Maryland 5 Star dressage: Oliver Townend dominates day one

Maryland 5 Star dressage: Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class — Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class at Maryland 5 Star 2021.

(Image credit: Shannon Brinkman)

Oliver Townend has cruised into an early lead after the first half of the Maryland 5 Star dressage today (Thursday, 14 October).

The British rider and the experienced Cooley Master Class, owned by Angela Hislop, scored 21.1 to sit 6.9 penalties ahead of the pair of US riders who share second place. This is a personal best mark at any FEI competition for the horse.

“We’ve got him ready for this — I know he’s older, but he’s never felt as good, never felt as happy,” he said. “He’s been fairly mad all week for him – he’s a lazy horse by nature, but he’s been squealing and messing about. He’s been a pain in the backside all week, and I said, I don’t mind as long as when you go in the dressage you behave yourself, which he’s done better than ever before, so we couldn’t be happier with him.

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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.

Oliver Townend holds commanding lead in Maryland 5 Star dressage on 16-year-old Cooley Master Class: ‘He’s never felt better’

“He’s unbelievable, isn’t he?” said Olympic team gold medallist Oliver, who punched the air in triumph as he finished the test. “He likes it over here, he’s won two Kentuckys. It’s difficult to say 16-year-olds can improve, but he’s getting better and better.”

Oliver explained that Cooley Master Class is an “old pro” who is not run competitively at one-day events.

“He’s a very special horse for the whole team at home. We’ve got him as fit as we can, as well as we can and he seems on very good form.”

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