A mistake in the course of the leading Briton Oliver Townend led to great cheers on the part of the American fans in Elcton, Maryland, in the USA. This weekend the first edition of the Maryland CCI5 * -L was held there.
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For a long time it had looked like a walk through for the Briton Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class. The two have been competing in international versatility tests for almost ten years and, for example, won the CCI5 * -L in Kentucky in the USA in 2019. With the brilliant dressage result of 21.1 points, the Briton was now clearly in the lead this weekend, but still less than one jumping fault away from the second and third placed in the first partial test, the New Zealander Tim Price and the American Boyd Martin.
All three riders didn’t miss anything in the cross with their horses and came home without any mistakes and in time. On Sunday, however, it got really exciting again in the final jumping.
Bad luck for Townend, luck for Martin
As third place after dressage and cross-country, Boyd Martin (USA) also had to start the course as the third from last starter. There he and his 15-year-old Cabri d’Elle mare On Cue kept their nerve and crossed the finish line without a mistake! And that was worth a lot, because both Tim Price (NZL) and the 15-year-old gelding Xavier Faer, as well as Oliver Townend (GBR) and Cooley Master Class had to accept an obstacle error on the course.
With his dressage result of 25.0 points, Boyd Martin (by the way, Olympic sixth in Tokyo in the individual classification with Tsetserleg) was able to take his first victory in a long five-star event with On Cue – and that also in his home country , the USA. In April he was able to take fourth place for the mare with On Cue of the first CCI5 * -L.
Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class were almost second (25.1) ahead of New Zealander Tim Price with the Catherston Liberator son Xavier Faer (28.3).
Oliver Townened and Cooley Master Class, here in the cross of the CCI5 * -L Maryland, slipped away from victory in the final jumping. (© Shannon Brinkman)
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46 couples took part in the event at a five-star level. One horse failed the first constitution, three riders withdrew from the area. Seven pairs did not finish in the cross. Since two pairs withdrew before the final competition, 33 pairs finally finished all three sub-tests. German riders were not at the start in Maryland.
The results of the CCI5 * -L can be found here.
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