William Coleman and Diabolo are no strangers to sitting at the top of the leaderboard at the Kentucky Horse Park. In 2024 they won the CCI4*S there, and after the first day of dressage at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian (K3DE) they sit in first in the CCI5*L.
Coleman and the Diabolo Group’s Holsteiner gelding had a smooth and fancy test at the horse’s first CCI5*L, marred only by a single error. The 2-point penalty couldn’t prevent them from taking the top spot however, where they sit on 27.3. Fellow American Phillip Dutton and Possante sit second (28.1), New Zealand’s Tim Price sits third with Global Quest (29.8) and Great Britain’s Harry Meade is a whisker behind with Superstition (30.2).
“The first time you do a five-star in this kind of atmosphere, you can never sure be sure how the horse is going to cope,” he said. “Diabolo got a little excited when we got up here but to his credit he went in there and stayed with me and did his job. There are little things I would clean up, but I really, really adore this horse.
“I’m happy with today and happy with this horse,” Coleman concluded. “He’s trying for me and that’s all I can ask for.”
Coleman describes the 14-year-old bay as “a learner” and is hopeful that he is ready to step up to this level. “He likes to be taught things. He really wants to be a good boy but has a lot of anxiety because of that, so we’ve had to teach him to have confidence, and I think he’s starting to get that.
“He has a real presence about him and an energy that I think is pretty cool,” he continued. “He’s a unique horse, and now I have to trust and hope that I’ve prepared him … and hope that (my) preparation makes it feel comfortable to him. We’ll find out.”
Holsteiner gelding Diabolo (by Diarado out of Roulett M, by Aljano 2) was formerly owned by Karen Tinney and Tim Game, and was ridden by Gemma Tinney in Australia.
The Tinneys purchased ‘Dab’ at the Holsteiner Verband Elite auction in November 2016, and Gemma had great success with the gelding – winning and placing at CCN and FEI level. In 2021, the pair finished second in the CCI4*S at Sydney 3DE, followed by a third placing at Tamworth in 2022 before Diabolo was sold to America in 2023.
Dutton was also pleased with his mount’s performance. The 13-year-old Dutch-bred gelding owned by The Possante Group showed a lot of poise in the arena. “I was very pleased,” he said. “It’s pretty unique for horses who have not been here before to come into an arena like this. It didn’t start great, he spooked in corner but from then on it was really good. Dressage sometimes is really easy for the horse, so it’s a case of keeping him calm and me riding him well.”
Price and John Keller’s Irish-bred mare put in a polished performance, and sits just ahead of Meade, who admitted he was a little disappointed with his marks aboard Mandy Gray’s Hanoverian gelding.
“I was thrilled with my horse today,” he said. “I was delighted with his test and felt like I didn’t leave anything out there. I was a little bit surprised in a way with the markings and hoped he would score better than that, but you have to get good marks to get good marks. Now, we need to make sure we get no more penalties for the rest of the weekend.”
Sophia Hill and ‘Hughie’ complete the dressage phase
Australian Sophia Hill completed her dressage test on Thursday with Humble Glory, placing =13th with a score of 37.1.
With just ten penalties spanning the field thus far, Saturday’s cross country is looking to once again be a very influential phase. Off-the-track Thoroughbred Humble Glory is incredibly quick and reliable on cross country, and Sophia will no doubt be looking to climb the leaderboard on Saturday.
Australian start times
The dressage continues Friday, with fellow Australian Ema Klugman riding Chiraz in the CCI5*L and RF Redfern in the CCI4*S.
CCI5*L dressage (day two) — Friday 24 April, 1pm local time (3am Saturday AEST)
Ema Klugman and Chiraz: 2.46pm local time (4.46am Saturday AEST)
CCI4*S dressage (day two) — Friday 24 April, 8am local time (10pm Friday AEST)
Ema Klugman and RF Redfern: 8.58am local time (10.58pm Friday AEST)
View the full CCI4*S start list here.
You can watch every moment of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian live for free on the USEF Network powered by ClipMyHorse.TV.
Danito dances to lead in the CCI4*S
Olympic veteran Tami Smith has three horses in the Cosequin® Lexington CCI4*S, and after the first day of dressage she sits atop the leaderboard with Ruth Bley’s Danito, and in fourth aboard Kynan Syndicate’s Kynan. Her third horse, Molly Duda’s Lillet 3, goes Friday.
Danito, a chesnut Hanoverian gelding, showed poise and focus in the ring as he strode to a score of 27.0. Fellow Californian Tommy Greengard stands second with That’s Me Z (31.4) and Dan Krietl is third with Carmango (32.0).
“Danito was super today,” Smith said. “He just is a little showman. It’s fun to have him, he’s kind of my flashy little dressage horse who stepped in behind (retired Kentucky winner) Mai Baum. It’s fun to have that kind of fancy prancer.”
Smith has spent the spring on the east coast, bringing multiple horses from her normal home base in California, but she admitted Danito’s recent preparation for this event has not been ideal and praised his experience and work ethic for his performance today.
“It’s something you strive for when producing horses, and I’ve had him a very long time now. Once you get the basics and its solidified, you can really bring that.
“He actually had a hot nail and I haven’t ridden him in the last two days,” she admitted. “He’s trained and just knows. You hope you have that in horses you produce, that the work keeps going all the way to the ring, that the basics are really strong. He has a such a good mind and loves to show off and you want that in a horse that’s competing.”
Greengard was also pleased with “Z,” the 9-year-old Zangersheide gelding owned by Greengard and Andrea Pfieffer.
“He is so Mr. Consistency,” Greengard said. “He has very little sense of occasion in the best way possible way. He is happy to go in the ring and get work. He is getting more capability to move around the ring with a little more fluency and step, which is great. But he’s really dependable — the training at home is very similar to what you can get in the ring and that gives you confidence as a rider.”
Kreitl on the other hand is just happy to have his partner back after an injury nearly ended the Westphalian gelding’s eventing career. He had been told that the horse may not be able to return to jumping, so he spent time in the pure dressage ring, competing at Intermediare-1 at the national championships.
“But my heart is in eventing and he loves this sport,” Kreitl said. “Our program is really different; we don’t do nearly the gallops we did as a younger horse. We’ve got a treadmill, we do a lot of dressage, and we don’t school cross country. Our plan is to do as little as necessary, but we are prepared for this event.”
Full results from Kentucky Three-Day Event can be found here.
