the task despite his inexperience, accruing just 0.8 time penalties that made his final score 28.2 penalties, 1.6 ahead of Tamie.

“He dug deep for me,” said Tim, who came to Maryland merely hoping for a top five finish and didn’t count on collecting the $100,000 winner’s prize on a mount with so little mileage at the top of the game.

At the presentation ceremony, Tim had a bit of trouble hefting the weighty Fair Hill bronze trophy, but he got it done with an enormous smile as Joker’s breeder and owner, Jean-Louis Stauffer, stood by beaming with pride and dreaming of the Paris Olympics 2024.

“I’ve had some fun days at the office, but I think this beats them all,” said Tim. It’s the last event of the year for him.

“What a great way to put myself on the beach for a few months,” he said.

For Tamie, as the top U.S. finisher, the season was ending in a way she never thought it could. In January, Danito was spooked in the barn and fell, breaking his wither. Tamie also had her own accident, breaking an ankle and tearing ligaments. When Equine Herpes Virus broke out in her home state of California, she headed east to avoid being trapped and set out to pursue her seemingly impossible dream of making the world championships team with Mai Baum.

Now Danito, a Hanoverian by Dancier out of a Wolkenstein II mare, is no longer in Mai Baum’s shadow.

“I think he’s just jumped out of his skin. I think he wanted this moment,” said Tamie.

“I’m so happy for him.”

The 5-star was the last of 12 events at that level for 19-year-old Harbour Pilot, who finished tenth with longtime rider Hannah Sue Hollberg in the saddle. The Irish sporthorse, a son of the great Cruising, dropped two rails, but Hannah Sue didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, her veteran performed like the star he always has been.

“I just love him, and he was awesome as usual,” said an emotional Hannah Sue, noting how much she will miss riding him in events, though he will stay close to her as the pasturemate of her 3-star horse, Capitol HIM.

The day had its rocky moments, starting with the 5-star horse inspection. Harbour Pilot was sent to the holding box, but unfazed, Hannah Sue just decided she had to present him better, and he passed the ground jury.

She was determined he would not go back to the barn.

“This is not how this is going to end,” she insisted, and so it wasn’t.

Then Capitol HIM, who was leading the 3-star standings after cross-country, had three rails and a 0.8 time penalty to wind up eighteenth.

“That horse has more wins in his future,” she said, noting the mishap “doesn’t even register.”

Hannah Sue wasn’t the only rider shedding some tears. Elisa Wallace, the 3-star division winner on Renkum Corsair, cried as she recalled the loss of her beloved horse, Riot Gear, who broke his neck in a pasture accident last year.

But she brightened as she talked about Corsair, who had experience as a 1.45 meter jumper when he was seven. It stood him in good stead today, turning in a double clear that moved him up from second place to first.

“I feel there is a lot more to come from him,” she said.

Elisa is a mustang trainer in addition to her eventing, and gave a presentation at Fair Hill with the formerly wild horses she has trained. Her father, Rick, noted that the freestyle that won her the Extreme Mustang Makeover when she rode Fledge bareback and bridleless in 2012 was done to the tune, “One Moment in Time.” That is what was playing this afternoon when she entered the ring for the 3-star show jumping. Coincidence?

click here for 3-star results  Click here for 5-star results