October 18, 2014–The 2014 USEF National One-Star Eventing Championships held in conjunction with the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event & Team Challenge came to a conclusion on Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. Lauren Lambert and Fine with Me were victorious in the USEF National One-Star Eventing Championship, while Emily Shirley and Raptor Force claimed top honors in the USEF National Junior and Young Rider One-Star Eventing Championship.
A field of 24 combinations vied for the Richard Collins Trophy, but Lambert (Goshen, Ky.) and Fine with Me came out on top, receiving the National title. She and Margie Darling’s 11-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding got things off to a great start by scoring 48.4 in their dressage test and proceeding to jump clear within the time over Derek di Grazia’s cross country track. They closed out their weekend by adding just one time penalty in their show jumping round over a course designed by Nori Scheffel, finishing on a score of 49.4.
“I’ve ridden him before but I started riding him again this fall,” Lambert said of her aunt’s horse “Frank.” “We are having a lot of fun traveling around the country with him. He’s a really great horse and I’m lucky to be able to ride him.”
The Reserve Champion title went to Christina Henriksen (Longmont, Colo.) and her own eight-year-old Hanoverian mare Princess Pavan, who were just nine-tenths of a point behind Lambert on a score of 50.3.
Sixteen-year-old Shirley (Minnetrista, Minn.) and her own seven-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Raptor Force made their debut at the CCI1* level a memorable one by taking home a National title. The pair kicked off the competition with a score of 52.5 in the dressage phase, then had a faultless cross country round over a tough track, and ended with a single rail in the show jumping phase to finish on a score of 56.5.
“For dressage I was really surprised with our score. He was really good in there and I was really pleased with him,” Shirely explained. ““I was really, really nervous for cross country. Today the nerves were on again but we performed well.”
Seventeen-year-old Sam Kelly (Minnetrista, Minn.) and her own eight-year-old Selle Francais/Thorougbred cross mare Someday Never Comes claimed the Reserve Champion title with a score of 56.9.
For more information on the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event & Team Challenge, visit; http://www.kyevents.net/tchall.
