Tryon, NC – There are plenty of accolades up for grabs at the 2017 United States Eventing Association (USEA) American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Land Rover and Nutrena, running August 30 – September 3. Not only are the 21eventing athletes in the Adequan® USEA Gold Cup advanced division competing for the right to be named the Adequan USEA Gold Cup champion, the top-placed American combination will also earn the USEF Open Horse Trial National Championship for the Jack LeGoff Trophy. Doug Payne returns to defend his USEF Open Horse Trial National Championship title with Vandiver when the division begins competition on Thursday morning.
Payne (Aiken, S.C.) and Vandiver, Debi Crowley, Jessica Payne, and his 13-year-old Trakehner gelding, have impressed in 2017, placing in the top-five in four out of their last five outings. Payne, a 2017 United States Equestrian Team Foundation (USET) Jacqueline B. Mars Competition and Training Grant recipient, and Vandiver placed second at both the Pine Top CIC3* in February and The Fork CIC3* in April.
Three athletes have entered two horses in the AEC advanced division including Rio 2016 Olympic individual bronze medalist Phillip Dutton (West Grove, Pa.), Kylie Lyman (White River Junction, Vt.), and 2017 USET Jacqueline B. Mars Competition and Training Grant recipient Caroline Martin (Miami Beach, Fla.). Dutton will ride Ann Jones, Bridget Colman, Caroline Moran, and Thomas Tierney’s 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding Mr. Candyman and Kristine and John Norton’s 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding I’m Sew Ready. Mr. Candyman guided Dutton to two wins in 2017, including the Fair Hill International Horse Trials CIC3* in April and the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event CCI3* in May. In July, I’m Sew Ready and Dutton were part of the U.S. FEI Nations Cup™ gold medal winning team at The Great Meadow International CICO3* presented by Adequan.
Lyman enters Joan Nichols’s nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Lup The Loop, who led her to victory at The Fork CIC2* in April, and Cristin O'Hara’s 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Sacramento, who will make his second start of 2017. Martin enters Pebbly Maximus, her and Sherrie Martin’s 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding. They placed fifth at the Bramham International Horse Trials Under 25 CCI3* in June. Martin also will ride Danger Mouse, her and Sherrie Martin’s nine-year-old Warmblood gelding.
Other notable athletes competing are Jennie Brannigan (Reddick, Fla.), 2015 Pan American Games team and individual gold medalist Marilyn Little (Frederick, Md.), and Jordan Linstedt (Duvall, Wash). Brannigan will compete with Nina Gardner’s Cambalda, placing in the top-five in each of their five competitions in 2017. She and the 15-year-old Thoroughbred-cross gelding joined Dutton on the gold medal nations cup team at Great Meadow and took the top spot, individually. Little brings her Pan American partner RF Scandalous, Jacqueline Mars, Robin Parsky, and Phoebe and Michael Mander’s 12-year-old Oldenburg mare. The combination has had a successful 2017 up to this point, returning to the same venue they won The Fork CIC3*. They also won the Jersey Fresh International CIC3* and placed fourth at the Luhmühlen Horse Trials CCI4* in June. Linstedt brings her and Barbara Linstedt’s 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding Revitavet Capato, who helped her win the Bromont Three-Day Event CCI3* in June.
For more information about the 2017 USEA American Eventing Championships, visit useventing.org.
The Adequan USEA Gold Cup advanced division competition begins on Friday at 8:30 a.m. EST with dressage. View live scoring of here.
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