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Olympic Gold Medalist
David O'Connor Wins U.S. Equestrian Team Fall Eventing Championship
FAIR HILL, MD-October
28, 2001-David O'Connor of The Plains, VA won a record
fifth U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Fall Eventing Championship with a
penalty-free stadium jumping ride Sunday at the Fair Hill International.
. O'Connor, the 2000 Olympic individual Gold Medalist who won his fourth
overall Fair Hill title (his 1995 USET title came as the top U.S. finisher
behind Australian David Green), finished with a three-phase score of 58.8
penalties after completing Sunday's stadium jumping phase fault-free on
The
Native.
Australian Phillip
Dutton, the defending champion and two-time Olympic team
Gold Medalist, was the event's last entry and entered the ring on Cayman
Went with a score of 58.4 penalties. He appeared to have the fault-free
ride he needed to win his third Fair Hill title until his seven-year-old
Thoroughbred knocked down the rail at the last fence on course for five
jumping penalties and a final score of 63.40.
"I knew I had
to make the time to win and I pushed him a bit hard to the
last fence," said Dutton who was with his wife Evie when she delivered
twin
girls at 2:30 Saturday morning. "He jumped it a bit like a cross
country
jump and the last rail came down."
"I really owe
this win to my horse," O'Connor said. "I came out of the
turn to the triple combination very badly and I didn't have the stride
to
the fence. This horse tries so hard and he really saved me."
O'Connor also finished third overall on his other mount, Tigger Too, with
a
score of 71.40, while David O'Brien of Southern Pines, NC was fourth with
a
score of 73.20 on Fox In Flight.
Beale Morris of Middleburg,
VA received Fair Hill's award as the trop
finishing amateur rider for her 15th place finish on Eastern Shore. Michael
Pollard of Columbus, NC received the USET's Markham Award as the top placing
Young Rider (up to age 21) for his 30th place finish on Chumba Wumba.
Gina
Miles of Creston, CA was honored as the top finishing rider competing
in a
CCI*** for the first time. She placed 17th on McKinlaigh. John Williams
of
Middleburg, VA was honored for having the Best Conditioned horse, his
mount
Sloopy.
On Saturday at the
Fair Hill International, Jim Fairclough of Newton, NJ won
the USET Four-In-Hand Championship. Fairclough, who placed first in all
three phases, scored 10.0 penalties in Saturday's concluding cones phase
to
complete the competition with a three-phase score of 160.34. Finishing
second as Reserve Champion was five-time USET champion Tucker Johnson
of
Oldwick, NJ with a score of 303.40, ending his streak of four consecutive
championship titles.
"It was nice
that I did well on the first and last days," said Fairclough
who previously won the Championship in 1982 and 1994 and who has been
runner-up eight times. "I didn't do as well as I would have liked
in the
marathon, but then again, everyone had trouble with it."
Nancy Johnson of Lincoln,
MA won the American Horse Shows Association (AHSA)
Singles Championship with a score of 121.42 penalties. Johnson's score
also
earned her the championship in the Jaguar Triple Crown of Driving, presented
by Driving Essentials/Glinkowski Carriages. "I wish we were better
in
dressage," she said, "but I really couldn't ask any more of
him in the
marathon and cones. I'm really very proud of him and I look forward to
receiving my new carriage," she added referring to the new Glinkowski
carriage she'll receive from Driving Essentials for winning the Triple
Crown.
Placing second to
Johnson in the Jaguar Triple Crown was two-time winner and
five-time USET Pairs Champion Lisa Singer of Chadds Ford, PA. Singer
successfully defended her title in the Fair Hill Pairs Classic with a
score
of 139.09, but missed out on a chance for a record third Jaguar Triple
Crown
Championship when she scored 19.5 penalties in cones. Singer, who like
Johnson, won her division at both Fair Hill and the Gladstone Driving
Event,
needed a clean drive in cones to edge Johnson.
"I was trying
to go fast in the straights and steady on the turns," she
said. "I was hoping to go clear but the sand builds on the covers
of the
corners and the balls went down."
In the AHSA Pony Driving
Championships, Muffy Seaton of Bluemont, VA won the
Pairs Championship with a score of 144.38 and Jack Wetzel of Aiken, SC
won
the Singles Championship with a score of 137.78.
In addition to serving
as the final leg of the Jaguar Triple Crown of
Driving, presented by Driving Essentials/Glinkowski Carriages, the Fair
Hill
International also served as a USET selection trial for the 2002
Four-In-Hand and Singles Driving World Championships, to be held in Jerez,
Spain and Conty, France, respectively.
The Fair Hill International
is sponsored by Cosequin, the United States
Equestrian Team, Banner Life Insurance, Bit of Britain, First Union Private
Capital Management, Glenmede Trust, Jaguar, Nawpac, Outback Performance
Wear
with Gore-Tex Fabric by Outback Trading Company, Ltd., Pennfield Feeds,
Practical Horseman, Scudder Financial Services, Southern States Cooperative,
Supracor, Thornhill Enterprises, and Thoroughbred Charities of America,
Ltd.
For full results and more information on the Fair Hill International,
please
visit www.fairhillinternational.com.
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