Golden State riders dominate cross country

For riding in her first three-star competition, Katherine Groesbeck of Sylmar, Calif., certainly didn’t show her inexperience on the course. The 23-year-old is in second place at The Event at Rebecca Farm after the second day, trailing leader Kristi Nunnink of Auburn, Calif., by just .2 points.

“I tried to stay pretty cool and relaxed, thinking about riding safely and smartly and getting around the course,” Groesbeck said. “After the first few fences were behind me I really started to get into (the ride), just clear my head and focus on the job and the nerves went away.”

Nunnink, the leader after the dressage round, holds the lead with a score of 55.4 after another good round in the cross country. She finished the course in the second fastest time, four seconds behind Groesbeck.

“I was very happy with my ride,” Nunnink said. “My goal had been to go faster and the course and the footing certainly set you up to do that. I was able to go really fast, for me. My mare jumped everything very well so I was happy.”

The new course layout didn’t disappoint, challenging riders throughout the day.

“Over the last few years, course designers have asked us some backwards questions and I think (course designer Ian Stark) just turned it around and everything on the course today could be ridden forward, which was exciting,” Nunnink said.

The biggest obstacle of the day was the ditch brush to wedge combo, which caused three riders to retire.

“You better get it done if you wanted to get yourself around the course,” said Jolie Wentworth, of Martinez, Calif., who sits in third place after Saturday.

“I think the rest of it was quite good questions, I think the striding was pretty much right on. That type of a fence is more of a rider imposing fence than it is more for the horses. It’s the kind of thing where you have to suck it up and be bold to it yourself. I think that was it because you also had the wedge on the other side. So you had to be bold and accurate and that’s very difficult to do.”

The weather also cooperated on Saturday, cooling down for the long cross country runs after a few days of sweltering temperatures.

“ It was miserable the last few days,” Wentworth said. “It would have been really hard for our horses to go in those conditions at one or two o’clock. It would’ve been really difficult and you maybe would have seen a few more horses fatigued. So we are all very, very thankful that the weather broke.”

With the deciding show jumping round today, the riders seemed confident with their chances.

“I think I have nothing to lose and if (her horse Oz The Tin Man) is feeling good tomorrow I’m going to take a pretty good wack at it,” Groesbeck said. “It’ll be a pretty good test for both of us and I’m sure I’ll be nervous.”

The Event At Rebecca Farm

Saturday

Top 3-Star results after cross country

1. Kristi Nunnink - R-Star - Kristi Nunnink owner - 55.4.

2. Katherine Groesbeck - Oz the Tin Man - Katherine Groesbeck owner - 55.6.

3. Jolie Wentworth - GoodKnight - Tracy Bowman owner - 64.4.

4. James Atkinson - The Alchemyst - Deborah Rosen owner - 69.0.

5. James Alliston - Tivoli - James Alliston owner - 71.6.

6. James Alliston - Parker - James Allisotn owner - 74.6.

7. Rachel Jurgens - Ziggy - Rachel Jurgens owner - 83.2.

8. Jeanine Allred - Snap Decision II - Laurie Allred owner - 85.0.

9. Kristi Walker - Myelusivedream - Kristi Walker owner - 128.6.

Today’s Schedule

Show jumping — 8:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Three-Star riders will compete at 2:50 p.m.

Free admission for spectators.

A $5 parking donation is being collected to help support “Halt Cancer at X” — which raises money for breast cancer research in memory of The Event’s founder, Rebecca Broussard.