{"id":388,"date":"2012-10-08T11:57:29","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T16:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/?p=388"},"modified":"2012-10-09T12:15:09","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T17:15:09","slug":"alliston-repeats-at-woodside-international-horse-trials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/alliston-repeats-at-woodside-international-horse-trials\/","title":{"rendered":"Alliston Repeats At Woodside International Horse Trials"},"content":{"rendered":"

Woodside, Calif., Oct. 6, 2012<\/em> \u2014 James Alliston galloped to victory in the CIC3* at the Woodside International Horse Trials, presented by Equine Insurance of California and Professional\u2019s Choice, for the second straight year, and this year he also galloped to victory in the CIC2*. On Tivoli (52.6) he claimed the CIC3*, and on Mojo (51.4) he claimed the CIC2*.<\/p>\n

Jolie Wentworth finished second in both the CIC3*, aboard GoodKnight (58.9), and in the CIC2*, aboard Man On A Mission II (55.7). McKenna Shea rode Landioso to third place (69.6) in the CIC3*.<\/p>\n

But it was still a slightly bittersweet weekend for Alliston, 27, of Castro Valley, Calif. He had been leading the CIC3* after Friday\u2019s dressage and show jumping phases aboard his trusted long-time partner Jumbo\u2019s Jake, but in Saturday\u2019s cross-country phase \u201cJake\u201d said \u201cno\u201d three times to fence 17B, a narrow brush-filled corner set three strides after a drop fence, eliminating him from the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was disappointing, that\u2019s for sure. He was flying before that. I was having a great ride,\u201d said Allison. \u201cHe was certainly a bit naughty, and he\u2019s not where I want him to be right now, so it\u2019s back to the drawing board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alliston thought he might try a different bit to keep Jumbo\u2019s Jake focused on the jumps in his next planned start, the CCI3* at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event on Nov. 1-4. Alliston is also aiming Tivoli and Parker, winner of the advanced horse trials at Woodside, for the Galway Downs CCI3*.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThis was a big effort for Tivoli. This show is the first time he\u2019s been at the head of the class after dressage, the first time I could really go for it,\u201d said Alliston of Tivoli\u2019s performance at Woodside. \u201cBeing the first out of the box, you don\u2019t really know how hard the time is to make, and I wanted to leave nothing to chance, but it wasn\u2019t a round that felt like it was on the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tivoli, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood, also won the Fric Frac Berence Heart Award and $1,000 prize money after a panel of judges decided that he\u2019d had the best cross-country performance in the CIC3*. Tivoli finished 17 seconds under the 6:15 optimum time and was the only CIC3* horse to finish without time faults. GoodKinight finished 1 second slow, to climb from third to second.<\/p>\n

Second place with GoodKnight represented a comeback for Wentworth, of Crockett, Calif. She and the 10-year-old Selle Francais gelding had a rough spring, which ended with retiring on the cross-country course at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Wentworth suffered through a staff infection in her leg during the spring, which severely reduced her ability to ride and caused her to miss two preparatory events with GoodKnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut everything\u2019s back on track now, and I certainly can\u2019t complain about finishing second twice!\u201d said Wentworth.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a fabulous jumper and a fabulous cross-country horse, but you have to be willing to let him do his job. You have to be careful that you don\u2019t over-manage him,\u201d said Wentworth, 31, who\u2019s aiming GoodKnight for the Galway Downs CCI3*. In 2011, Wentworth and GoodKnight finished second behind Jumbo\u2019s Jake. \u201cMaybe this will be our year?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jumbo\u2019s Jake, Tivoli and GoodKnight each completed Friday afternoon\u2019s show jumping course with no jumping faults, but Tivoli, the first horse in the ring, finished 4 seconds slow for 4 time faults. All the international horses had performed their dressage tests earlier in the day, also in the Grand Prix Arena of the Horse Park At Woodside.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure, there were a lot of options, but if you wanted to be on track with the time, you had to make the inside turns,\u201d said Alliston. \u201cIn hindsight, I wish I\u2019d made the inside turns with Tivoli, but it\u2019s hard to know how tight the time is when you\u2019re first in the ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the course had the right result. It was jumpable but by no means easy,\u201d Alliston added.<\/p>\n

\"\"Like Tivoli, Mojo was the only horse in the CIC2* to complete cross-country within the optimum time of 5:21. He finished 12 seconds fast.<\/p>\n

Mojo is a 10-year-old, Thoroughbred gelding, whom Alliston purchased at a Florida racetrack. \u201cHe can be a little bit frustrating, because he can be a bit of a freak at home. But at the shows, he\u2019s all business, and he seems to save his best for the FEI classes,\u201d said Alliston. Mojo won the CCI1* at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event in November 2011.<\/p>\n

Wentworth doesn\u2019t normally compete Man On A Mission II. He\u2019s owned by young rider Maddy Mazzola, a student at Kismet Farm, where Wentworth and Tracy Bowman run their training business. But Mazzola had to take her SAT test during the weekend. \u201cSo it was a good opportunity for me to have a really good go on him,\u201d said Wentworth.<\/p>\n

Wentworth and Bowman imported Man On A Mission II from Great Britain two years ago. \u201cHe\u2019s a really, really good horse, so we sort of expected him to go well this weekend. It was a bit of pressure on me!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The cross-country course proved decisive in the CIC1*, as four of the 10 starters didn\u2019t complete the course and three horses were penalized by one or more refusals. No horse completed the course within the optimum time, but Julie Flettner and Ping Pong came the closest, finishing 2 seconds slow. Those 0.8 time penalties propelled them from third to first.<\/p>\n

\"\"Last May, Flettner, 36, and Ping Pong, 12, won the rider division of the Preliminary Challenge at the Woodside Horse Trials. Flettner, of Petaluma, Calif., is an optometrist who works in a veterans\u2019 hospital in Santa Rosa, Calif., and this was the third time she\u2019s won a saddle for winning an event.<\/p>\n

In November 2011 she and Ping Pong won a Voltaire dressage saddle for topping the training three-day event at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event. For winning the Preliminary Challenge, they won a Devoucoux cross-country saddle, and for winning the Woodside CIC1*, they won a CWD jumping saddle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time I\u2019d bought a saddle was when I got a dressage saddle for my 16th birthday. Now Ping Pong has a saddle for all three phases,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A quick cross-country round kept Hilary Bates and Cassiopeia second in the CIC1*. Bates is a member of the Horse Park at Woodside Board of Directors, and her farm overlooks the north end of the cross-country course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know this course like the back of my hand, and I thought this was a very fair course, but, for some reason, it was very hard to make the time. I was a little surprised at how much cross-country shook things up,\u201d said Bates.<\/p>\n

Bates noted that the Horse Park At Woodside \u201cis undergoing an Renaissance. We\u2019ve made so many capital improvements in the facility, and we now have a competition of some kind here almost every weekend from April to October.\u201d She named several upgrades in the facility, most notably completion of the covered arena adjacent to the Grand Prix Ring and the all-weather footing in those two rings and one other ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the CIC here, for the second year in a row, is fantastic for us riders, for the sport and for the Horse Park at Woodside,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Woodside International Horse Trials is a member event of the Professional Riders Organization Tour, which oversees the SSG \u201cGo Low For The Dough\u201d contest. Prize money of $4,000 was up for grabs in the CIC3* dressage at Woodside, for the rider wearing SSG gloves who earned the lowest score. James Alliston won the award after scoring 45.9 penalties on Jumbo\u2019s Jake.<\/p>\n

In the CIC2*, prize money of $500 was available to any junior or amateur rider who finished the cross-country course with no jumping or time faults. The only eligible riders were Zach Brandt, who finished with 6.8 time faults, and Helen Bouscaren, who finished with just 0.8 time faults.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the generous support of more than a dozen sponsors, the total prize money for this year\u2019s Woodside International Horse Trials was $20,000, with Devoucoux and Equine Comfort Products contributing as Gold Medal Sponsors. Saddlery Solutions, Voltaire Design and CWD were the event\u2019s Silver Medal Sponsors.<\/p>\n

Auburn Laboratories Inc., California Horse Trader, Flair Equine Nasal Strips, Geranium Street Floral, Point Two Air Jackets, Professional Riders Organization, Ride On Video, SmartPak Equine and Sunsprite Warmbloods were the Bronze Medal Sponsors. The sponsors were just some of the equine-product manufacturers and service providers that, in addition to supporting the event with prizes, were on site for riders and spectators to meet in the event trade fair.<\/p>\n

Go to woodsideeventing.com<\/a> for more competition information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woodside, Calif., Oct. 6, 2012 \u2014 James Alliston galloped to victory in the CIC3* at the Woodside International Horse Trials, presented by Equine Insurance of California and Professional\u2019s Choice, for the second straight year, and this year he also galloped to victory in the CIC2*. On Tivoli (52.6) he claimed the CIC3*, and on Mojo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":390,"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388\/revisions\/390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/woodsideeventing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}