By Joanie Morris

Third Phase - Decides the Top Four

Sunday morning brought the third phase, a difficult course which included a combination of liverpools and an open water fence. Addison stretched her lead to a runaway 410.75 by the end of the third phase. Kimberly McCormack and Nikko Ritter swapped the second and third spots after Sunday morning’s jumping, with 19-year-old Ritter, from Geneva, FL picking up the second highest score after the first three phases.

Riding 18-year-old Clover Count, an Irish-bred gelding owned by Linda Bakker, Ritter landed on a score of 395. McCormack from Clermont, NJ put in a determined performance with Althone Partners’ Hetoile Platiere, a 12-year-old Selle Francais mare and held on to her spot in the top three with a score of 392.

With a score of 389.25 rounding out the top four was the youngest rider of the quartet, Jessica Springsteen, who jumped up from tenth to fourth with a polished performance riding Deneuve. Springsteen, only 14, rides locally from her Colts Neck, NJ home. Deneuve is a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Stone Hill Farm.

“She was the first horse we ever bought,” said Springsteen about her horse Deneuve. “I’ve had her for three years and she’s really good at the natural courses, banks graves, water, she has only ever stopped once with me. I really trust her. It’s nice for her to win it. She gets lots of time off, because I save her mostly for the summer classes with the natural fences and classes like this so she’ll have a break after this event.”