Despite being one second over the 80-second time allowed, Boyd Martin and Luke 140 climbed to the top of the leaderboard to claim the win after show jumping at the Jersey Fresh International CCI4*-L.
“[The course] was all big and technical, and the ground was a bit shifty. The time was tight, so you had to sort of zip around a bit,” said Martin on the track. “I think if the time was five seconds slower, there would have been a lot more clears, because you could take a bit more time setting up for the fences.”
Martin and his 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding did just that to move from third place to the top of the pack. They zipped around the course, but “I screwed up from [jump] two to [jump] three,” said Martin about his extra second on the clock. Luke 140 made up for that by jumping a clear round.
“He’s just a great jumper. There’s something in his DNA that just pings him up into the air. My job is to keep him relaxed and remember the way and he pretty much jumps clean every time. He’s an awesome horse to have after grueling cross-country, especially when the show jumping course was tough. I was still nervous, but I think I was on the best jumping horse here.”
Reserve champion of the Jersey Fresh CCI4*-L was awarded to rising star Alyssa Phillips and her 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding, Oskar. Phillips and Oskar were one of few pairs to make the time allowed, with just one unfortunate rail at fence two. “He just tried his heart out. He jumped really well. The rail that we had down, that was all on me. That was not him, he was perfect. The time was really tight, but I just kept my turns pretty tidy and kept his feet moving pretty quick and it worked out really well. He was super rideable and he tried his heart out.”
Jersey Fresh International was Phillips’ and Oskar’s debut in CCI4*-L competition. “At like six and a half minutes [on cross-country], Oskar was like, ‘Ok, what’s happening? Why are we still cantering? Where’s the barn?’ and I was like, ‘C’mon buddy, you can keep going!’ And then, he caught his second wind.”
Just two weeks prior, Phillips claimed her first ever CCI4* win at the 2021 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event in the CCI4*-S. “I don’t really think it’s sunk in. I’ve had an insane season with my other two horses as well. I don’t think I’ve … I’ve never done this well before,’ said Phillips about her back-to-back successes.
Rounding out the top three were Tamie Smith and her 16-year-old Hanoverian mare, EnVogue. Smith and EnVogue were the overnight leaders going into show-jumping, but the course proved challenging to the duo after a grueling cross-country phase the day before. Smith had three rails down and one time fault, commenting, “It was a big track. [EnVogue] had the oxers behind down, the [rails] that she had. She did try her guts out.”
Like Martin, Smith also commented on the footing, which may have made the difference in her partner’s performance. “When you’re on [footing] like at Kentucky, [the horses] can really trust that the ground feels good when they’re landing, but they’re on this [footing] and it’s a little sting-y after they’ve run 10 minutes.”
Final Results
1. Boyd Martin / USA / Luke 140 / 25.60 / 32.00 / 32.04
2. Alyssa Phillips / USA / Oskar / 28.10 / 34.50 / 38.50
3. Tamie Smith / USA / EnVogue / 24.30 / 27.10 / 39.50
4. Tamie Smith / USA / Danito / 23.90 / 31.90 / 41.50
5. Phillip Dutton / USA / Sea Of Clouds / 33.60 / 33.60 / 41.60
6. Karl Slezak / CAN / Fernhill Wishes / 29.60 / 33.60 / 42.00
7. Alexandra Knowles / USA / Ms. Poppins / 30.70 / 39.10 / 43.10
8. Alexandra Knowles / USA / Morswood / 32.10 / 34.10 / 43.30
9. Colleen Loach / CAN / Vermont / 30.60 / 38.20 / 46.60
10. Maya Black / USA / Miks Master C / 37.90 / 46.30 / 46.7
For more information and results, visit jfi3d.com.
For more exclusive international eventing updates with Vita Flex (bit.ly/vita-flex-pro_tokyo) leading up to and including the Games, visit practicalhorsemanmag.com/summer-games-2021.
