Postcard: 2012 Jersey Fresh Three Day Event

May 13, 2022 — The Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event was highlighted to a great extent by the presence of Mystery Whisper, who’s getting a reputation as an exciting wonder horse. His rider, Phillip Dutton, needed to qualify with him for the Olympics in the CCI 3-star here, in order to be eligible for the U.S. team that will compete in London this summer.

He didn’t have to win in the process, but he did, and was outstanding. What a treat to see a horse that can do all three phases with flair, executing a smooth dressage test, eating up cross-country and showing respect for the fences in show jumping.

Phillip Dutton won the CCI 3-star on Mystery Whisper | ? 2012 by Nancy Jaffer

The Australian import, who came over late last year, was one of only two entries in four divisions at the Horse Park of New Jersey to score less than 40 penalties in dressage. (He was marked at 32.6 penalties; Karen O’Connor received 39.6 on Veronica, fifth in the CCI 3-star.) Mystery Whisper was fault-free over the jumps on John Williams’ twisting cross-country course highlighted by the “Jersey Shore” water complex, accumulating just 1.2 time penalties because Phillip saw no need to push for extreme speed.

In today’s show jumping, he dropped one rail (the first time he’s done that all year; Phillip blamed the way he rode to the fence) and accumulated one time penalty. But his total was still a respectable 38.8 penalties, well ahead of second-place Jude’s Law, an extremely handsome gray dude, ridden well by Michael Pollard to a 47.6-penalty total.

“Another box ticked,” said delighted coach Mark Phillips as Mystery Whisper exited the ring after his victory gallop. Mark had explained to me earlier in the day that a team hoping for a medal at the Olympics needs at least one horse that can score in the low 30s in dressage; he added with a grin that he’d like two or three.

There is time before July, however, to work with outstanding candidates and perhaps bump up their performance level a bit. The “A” training list hasn’t been changed this year; an update won’t be issued until June 11, when 15 horse/rider combos will be named to the long list. That will be reduced to a short list of 10 before the horses ship to England, where they will train for the Games.

The only three people on the A-list now are Phillip, but with Mighty Nice, his 10th-place horse at Rolex Kentucky–Mystery Whisper’s purchase hadn’t been confirmed when the list was released; Boyd Martin with Neville Bardos and Otis Barbotiere, third at Rolex,? and Sinead Halpin with Manoir de Carneville.

Mystery Whisper going cross-country under the guidance of Phillip Dutton | ? 2012 by Nancy Jaffer

Phillip, of course, was thrilled at how well Mystery Whisper performed. Really, could there be any doubt–the horse already had won two events this year–but anything can happen in eventing. He was smiling as he talked about the weekend.

“I’m really enjoying the horse,” said Phillip, who called him, “incredible. It’s pretty neat.” That’s quite a statement coming from the generally low-key rider.

The only downer here is the fact that Jim Wildasin (who also owns Will Coleman’s ride, Twizzel) bought the horse for his daughter, Arden, to ride after the Games. That doesn’t bother Phillip, even though there will be no Burghley, Badminton or Rolex for him with Mystery Whisper.

“I’m lucky to have the ride on him. That’s part of the game. We don’t own our horses; we just ride for other people.” But he added, “I’m going to make the most of it while I have him.”

What’s Mystery Whisper like to ride?

“When you first see him, he’s not the most imposing animal,” Phillip said.

“Once you start working him, the first 10 minutes is just nice and then something clicks and he just goes and really gets the motor underneath him,” Phillip observed comparing him to a racehorse that has another gear.

“He’s a phenomenal horse, a freak of nature.”

Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville | ? 2012 by Nancy Jaffer

Sinead did the CIC 3-star with her horse, nicknamed Tate. These days they’ve decided to call the CCI long format and the CIC short format. I think that’s confusing, because long format makes you think of the old days, when a CCI included roads and tracks and steeplechase.? (Remember? Gosh, it seems like a long time ago now.) Anyway, a CCI is longer than a CIC, and I’ll leave it at that.

Sinead tied for sixth in dressage with a score of 49.6, then was one of only three in her division to put in a double-clear cross-country. She moved up to third after that, and then second when Will Faudree had the first two elements of the triple down with Pawlow in the show jumping. But the triple tripped her up, too; Tate dropped a pole at the middle element. Rebecca Howard of Canada, who would go on to win the CIC 3-star, led after cross-country and had toppled just one rail with Riddle Master. Her final score was 52.8 to 53.6 for Sinead; very, very close.

I asked Sinead to assess Tate at this point.

Boyd Martin and Neville Bardos took a not-for-credit spin around the Jersey Fresh show jumping course | ? 2012 by Nancy Jaffer

Boyd brought Neville to Jersey Fresh, but never intended to run him cross-country here. Instead, he competed in dressage, which did not go well (the score was 54.2 penalties; apparently Neville has taken a dislike to the Horse Park arena) and then did a show jumping round after the regular competition finished this afternoon. He had two fences down; Neville was a handful.

Boyd and I discussed that.

By the way, as I have mentioned in the past, the movie rights to Neville’s story have been purchased. (Neville missed a trip to the slaughterhouse after Boyd bought him, and he survived a dreadful stable fire last May.) I suggested to Boyd that if they actually make the movie, there’s only one person who should play Boyd: Himself. Who else is better looking and more articulate? And then there’s that great Australian accent. (Like Phillip, Boyd was born in Australia and became an American citizen.)

One more word about the 3-stars before I go on to the 2-stars. The only show jumping double-clear (jumps and time) in either 3-star section belonged to Boyd on Trading Aces, fourth in the CIC, but only by virtue of time penalties cross-country.

Show jumping designer Sally Ike and I were laughing about her “challenging course,” a phrase I too often use to describe the routes she lays out. Okay, it’s a cliche. But like so many cliches, it’s accurate.

“I thought it was a true 3-star test. I was very surprised at all the rails,” she said.

“What does that mean?” I asked, wondering if that said something about the participants.

“I think they need to practice their jumping a little more,” she replied. “The course tested the horse’s balance and ability to come back and stay in gear and turn right and turn left. That’s what the 3-star is all about.”

Oh, I should just mention that Buck Davidson is completely back in action after his broken collarbone healed enough to let him be effective cross-country. He was fourth in the CCI 3-star with his Olympic prospect, Ballynoecastle RM (50.4).

Whoops, I need to say something else about Boyd. He won the CCI 2-star, scoring another show jumping double clear and leading wire-to-wire with Crackerjack (48.5 penalties), a gray who’s pretty fancy. The horse came to him to sell originally; it’s a sad story. Crackerjack had belonged to eventer Colin Davidson, who died in a car accident. I remember Colin’s enthusiasm when I interviewed him at Jersey Fresh a few years ago, sitting at a picnic table and hearing all about his plans.

It seems, though, that the horse is not going anywhere. Colin’s mother, Lucy Boynton, has left Crackerjack with Boyd because she’s enjoying having him compete her home-bred in memory of Colin. His name is always mentioned when Crackerjack comes in the ring.

He was 10 penalties ahead of Brazen Bomber, Kelley Williams’ ride. Bomber is a thoroughbred who won the incentive award for that breed at Jersey Fresh. It’s so great that thoroughbreds are finally being recognized (with money) for their off-track achievements.

Karen O’Connor had a good weekend, winning the CIC 2-star with Mandiba (47.4 penalties) and finishing second with RF Amber Eyes (56.7).

Mandiba broke six ribs in a fall at Badminton last year and had to stay in England until the autumn to recover. Now Karen is filling in the holes in his training and taking it very slowly.? The horse was too green when he was called up to go to the Hong Kong Olympics in 2008, so she’s taking it slow this time around.

The RF in Amber Eyes stands for Raylyn Farms, the base of show jumper/eventer Marilyn Little-Meredith, a great friend of Karen’s. She imported the horse which was bought by Dick Thompson, Karen’s longtime supporter.

On Mother’s Day, 18-year-old Connor Husain wore a pink ribbon in honor of his mother, a breast cancer survivor, and was not without his lucky four-leaf clover and four-leaf clover coin for good measure | ? 2012 by Nancy Jaffer

Oh, a little off the subject. People have been asking me what kind of bit Karen used in the Rolex Kentucky show jumping on Mr. Medicott, who finished fourth there. I finally got a chance to ask her. It’s a hackamore hooked with a bit converter to a Waterford bit.

“It looks like the kitchen sink,” Karen conceded but noted the way it works, the hackamore exerts pressure first so that sometimes the bit itself doesn’t even come into play, so it’s really quite a soft effect.

Third in the CIC 2-star was Connor Husain, an impressive young man I hadn’t seen before. He was aboard his German import, Piece of Hope (59.8). The 18-year-old, who attends George Mason University in Virginia, is shooting for the North American Junior and Young Riders Championship this summer.

Connor had a 4-leaf clover AND a plastic disc imprinted with a four-leaf clover (you can never have too much luck, right?) in his plastic armband. He also was wearing a pink ribbon on this Mother’s Day, so I asked him about it.

Jersey Fresh ran very smoothly on its 10th anniversary. The fact that it was an Olympic selection trial attracted a stellar group of horses and riders, but the competition has matured in all its aspects over the years. While many think the Horse Park is run by the state, it’s not; it depends on limited private funding and dedicated volunteers to put on an event that is the caliber of Jersey Fresh.

Come back to Equisearch this week for a look at the Jersey Fresh gallery. My next stop is Devon; I’ll be sending my first postcard from there May 31. That will cover the hunters; it’s an Olympic show jumping team observation event, so I’ll be busy mailing you later in the week, too.

Until then,

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