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On Monday, July 23, 2017, the US Equestrian Federation (USEF) Board of Directors approved the recommendation to allocate the designation of an additional United States eventing CCI4* competition in 2019 to Fair Hill International. In January 2017, the Board of Directors narrowed the list of five applicants to two and following that decision spent several months researching, meeting with Organizing Committees and conducting additional site visits.

Phillip Dutton moved up one spot in the latest FEI World Eventing Athlete Rankings and now sits No. 2 on 531 points behind Michael Jung, who continues to dominate the top spot on the leaderboard with 644 points.
Since finishing Mr. Medicott, Fernhill Fugitive and I’m Sew Ready inside the top 10 at Kentucky CCI4* in April, Phillip has continued to enjoy a very strong season. In addition to placing in the top 10 with Z and Fernhill Revelation at Tattersalls CCI3* in Ireland, Phillip also won the Jersey Fresh CCI3* with Mr. Candyman and most recently finished third in the FEI Nations Cup at Great Meadow with I’m Sew Ready.

genuinerizk wrote:And she took him out to hunt in her exercise saddle too! Unorthodox - but gutsy! Fun to see. My ex used to trail ride our horses in his exercise saddle too, and his feet kicked out of the irons, unless needed - I always cringed and felt he may as well have been bareback- I always felt my saddles weren't deep enough to suit me! But I think people who ride on the track are an extra level of confident.

Robert A. Kinsley’s Lyonell, one of the lightest-weighted horses in Saturday’s $75,000 Temple Gwathmey Handicap (Gr. 2), made a powerful run to take the lead at the last fence and prevailed by 2 1/2 lengths in the featured race of the 98th annual Middleburg Spring Races.

Zanjabeel, second in the Marion duPont Scott Colonial Cup (Gr. 1) three weeks earlier, collected his second straight runner-up purse for owners Rosbrian Farm and Wendy and Ben Griswold. Another lightly weighted starter, Michael A. Smith’s Mercoeur, took third, 6 1/2 lengths farther back. Buttonwood Farm’s All the Way Jose, a 2017 Grade 1 winner, finished fourth in a field of 10.

German-bred Lyonell, trained by Elizabeth Voss, won the Far Hills Races’ Appleton ratings handicap on Oct. 21 and was third in Montpelier’s Noel Laing Handicap two weeks later. But against a high-powered cast that included 2017 leading earner Mr. Hot Stuff and All the Way Jose, the seven-year-old Montjeu gelding was rated at 140 pounds, 18 fewer than Mr. Hot Stuff.

Jack Doyle, Voss’ tall stable jockey, could only tack 148 pounds, but the extra weight proved no handicap. Doyle allowed Lyonell to find his own pace early while All the Way Jose set the early pace in the 2 1/2-mile Temple Gwathmey. Lyonell began picking off horses past the midway point of the race at Glenwood Park Race Course in northern Virginia.

Placed on the outside for the run to the wire, Lyonell jumped to the lead over the last hurdle and maintained his momentum to the finish line. Zanjabeel, ridden by Ross Geraghty, made a late move, as he had in the Colonial Cup, but still came up second best.

Mr. Hot Stuff, making his first start since winning Far Hills’ Grand National (Gr. 1), finished fifth.

Lyonell ran the Temple Gwathmey distance in 5:34.40.

Sparrow Castle wrote:Joe Clancy @joeclancy65
2h2 hours ago
Senior Senator wins Maryland Hunt Cup for 2nd time in 3 years, turning aside Joshua G in stretch. Drift Society third.

Zanjabeel, the leading steeplechaser in North America, will miss Saturday’s Grade 1 American Grand National at Far Hills, N.J. with a tendon injury – leaving the race without its biggest name and causing trainer Ricky Hendriks to look for answers.

“They say everything happens for a reason, but I don’t know what the reason is yet,” Hendriks said Monday evening. “It’s a tough one to take. One of my dreams is to train an Eclipse Award winner and he was my best shot.”

Ever. The 5-year-old, owned by Rosbrian Farm and Meadow Run Farm, leads all North American jumpers in earnings this year with $265,500 and can still win an Eclipse though a Grand National win would have left no doubt. The English-bred son of Aussie Rules opened his 2018 campaign with back-to-back seconds in stakes company, then dominated the Grade 1 Iroquois in May going 3 miles. Put away for the summer, Zanjabeel prepped for the $450,000 Grand National with another Grade 1 win in the Lonesome Glory at Belmont Park Sept. 20 and has been training steadily since.

Friday, a Hendriks staffer noticed a tendon issue and a scan revealed a minor tear. The bay gelding will miss six months to a year.