United States Eventing Association

The man of few words unless he is teaching had nothing but praise for his two mounts after Saturday's challenging cross country phase.

Third to start on Ian Stark's revamped CCI3* track, Phillip Dutton had scant feedback to use before heading out on Ann Jones' Mr. Candyman as first two starters Jessica Phoenix and James Alliston elected to retire after having run-outs on course.

Crowds watched and cheered as Dutton (West Grove, PA) sent the young gelding through each of the direct options, finishing three seconds under the optimum time of 10:23, eventually moving the pair up the rankings eight places to fourth place overall on 50.9 penalties.

Dutton repeated the performance on his Pan Am Games partner, Fernhill Fugitive, to within a second, to take over the lead on a score of 43.4. Dutton produced two of the three hard to come by double-clear rounds in the division. He praised both horses, noting they were much different rides.

"The first one is quite green," he said of Mr. Candyman, adding that this was the gelding's first CCI3*. "I haven't had him that long [but] he's got all the makings of it. I've got to put a bit more of the basics into him. He is a great prospect for the future.

"This guy [Fernhill Fugitive] has got a bit more experience about him, although not quite as fast so I had to chance things a bit on the approach. I couldn't be more pleased with him, he just really dug in deep the whole way round. I was down on the clock, and I asked him to come home strong, and he just put his head down and kept going. It's been a great year for this horse. Hopefully it will build for next year."

Dutton's Pan Am Games teammate Lauren Kieffer (Middleburg, VA) gave her Pan Am partner Meadowbrook's Scarlett a steady and accurate ride to finish just two seconds over the time for a score of 45.8. It was the first real outing for the young Thoroughbred mare of Marie Le Menestrel's since the Games.

Both Kieffer and Dutton noted the USEF Land Rover Competition Grants that provided support to fly the horses west to compete at Galway Downs.

Former Californian Alexandra Knowles (Paris, KY) had the quickest time of the day, stopping the clock 16 seconds under the time on Sound Prospect LLC's Sound Prospect, moving the pair up to third position on 46.7.

In the CCI2*, the time also proved challenging to make and shuffled the overall standings. Overnight leader Tamra Smith (Murrieta, CA) had no problem with The Chatwin Group's Chatwin, who required an extra two laps after the finish to pull him up.

"He was amazing," Smith said. "Nothing backed him off, and he is so fit, he was still pulling me at the end!"

Marilyn Little (Frederick, MD) and the attractive Hanoverian gelding RF Overdressed turned in another one of the three double clear rounds to maintain their second place standing on 42.7. Moving up to the top three was Jonathon Holling (Ocala, FL) and the Kildalton Group LLC's Kildalton Cooley, adding 5.2 time penalties to finish on 55.6.

Holling was meant to be the trailblazer on the 2-star course, but an excited Kildalton Cooley spooked and reared on the way to the start area, losing his balance and unseating Holling, whose protective air vest was deployed. Tamra Smith was nearby and loaned her vest to Holling so that he could start just one ride later.

"I had to take it a little steadier in the beginning because he was so unsettled at the start," said Holling. "He came away smarter and more confident, so I think I made the right decision even if it cost me some time."

Megan Traynham (Arbuckle, CA) overcame the distraction of an unbuckled rein and stayed focused to move up to first place on her own Lord Lombardi in the large and competitive CCI1* division.

"I just had to steer with one rein, I didn't know what would happen. He saw the fence and locked on and jumped it fine," a relieved Traynham said. "As we were galloping off, I had to gather my rein from the ground before he stepped on it."

Judith McSwain's Fleeceworks Royal moved up to second place with 40.8 penalties after Tamra Smith's other ride, division leader Lagos Star had an unfortunate run out. Hilary Niemann and her own Undercover advanced to third with 41.6 penalties.

The Classic Series Training Three Day competition began the day with the Horse Inspection, then competitors were tested by Marc Donovan's influential show jumping course.

In Training Three Day Division A, Bonner Carpenter (Dallas, TX) and Cele Carpenter's Darkside were crowned champions with a clear show jumping round. Husband and wife team Kimberly Steinbuch and John Michael Durr (Castro Valley, CA) took the second and third place awards with positive rides on supporter and owner Ruth Bley's EnVogue and Danito.

Rails proved costly in the Training Three Day Division B. Olga Londa (San Jose, CA) and her own Douglas Rock won the championship on a clear round, advancing from overnight third place. Haley Turner (Alamo, CA) and her own Orion's Sweet Rubio dropped one position to second with a rail, while a delighted Christine Poulos (San Carlos, CA) and her own Cara Clover Princess advanced from a dressage placing of ninth to third overall with clear rounds in both the cross country and show jumping.

On Sunday, show jumping and cross country competition will get underway for national level competitors. CCI competitors will present their horses for the Horse Inspection at 8:15 a.m. Then the CCI show jumping finals and awards will begin at 10:45 a.m. with the CCI1*.