Marilyn Little and Clearwater Gallop Away With Win in $130,000 Suncast Commercial Welcome Stake CSI 5*

Marilyn Little and Clearwater Gallop Away With Win in $130,000 Suncast Commercial Welcome Stake CSI 5*

Suncast Commercial Welcome Stake CSI 5*

Tryon Fall V continued on Thursday, October 19, at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) with yet another fast-paced victory for Marilyn Little (USA) and Clearwater in the $130,000 Suncast Commercial Welcome Stake CSI 5*. The pair sped through the jump-off track in a quick 38.941 seconds to secure the victory. Kent Farrington (USA), currently the top ranked show jumper in the world, guided Dublin, a 2007 German Sport Horse gelding (Cobra x Caribik), owned by Farrington and Tanma Corp, to the second place position after stopping the timers in 40.076 seconds. Margie Engle (USA) and Royce, a 2004 Oldenburg stallion (Café Au Lait x Petula), owned by Gladewinds Partners LLC, captured third place with a short-track time of 40.115 seconds.

The afternoon saw 45 horse and rider combinations test the track, cleverly composed by Olaf Peterson Jr. (GER), while eleven combinations returned for the competitive jump-off round.

Marilyn Little and Clearwater

Of the course, Little said, “I thought Olaf did a beautiful job designing the course today. You have to make the 5* courses complicated and I think he did that with the width of the jumps. It was very technical. There were still a good number clear after the first round and it was a fast jump-off, which I love.”

The George H. Morris Arena is sporting several new jumps specifically made for the CSI 5* week, built by Eric Sassmannshausen and team at U.S. Precision Construction LLC (USPC), a manufacturing company operated by Tryon Equestrian Partners (TEP). Little commented on the freshness of the ring and how new obstacles helped to tune Clearwater’s focus in the ring.

Kent Farrington and Dublin

“There are some new jumps out there and the skinny made it so much fun. They all really jumped well, but they went in and definitely noticed the change. Especially those of us that have been showing here for a while. There was a nice combination of filled in jumps and then some airy ones and it really helps keep their attention.”

Little and the 2007 Holsteiner gelding (Clearway x Tricolore-W) owned by Karen O’Connor, dominated the Tryon Fall IV $130,000 Suncast® Commercial Grand Prix CSI 3* last week, and are maintaining a solid blue-ribbon streak.

Margie Engle and Royce

“This is his first 5* week,” Little noted. “I’ve only prepared for this by waiting for him to get older. He’s a 10-year-old now. We’ve been bringing him along and just waiting for him to get stronger. He’s a real technician in terms of his rideability, and that came before his strength to jump the big jumps. He just keeps stepping up as he goes along, and you think ‘maybe this is all there is,’ and then he answers the next questions and I think he’s the real deal.”

Marilyn Little and Clearwater in their presentation ceremony with Tom, Jeannie and Lauren Tisbo of Suncast®.

Although he is very focused in the ring, Little described the gelding’s personality out of the show ring. “He is a total dude. We call him ‘Dish’, ‘Dishy’, ‘Dirty Dishes’ if he’s bad, and ‘Clean Dishes’ if he’s good. He’s just a total ham. He comes in from the paddock and is filthy. He walks in as a bay horse head-to-toe. He then comes out here and is a true showman.”

She concluded, “I don’t know how Saturday night will conclude, but I know he’s ready and he’s proving he can do it. I’m so proud of him.”

Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.