April 5, 2025—Boyd Martin and Commando 3 came out on top of the CCI4*-S competition at the Stable View Spring International Horse Trials in Aiken, South Carolina, following an exciting day of cross-country competition. They added eight time penalties to reclaim the lead they had after dressage and finished on a 38. Martin and Federman B also added eight time penalties to finish on a 38.8 in second place, and he and Luke 140 finished in fourth after accumulating 11.2 time penalties to finish on a 40.4.
“It was a fantastic course today. Helen West did a brilliant job designing this track. It was inviting and kind but really challenging, and I feel like the horses had a good run around it,” Martin said. “All three of my horses performed well and felt happy and fresh at the end. It was a good fitness run and had a lot of the Kentucky questions with the double of skinnies in the water, a major coffin and out the back we had an oxer, corner and a narrow that was very Derek di Grazia. I think she’s done an incredible job with preparing horses for Kentucky.”
The CCI4*-S division began at 12:45 p.m., and Arden Wildasin and Billy Beaufort were the first ones out of the box. They were quickly followed by Martin and Federman B, who elicited gasps from the Pavilion as they had a scare at the Defender Columbia Coffin where Bruno caught a leg on the A element and Martin was almost unseated. He used his years of riding experience to navigate the rest of the question with no penalties and drew cheers from the audience. Ultimately, the CCI4*-S saw three glance-offs at the D element of the Coffin Question and a few other refusals and flags throughout the course.
Julie Wolfert and Team Pivot’s SSH Playboy were the quickest round of the day with only 1.2 time penalties to finish third on a 39.3. “He felt amazing out there. I knew it was going to be a big, technical track, but he ate it up. It’s exactly what I want to feel like preparing for a five star. I still have adrenaline going an hour or two later,” she said. “It takes so many years to get to this level, but once you’re here it just feels like heaven on earth.”…