Abigail McArdle Tops Opening Day of 2017 American Gold Cup CSI4*-W
North Salem, N.Y. – Sept. 13, 2017 – The 47th installment of the historic American Gold Cup CSI4*-W kicked off on Wednesday featuring the $8,000 Danbury Porsche Audi 1.40m Jumper and $8,000 Douglas Elliman 1.40m Jumper CSI4* on the pristine grass Grand Prix Field at Old Salem Farm.
The USA’s Abigail McArdle and Plain Bay Sales’ Chuck Berry 8 bested the field of 78 international horses and athletes to round out show jumping competition for day one, claiming the first FEI win of the week in the $8,000 Douglas Elliman 1.40m Jumper CSI4*.
Amber Harte (USA) and Take The High Road, LLC’s Austria 2 held the lead for the majority of the class, jumping clear around the one-round speed course, designed by Ireland’s Alan Wade, in 58.80 seconds.
McArdle and the 10-year-old Hannoverian gelding, who recently won the $40,000 Great Lakes Classic CSI3* at the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival in August, tackled the course as 52nd in the order-of-go with their eyes on the prize, taking over the top spot on the leaderboard with a clear performance in 57.43 seconds.
Harte had one more chance to reclaim her lead with her second mount a few rounds after McArdle with Cafino, also owned by Take The High Road, LLC. The pair stopped the timers in 58.97 seconds, securing Harte second and third place honors and the win for McArdle.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Abigail McArdle – $8,000 Douglas Elliman 1.40m Jumper CSI4* winner
On Chuck Berry 8:
“We got [Chuck Berry 8] towards the end of Florida from Germany. I’ve seen a huge change in him from Florida. I think our breakthrough was at Upperville and we’ve just been going up and up since then. I planned to go out there and win it today and he really executed that perfectly for me. He’s very quirky, but we love him to death. He’s beautiful on the ground but he’s hot. He has a lot of personality so that’s been really fun to get to know. In Germany, he was so hot they said they never rode him on the flat, they just lunged him and then he would go in the ring. When we got him there was a lot to work on. He wasn’t used to having someone on his back working him every day. Now he’s really stepping up his game.”
On Wednesday’s course:
“It was great. There was actually a lot of lines so you had to really make up your speed in the turns back on both doubles, and of course in the long gallop coming home to the last line.”
On the American Gold Cup:
“I love the American Gold Cup. It’s a beautiful farm. The grass feels great – perfect footing. [Chuck Berry 8] is going to jump tomorrow in the speed and then probably Saturday’s grand prix. I have another horse that I’ll do in the qualifier and in Sunday’s grand prix.”
RESULTS
$8,000 Douglas Elliman 1.40m Jumper CSI4*:
Place / Horse / Rider / Country / Owner / Total Faults / Time
1. Chuck Berry 8 / Abigail McArdle / USA / Plain Bay Sales / 0 / 57.430
2. Austria 2 / Amber Harte / USA / Take The High Road, LLC / 0 / 58.800
3. Cafino / Amber Harte / USA / Take The High Road, LLC / 0 / 58.970
4. Cocq A Doodle / Andrew Ramsay / USA / The Doodle Group / 0 / 60.180
5. Catungee / Catherine Tyree / USA / Mary Tyree / 0 / 60.420
6. Win For Life / Christine McCrea / USA / Candy Tribble / 0 / 62.502
7. Jiva / Beezie Madden / USA / Abigail Wexner / 0 / 63.170
8. Paola 233 / Nicholas Dello Joio / USA / Emily Perez / 0 / 63.920
9. Jeleena De Muze / Lauren Tisbo / USA / Tequestrian Farms, LLC / 0 / 66.060
10. Bull Run’s Almighty / Kristen Vanderveen / USA / Bull Run Jumpers Six, LLC / 0 / 66.170
11. Loughnavatta Indigo / Jonathan Corrigan / IRL / Twin Oaks Stables, Inc / 0 / 66.220
12. Don’t Touch Du Bois / Shane Sweetnam / IRL / Sweet Oak Farm / 0 / 66.600
Sydney Shulman Takes First and Third to Kick-Off Competition in $8,000 Danbury Porsche Audi 1.40m Jumper
Preceding the $8,000 Douglas Elliman 1.40m Jumper CSI4*, the Grand Prix Field saw the $8,000 Danbury Porsche Audi 1.40m Jumpers start the day with young professional Sydney Shulman, 22, claiming the first and third positions.
Fifty-nine athletes challenged Alan Wade’s course with 14 continuing into an immediate jump-off upon completion of their clear rounds. One-third of the way into the class, Shulman first entered the ring aboard Hannah Patten’s Curby Du Seigneur to gain her initial lead with a speedy jump-off in 29.667 seconds.
Jimmy Torano soon followed with Caroline Lloyd’s 14-year-old Zangersheide gelding, Sans Soucis Z, to overtake Shulman in a time of 29.596 seconds, but she outdid both herself and Torano, coming back over a full second faster than their top two times with Villamoura, owned by Jill Shulman, to fly to the class’ fastest time in 28.269 seconds. Although 20 horses trailed her winning time, Shulman’s top placings were uncatchable and she maintained the first and third spots, while Torano retained second place.
Shulman and the 8-year-old Selle-Français mare, Villamoura, recently had success at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show series in the 1.35m and 1.40m divisions, where she also won the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic with the 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, Curby du Seigneur.
Thursday’s competition at the American Gold Cup will highlight the $35,000 Don Little Memorial Welcome Stake CSI4* in the Grand Prix Field at 2 p.m.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Sydney Shulman – $8,000 Danbury Porsche Audi 1.40m Jumper winner
On Villamoura:
“She’s 8 years old. I bought her exactly a year ago. This was the first U.S. show I showed her in last year. She won the 1.10m. We’ve come a long way for sure. We took it really slow this winter. We knew she had the jump in her. We just focused on slowing her down, fixing the rideability, the control and the style of jumping. It’s nice to see how far she’s come in a year. We kind of use this horse show as a mark of her progress.”
On the American Gold Cup:
“To me, this is my home show. I live about 25 minutes from here so we love it. I thought the course rode great today. It was a really nice use of the hills. You had to really test your rideability up the hill in the first line. It was a really great course and a lot of fun out there.”
On her plan for the rest of the week:
“[Villamoura] will do the $35,000 [Hermès Sellier Classic] on Saturday, which will for sure be the biggest class she’s jumped so I’m looking forward to it. She couldn’t have been better today. I didn’t show that much this summer so they’re very ready to be here. I didn’t go to the Hampton’s for the first time so the last show they did was about a month ago in Kentucky. I feel like they’re really ready to go and jumping well.”
RESULTS
$8,000 Danbury Porsche Audi 1.40m Jumper:
Place / Horse / Rider / Owner / R1 Faults / R2 Faults / Time
1. Villamoura / Sydney Shulman / Jill Shulman / 0 / 0 / 28.269
2. Sans Soucis Z / Jimmy Torano / Caroline Lloyd / 0 / 0 / 29.596
3. Curby Du Seigneur / Sydney Shulman / Hannah Patten / 0 / 0 / 29.667
4. Barlando / Conor O’Regan / Dynomite Ranch, LLC / 0 / 0 / 30.849
5. Calista / Georgina Bloomberg / Gotham Enterprizes, LLC / 0 / 0 / 31.411
6. D Carolus / Jonathan McCrea / Candy Tribble / 0 / 0 / 31.690
7. Camira / Sarah Segal / Horatio ST Ventures and T.K. Farm / 0 / 0 / 32.260
8. Cobolt / Shane Sweetnam / Seabrook LLC / 0 / 0 / 32.570
9. Luken Du Rouet / Manuel Lecuona / Manuel Lecuona / 0 / 0 / 33.132
10. Carlina / Mario Deslauriers / Maya Nayyar, LLC / 0 / 0 / 33.733
11. Liberty Son 2 / Maggie McAlary / Caitlin Creel / 0 / 0 / 37.338
12. Bellefleur PS Z / McLain Ward / McLain Ward, Lilly Ward and Susie Heller / 0 / 4 / 29.760