Photo of Bruce Duchossois courtesy of Aiken Horse Park Foundation.
26 years ago, Bruce Duchossois purchased a lot of 66 acres in the heart of Aiken, SC. The lot neighbored the Powerhouse Polo Fields and the Aiken Training Track, just around the corner from the main downtown strip of the small town with a big personality.
Bruce had a vision. He was a lifelong horseman and a dedicated member of the Aiken community, and he wanted a way to create a lasting legacy to support equestrian endeavors and prevent residential development from encroaching on the accessibility to quality horse facilities.
Thus, Bruce’s Field was born. It was to be a modern, progressive venue capable of hosting competitions year round, with character and personality and a place for the community to gather. He established the Aiken Horse Park Foundation to steward the facility, ensuring the management of it would remain consistent even beyond himself.
Phillip Dutton hugs Mighty Nice after winning the bronze medal in Rio. Photo by Caroline Moran.
Phillip Dutton was one of Bruce’s closest friends. Bruce was, among many other characteristics, a generous philanthropist, supporting equestrian sports across multiple disciplines, rescuing animals and generally going out of his way to help and serve others. They’d met when the Australian team rented Bruce’s father’s Aiken barn for training camp ahead of the 1996 Olympics (Phillip’s first Olympic Games). When Phillip lost a top horse early on in their friendship, it was Bruce who stepped in. They purchased a horse who would go on to be successful enough to win money and be sold at a profit, which they then parlayed into Hannigan, who would be one of Phillip’s most successful horses at the time. From there, it was off to the races.
Bruce partnered with Phillip to produce a string of top horses and results, including 2008 Kentucky winner Connaught and 2016 Rio Olympic individual bronze medalist Mighty Nice. He continued to serve the sport and his community as a friend, owner, volunteer, amateur competitor (including at the Advanced level of combined driving!) and much more until his death, after a long battle with cancer, in 2014.
Now, in the eighth year of the running of the $100,000 LiftMaster Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase at Bruce’s Field, presented by Taylor, Harris Insurance Services, it is Phillip who takes home the crown — a moment that would have made Bruce immensely proud, both of the result for Phillip and of the stature that this unique event has grown to over its just under a decade tenure.
Denim’s Always in Style
Phillip Dutton and Denim. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
Phillip started the day in third place, and he was up against two quick-riding athletes in overnight leader Caroline Pamukcu (HSH Connor) and second-placed Elisa Wallace (Lissavorra Quality). He’d brought the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding here to the Showcase in 2024, where he finished cross country 18 seconds over the optimum time. This year, he dashed home on a horse who he says is not the easiest to get time on, stopping the clock three seconds under the optimum of 4:36.
Elisa Wallace and Lissavorra Quality also enjoyed a clear quick trip — “Bee” is also not the quickest, primarily because Elisa is still working with the 10-year-old Irish mare on rideability and, well, listening (more on this soon), so their 12 seconds over the time was something Elisa was quite pleased with. The time penalties wouldn’t be enough to stave off Phillip, however, and so he and Denim climbed into second.
Last out of the start box over Jay Hambly’s updated track was dressage and show jumping leader Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Connor. Caroline had already turned in a speedy ride on King’s Especiale earlier in the day, and while HSH Connor is still developing at this level, she knew she was capable of putting in a fast round. But it wasn’t meant to be — the pair glanced off a left-handed corner at fence 4, the first in the main arena where show jumping was held. They regrouped and delivered a strong finish, coming home just 14 seconds over time even with the runout, but the victory wasn’t meant to be for Caroline this year.
And so it was Phillip, rising to the top of the podium soaked in champagne from a pre-planned ambush from his podium mates Elisa Wallace and Sophia Hill, to capture his first win at the Showcase.
“Overall, I’m really pleased to the horse,” Phillip said. “Going fast is not his forte. He’s a great jumper, so we have to been working on being able to save time on the approach the jumps. And he was just really on today — he didn’t have a bad fence. It’s not a long course, but it’s pretty hectic out there. And, you know, for every stride, he was trying to be do what I wanted him to do. So it’s great feeling.”
Phillip used to base here in Aiken for the winters, though he’s since purchased a property in Wellington and now travels to Florida for the season to get additional practice in the first two phases of eventing as well as ongoing help from coaches like show jumper Lauren Hough. In fact, it was Annie Jones, one of Denim’s owners (other members of the ownership group are Caroline Moran, Neill Sites and Ann Lapides) who attracted Phillip to Aiken in the first place.
Phillip Dutton and Denim. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
“Annie Jones is my longest-serving owner,” he said. “I came to Aiken because of her. She used to winter here for the with the polo horses, so that’s special, having her here and witness and be a part of Denim’s win.”
And it was one for Bruce, who’s always on Phillip’s mind. “He was so close, and he did so much for me,” he said. “I think it’s a credit to the Duchossois family, and then the Aiken [Horse Park Foundation] board that have kept [it going] — this was Bruce’s vision. This was his dream. For them to keep this going and and develop it — it’s really special. I think it just gets better and better, and I know that Bruce would just be really happy and proud of what he started here, and that these guys have carried on for him. He loved the town, and he loved the community, and it’s pretty unique having a place like this right in the center of the city of Aiken.”
Elisa Wallace and Lissavorra Quality. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
Elisa Wallace was over the moon with her “Queen Bee”, who she’s optimistically prepping to debut at the CCI5* level in the coming seasons. For now, though, she’s taking her time producing this mare to be more competitive and rideable at the level. She’s an opinionated girl, Bee, and Elisa says the most valuable takeaway from this weekend is that she felt the mare tune in to her much more on cross country.
“I maybe could have been a touch faster, but for her to be 10 seconds or 12, whatever it is, I’m pretty stoked about that, because of how strong she can be,” Elisa said. I’d seen her out on course most of the day leading up to her ride, phone in one hand playing the live stream, moving from question to question and studying lines, re-walking them. “And she started to relax — she started to wait, going in between the [arenas]. So maybe I could have been a couple of seconds [faster], but honestly, I’m really quite stoked with that.”
Elisa Wallace and Lissavorra Quality. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
“You don’t get a chance to practice being uncomfortable a lot,” Elisa said, spoken like a true pro eventer who sees things much differently than through the lens of MOST OF US find a lot of this sport very uncomfortable most times (which is why she’s winning money at these events and I’m writing words about it, for significantly less money).
But she has a point. “Last year, I would have been really concerned for a runout, but she’s learned and she’s educated more. So it was really good practice. Going that fast in this and having it was just really good practice.”
Sophia Hill and Humble Glory. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
Sophia Hill certainly had the biggest trip to get here this weekend. After finishing sixth at the MARS Maryland 5 Star last October, Sophie traveled back to her home country of Australia but left her horse, off-track Thoroughbred Humble Glory, with fellow Antipoedan Monica Spencer. Sophie’s plan is to also contest Defender Kentucky on this stateside tour (this is the third continent Humble Glory has competed on for at least a season — he’s a well-traveled guy), so it made sense to leave him with a trusted friend (who’s also very adept at riding Thoroughbreds, we’d say).
“It’s a lot of flying, but it’s actually easier for us doing it like this than basing in the U.S., because we have a team of horses in Australia,” she explained. “We also have an income in Australia, and we’re really lucky. We’re great friends with Monica, and really trust her to leave Hughie with her. If it wasn’t for her, this wouldn’t be possible.”
Luckily, she’s bought herself at least a couple of those long-haul flights with her third-place finish today. She and Hughie had perhaps the ride of the day, flashing home so quickly you’d hardly have known she’d gone around and stopping the clock 11 seconds under the time. This pair is well-schooled in the art of finishing on a dressage score, and they were rewarded for this expertise with their podium finish after starting the weekend in 19th place.
Sophia Hill and Humble Glory. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
“That was so much fun!” she said after her round. “I’ve never done a cross country quite like that. It was just like, jump, jump, jump, and everything came up so fast, but I couldn’t have been sat on a better horse for it. He’s just so agile, has such quick acceleration, just loves to gallop and the jumps back him off. He’s used to crowds now, but he was definitely really ridable and good out there. I mean, he rose to the occasion, but I think he’ll be extra excited next time he goes cross country after that, so I might have to do a slow run next time!”
Sophia is taking a path through TerraNova’s CCI4*-S in April (along with Monica and Artist) before heading to Kentucky, but in between she’ll travel back to Australia tomorrow, come back for a week for TerraNova, go back to Australia to compete other horses at Adelaide’s CCI5* and then immediately turn around and fly to Kentucky to start that competition.
I’m no longer going to complain about writing until midnight, I think.
Jay Hambly Makes His Mark
Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire added 3.6 time to finish 4th on a score of 36.4. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
Jay Hambly’s track received overwhelmingly positive praise from the competitors this weekend. Standing around waiting for the prizegiving to begin, I chatted with several riders and asked what they thought of the track. It still bore the Capt. Mark Phillips stamp, German Olympian Bettina Hoy opined, but it also felt distinctly different in its layout. Waylon Roberts of Canada agreed, saying that the track was more open, and Emily Hamel echoed his sentiments and said it felt like the final few fences allowed riders to get up on the speed and rhythm a little more than previously.
An option was added at fence 9, an arrowhead brush in the water, after some riders requested the addition, Technical Delegate Tim Murray confirmed. Just one rider, Ema Klugman (AUS), took that option after picking up at 20 at the direct route with RF Redfern, but unfortunately she rode the alternative line incorrectly and missed a newly-added compulsory passage. Though she ultimately retired, she was Technically Elimitated on paper for erring on course. Given the showcase nature of the event, though, and the fact that the traditional rules are slightly more loosely applied given it’s not a traditional FEI or USEF/USEA event, Ema was allowed to continue her course until she opted to pull up.
Ema Klugman and Chiraz jump clear with some time to finish up in eighth place. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
“We don’t want to send people home, especially at a showcase,” Tim explained. “We want people to be able to get around. So that is why we put the option in. The Ground Jury, course designer and Technical Delegate can decide to put in a black flag option if riders are requesting it. I would say every second or third four-star that I’ve been at, or even a three-star, riders will bring it up, and most of the time, the course designers are pretty open to doing it.”
Ema enjoyed an otherwise great day, jumping clear with her two other horses, Chiraz and Bronte Beach Z, and finishing 8th and 12th, respectively.
It’s not the easiest venue to design due to its limited space and the fact that the track must utilize multiple arenas and areas of the park to accumulate enough distance for even this short track. I think it’s safe to say Jay’s debut was a successful one, and we’ll be looking forward to see how the course continues to evolve as its ninth and tenth anniversary approaches.
Caroline Pamukcu and King’s Especiale jump clear to finish in fifth. Photo by Chelsea Spear Photography.
As we’ve said every year, this event remains one of our favorites. The staff here live in Bruce’s values and work every day to carry his vision forward. They are collaborative and open to new ideas, and they truly want the sport to thrive. We hope you’ll make a plan to come out and experience #AnEventLikeNoOther — it’s truly a weekend not to be missed!
We’ll be back on the road next at the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International beginning March 19, but before then, we’ll be bringing you a wrap-up report from the first CCI4*-S of the U.S. season next weekend at Bouckaert Farm in Georgia. Stay tuned, and Go Eventing.
$100,000 LiftMaster Grand Prix Eventing Showcase at Bruce’s Field (SC): [Website] [Scores] [Live Stream Replays] [EN’s Coverage]
EN’s reporting is supported this weekend by Deirdre Vaillancourt Real Estate, your source for all things Aiken. Learn more about Deirdre and how she can help you embrace the Aiken lifestyle here.
