Based at Gary and Tina Stover’s Youngs Road farm, the event featured a four-hazard marathon and dressage judging by Dennis Callin of Raleigh and Lefreda Williams of Southern Pines.
Except for advanced multiples winner Boots Wright, all the advanced classes were won by out of town drivers. Kelly Valdes of Pennsylvania drove her warmblood gelding Whitehall to the top of the advanced single class by clocking the only clean cones round of the group.
Jack Wetzel of South Carolina used the same strategy to claim the advanced single pony class. Virginia driver Muffy Seaton edged out Maryland driver Tracey Morgan by only two-tenths of a point on the marathon to top the advanced pairs.
Valdes’ employer Claire Reed hooked a greenie and a veteran together to take an early lead for a decisive win in the preliminary pair pony class. Reed maintains a winter residence here at Tremont, but she and Valdes are based in Pennsylvania. Reed’s pair of Welsh ponies is part of a team, and her little gelding was a star in his debut.
In the 14-horse preliminary single horse class, none came within striking distance of Jean Paul Gautier’s performance with Baccarate, a Dutch gelding and former dressage horse enjoying a career change. Gautier scored an impressive 30.8 in the white rectangle, posted a clean cones trip, and won the marathon to produce the best final score (62.6) of the entire event.
The real competition in this largest class was for the placings behind Gautier. Hungarian national Janos Kis, a veterinary student interning here, staged a come-from-behind rally with his Hungarian gelding to challenge runner-up Patsy O’Brien and her Welsh cob gelding. O’Brien, formerly of Vass, moved to a South Carolina resort called Bray’s Island Plantation, which offers over 25 miles of dirt roads for training.
Sherri Davis and her speedy Morgan flew around the marathon for a close fourth-place finish.
The Martins claimed a pair of victories in the preliminary divisions. Larry Martin won the pair class with his Halflinger cross mares, and Paul Martin topped six contenders in the preliminary single pony division.
Lindsay Taliaferro of Vass ran unopposed in the preliminary multiples division, but posted a clean cones trip and a solid marathon for a well-earned victory.
RESULTS
ADVANCED PAIR: 1. Muffy Seaton (83.4), 2. Tracey Morgan (83.6), 3. Dana Pigford (147).
ADVANCED SINGLE PONY: 1. Jack Wetzel (71.6), 2. Miranda Cadwell (83), 3. Wendy Ying (104.2) 4. Jennifer Matheson (116) 5. Penny Freeman (117.4)
ADVANCED SINGLE HORSE: 1. Kelly Valdes (80.8), 2. Eleanor Gallagher (89), 3. Ellen Epstein (109.4).
ADVANCED MULTIPLES: 1. Boots Wright (114.4).
PRELIMINARY PAIR HORSE: 1. Larry Martin (91), 2. Theresa Lawrence (108.2), 3. Craig Kellogg (157.5).
PRELIM. PONY MULTIPLE: 1. Lindsay Taliaferro (135.3)
PRELIM. SINGLE HORSE: 1. Jean Paul Gautier (62.6), 2. Patsy O’Brien (79.4), 3. Janos Kis (80.8), 4. Sherri Davis (82.8), 5. Marcie Quist (109.5), 6. Robin Foster (118)
PRELIM. PAIR PONY: 1. Claire Reed (104.6), 2. Jen Caggiano (121.1) 3. Joan McGurren (124.1).
PRELIM SINGLE PONY: 1. Paul Martin (96.1), 2. Kate Shields (101) 3. Leigh Morgan (106.7)
