Day Two Dressage
Apr 29th, 06
The Second Day of Dressage - April 28 We are all familiar with the old adage: There’s no such thing as perfection. Guess what? Perfection does exist, and it existed today at Rolex in the form of a black Trakehner, aptly named Windfall II. Mr. Timothy Holekamp’s stallion, piloted by his long-time rider, Darren Chiacchia, awed a record crowd of 18,000 with a near-to perfect dressage test. Darren’s score of 33.0 puts him 6.5 penalty points ahead of his nearest rival Kim Severson riding Plain Dealing Farm’s Royal Venture. Kim and “Vennie” were the second pair to compete this morning at Rolex. Kim produced her trademark ride; forward, lovely, accurate, and fluid. The three dressage judges: Mrs. Angela Tucker (GBR) at “C,” Mr. Brian Ross (USA) at “H,”and Mr. Martin Plewa (GER) at “B” gave Kim a score of 39.5. Kim was thrilled with her horse, and said, “I hope it’s Vennie’s year. He deserves it; he’s always been the bridesmaid to Dan (Kim’s more famous partner, Windsome Adante). Unfortunately, Kim’s lead was gone the moment Darren made his final salute to the judges. Windfall II was untouchable. Every aspect of his test was nearly faultless. Of the 27 movements (including the collective remarks) that comprise this year’s test, Darren scored 7’s, 8’s, or 9’s on each one. In today’s press conference, Darren thought that this was Windfall II’s best test to date. “It finally came together. Usually the trot work’s great, and the canter work’s so-so, and vice versa, but today everything fell into place. I didn’t know whether to be conservative and play it safe, but once I got into the arena my competitive nature got the best of me, and I really decided to go for it.” Obviously it was the right decision. Yesterday’s dressage leader, Mara Dean and Willow Bend LLC’s Nicki Henley dropped to third-place with a score of 43.2 Mara is followed closely by Becky Holder, and Stephen Bradley, but tomorrow’s cross-country will play a pivotal role in the final placings. When asked on their thoughts about the course, Kim, Darren, and Mara agreed that it was big, with most of the harder questions occurring during the first three-quarters of the course. They felt that the first water jump, fences 7AB, will be difficult, as will the coffin, fences 8, 9AB. Record crowds are expected for tomorrow, so please arrive early to ensure an advantageous viewing spot. There are also several “jumbo-tron “TV’s on course, so you won’t miss a minute of the action. See you at the Horse Park! Alden Murray