Will Coleman and Diabolo win Kentucky CCI4*S. Image: Michelle Dunn Photo.

Will Coleman and Diabolo win Kentucky CCI4*S

Before this year, only one horse-and-rider pair finished the Cosequin® Lexington CCI4*-S on their dressage score — 2023 champions Karl Slezak (CAN) and Hot Bobo. This year, the USA’s Will Coleman and new mount Diabolo did just that, claiming victory on a score of 29.9. Coleman also finished third with Off The Record (30.9), bracketing countryman Boyd Martin, who finished second on Commando 3 (30.1) and fourth on Federman B (32.5).

Coleman was favored to take the top spot coming into the class, but not with this horse; his top contender, Chin Tonic HS, had to withdraw before the start of the competition. That doesn’t mean Coleman was completely surprised by the outcome.

“I think I am pleasantly surprised, but not totally shocked,” he said of his win with the 12-year-old dark bay Holsteiner gelding owned by The Diabolo Group, LLC. “The horse has been giving me the feeling of being on the verge of being competitive at a big event. I have a lot of belief in the horse’s talent, and I’ve been patiently biding my time until he was ready to show it to the rest of the world. He has a long way to go, but I’m really keen on him and really excited about him.”

Coleman has only had Diabolo for about a year. He received an email from an agent in Australia representing the horse, something he admitted he gets a lot of and that he often discards out of hand.

But, in this case, his wife Katie happened to start watching the videos and told him he should take a look, that the horse seemed like something special. Coleman then took his dad along for a three-day marathon trip to Australia and decided to purchase the horse and bring him to the U.S. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

“The transition to the northern hemisphere was difficult for him,” he said. “He struggled to feel like he was his normal self, and he had various issues with adjusting to life in a different hemisphere. It definitely took a toll on him.

“But I was patient — I couldn’t do a lot with him last year — and waited for him to tell us he was ready to compete again,” Coleman continued. “It served us well; he’s been sort of quietly getting better this spring and we felt like good results were right around the corner. So [his win] may be a little surprising, but for those of us who have been around the horse a lot, it felt like this was getting closer.”

Rising 12-year-old German-bred 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 last year.

How the CCI4* show jumping played out

Martin and Coleman put the pressure on early, riding their first horses — Federman B, a 14-year-old bay Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by the Annie Goodwin Syndicate, and Off The Record, a 15-year-old by Irish Sporthorse gelding owned by the Off The Record Syndicate — out of order and putting down smooth double-clear rounds.

Martin then cantered into the Rolex Arena in third place on Commando 3, an 11-year-old bay Holsteiner gelding owned by Yankee Creek Ranch, LLC, and kept the pressure on the top two.

“It was a great course,” Martin said. “The top jumpers all jumped well. The time was a little tight and you had to scoot around corners.”

Coleman and Diabolo rose to the occasion keeping all the rails up, but overnight leader Halliday dropped the second-to-last rail on Miks Master C to drop to seventh (33.2), though it wasn’t all bad. She put in clean jumping rounds on her other two horses to ultimately have all three in the top ten, with Cooley Quicksilver in sixth (32.8) and Shanroe Cooley in ninth (37.7).

Three fellow Americans rounded out the top-ten placings, including 2o23 Pan American Games gold medalists Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake in fifth (32.5), their Pan American teammates Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire in eighth (37.6), and Dani Sussman and Jos Bravio in tenth (38.3).

Coleman and Martin are both mounted on relatively new rides for them, and while they are grateful to have them, it hasn’t been easy.

“I think it’s always more difficult when you buy a horse later in their career,” Coleman said. “It’s never an easy thing. It may sound like a shortcut, but honestly, it’s more difficult.”

Faults were spread pretty evenly around Steve Stephens’ course, though there were a surprising amount of rails at the first fence. In all, there were 12 double-clear rounds — including all top six finishers — with another six adding just time faults.

Thoughts now turn toward the Paris Olympic Games despite being a long way off from team selection. Coleman, Martin and Pamukcu have certainly put their hats in the ring with their performances at K3DE.

“I’m very blessed with two horses that finished in the top group here, and it’s hard to split them; each is about as good as the other,” Martin said. “It’s a wonderful position to be in to have a couple of hopefuls, but they’re like your children. You should never favor one more than another.”

“I don’t think any of us is going to say which horse we’d like to take,” Coleman added. “We all believe in all of the horses we have. Diabolo is a newer horse for me. ‘Timmy’ is more tried and tested, but he’s getting a little older. Truthfully, I’m not thinking too much about Paris. I want to regroup after the event and see where my horses are at. What happens for the selection is out of my hands.”

“I’m in a little bit of a different position, because the oldest horse in my string is nine,” Pamukcu said. “Blake is the top of my string, and I’m supposed to head over to Europe with my other horses [next month as part of the U.S. Eventing European Development Tour]. He’s going to run the 4*-L in Tryon and then if that goes well, hopefully, we’ll be looking toward the Olympics.”

Source: K3DE press release, edited by Equestrian Life

Published 29 April 2024.

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