The $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final took to the cross-country track today at Galway Downs in beautiful Southern California. Riders tackled Clayton Fredericks’ expertly designed course, resulting in a few shakeups to the championship leaderboard as the competition heads into Saturday evening’s highly anticipated show jumping finale.
Tommy Greengard (Malibu, California) and That’s Me Z held onto their overnight lead, as the fastest trip of the division, picking up just 7.2 time penalties. They’ll head into tomorrow’s final day with a 36.8 and a sizeable cushion over second-placed Karen O’Neal and Clooney 14.
Greengard was quick to praise the 8-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Take A Chance On Me Z x Venetia), owned by himself and Andrea Pfeiffer. “We’re so proud of him,” he said with a smile. “You know, we’ve been joking. It’s his first Advanced. He’s been going at the four-star level, but this is his first Advanced!”
He also extended gratitude to the team behind the cross-country track. “Clayton Fredricks always does a beautiful job with the tracks out here. He and his team really make a huge effort to make sure the tracks are horse-friendly, well presented, and the ground is good. Thank you to [organizer] Robert [Kellerhouse] and Clayton and their whole team, because a lot of work went into this place to make it a good August in Temecula. So, that was the biggest thing that we were super appreciative of.”
Though heading into the final phase with the lead, Greengard remains grounded. “Tomorrow’s another day, and we’ll take it as we can. But we’re just so proud of the horse, and he’s only 8, and, you know, we’ll take it one day at a time.”
Karen O’Neal and Clooney 14. Photo by Lindsay Berreth/USEA.
North Bend, Washington’s Karen O’Neal and Clooney 14 moved up from third to take the runner-up position after accumulating 22.8 time penalties to finish their day on 53.1.
O’Neal, riding Annika Asling’s 11-year-old Westphalian gelding (Captain Jack x Zauberfee), was thrilled with the performance. “It felt amazing. He took me to everything. I was braver. I even left a stride out in one of my lines, which is not like me at all,” she said. “The balance was there. He listened; he was straight as he’s ever been. He can get a little crooked sometimes, but he was just straight and going. He felt focused and responsive, and all the training paid off.”
Looking ahead to the final phase, O’Neal is optimistic about their chances in the show jumping. “He is usually quite good. That used to be our spooky phase. He’s a good boy out there if I ride to plan.”
Molly Duda and Disco Traveler. Photo by Lindsay Berreth/USEA.
Less than a point behind O’Neal is Molly Duda (Menlo Park, California) and her own 16-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Disco Traveler (Donatelli x Cadence). They incurred 11 penalties after knocking a frangible pin at fence 15 and picked up 8 time penalties to head into show jumping with a 54.0.
Based with Tamie Smith just around the corner from Galway Downs, Duda was glad to compete at her “home venue,” even with the added pressure of a championship atmosphere. “It’s good. I mean, I think it feels very comfortable and familiar being here. But of course, with it being a championship, there’s added pressure, and the courses were quite strong. Those were serious championship courses. Definitely no joke!”
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