United States Eventing Association

Ten Years of Eventing, 2008: After Years of Close Calls, Phillip Dutton Finally Captures the Rolex Crown

The USEA is pleased to present a series of stories written by Joe Verga that chronicles Eventing in the U.S. from 2000-2010.

The 2000-2010 decade was, in many ways, a renaissance for Eventing. It was filled with great moments and incredible accomplishments featuring some of the greatest riders the sport has ever known. Some events would capture our imagination because of the magnitude of the accomplishment while others will never be forgotten despite the fact that the story didn’t end with a blue ribbon. With that, I present the biggest stories in U.S. Eventing from 2000-2010.

2008: 2…2…2…4…2…1!

It reads like a convoluted countdown to the launch of a NASA spaceship, but actually it is Phillip Dutton’s chase of the Rolex crown. No Eventer in the sport’s history has ever finished with so many near-misses in a four-star event as Phillip Dutton. Phillip’s gallop towards Rolex’s elusive title looked like this:

2nd on Simply Red in 2001

2nd on Nova Top in 2004

2nd on The Foreman in 2005

4th on Connaught in 2006

2nd on Connaught in 2007

Every year since 2001 people questioned if this would be his year - the year he finally adds the crown jewel to his resume and firmly establishes his place in Eventing history. Every year the answer was the same: close, but no Rolex watch.

“I was always aiming for it. Sometimes things line up for you and sometimes they just don’t fall into place. Keeping your composure and perseverance is important. Sometimes your chance doesn’t come for a variety of reasons, but just due to circumstances it doesn’t happen,” said Phillip.

Understand that greatness in sports is perceived by championships. In other sports some of the greatest players to ever play the game come with the footnote, “but he didn’t ever win a title.” The NBA’s Michael Jordan has six championships to his name and is considered by many to be the greatest player ever. Lebron James, who is arguably as talented as Michael, will never be in that “greatest” discussion until he a few championships under his belt. Is it fair? No, but to be viewed as one of the absolute greatest in history you have to bring home the hardware. In the case of U.S. Eventing, this means medals and Rolex watches.

Now the Australian born rider wasn’t exactly lacking in accolades coming into the 2008 season. With a resume that included two Olympic gold medals (1996 & 2000), this now 5-time Olympian, 6-time WEG participant, and 13-time USEA Rider of the Year recipient was already respected as one of the best riders in the world long before he became an American citizen in 2006. In fact, Phillip was inducted into the Australian Sport Hall of Fame back in 2003.

The one thing that was missing from his resume was that signature victory. David O’Connor had his 2000 Sydney gold medal. Jimmy Wofford had his out-of-retirement victory on The Optimist in 1986. Kim Severson had her 2005 dominating victory at Rolex on Winsome Adante. The story behind Phillip’s signature win begins at Rolex in 2007.

“Connaught had moved way up (to 2nd place) because of his show jumping and probably wasn’t at his best, or my best horse at the event that year for that matter. I said to Mark Phillips, ‘If I can get the dressage right on this horse I really got something here.’ Phillips said, ‘Well, you got him this far…’ So we really worked on our dressage in preparation for 2008.”

While one might suppose the weight of another near miss might now become a bit burdensome for Phillip, but this wasn’t the case at all as he drove from Kentucky Horse Park back to his home in Pennsylvania after to 2007 Rolex.

“I put more pressure on myself than I have from the outside. My wife is always supportive and encouraging. Bruce Duchossois (Connaught’s owner) was very patient with me. Most importantly, I didn’t doubt myself. I mean second is a great achievement. Connaught’s second place achievement in 2007 was amazing because it was so unexpected.”

Tell us about the 2008 Rolex…

“We had been going well leading into the competition so I had a good feeling. He drew (dressage) late Friday and I felt I needed to have a great test to keep up with Becky Holder. The horse was tight so I didn’t push him as much as usual since he was pretty up. We got a 41 or 42 after dressage to keep us in striking of the leaders. I knew that his jumping would keep us there.”

Looking up at the leader board at the end of the last phase on Sunday Phillip finally found his name at the very top. His reaction?

“I was relieved. Knowing I had been close so many times. It was special because it had been a work in progress for such a long time. In addition this was Bruce Duchossois’ first trip to Rolex and to see his horse win it was great for him too. It was great timing too because the Olympics were that year. It was quite a relief. This was a very special horse.”

With signature win in hand, Phillip reflects back on those seven years of close calls, “The one advantage of being there so much is that you know what you have to do to get there and what to work on. With me that means dressage…”

Be honest Phillip, how different is winning Rolex as opposed to finishing second?

“Honestly, I have to say there is a big difference between winning and running second. I’ve had some great achievements to look back on in my career: my two Olympic gold medals… winning (gold) in Sydney in front of the home crowd was something special, but winning Rolex was up there with some of the great achievements of my life.”

Have there been other big stories during the past ten years? Sure. Most notably the creation of the “short format” / demise of the “long format” (removal of Roads and Tracks / Steeplechase phases). But the last ten years have been about the competitors. These horse and riders have made Eventing fun, exciting to watch, and memorable. These next ten years will have its hands full try match that intensity.

Here’s hoping it does.