Sunday, April 10 - Cross Country Day

Australia's Phillip Dutton rode one of only two double clear Cross Country rounds over the rain delayed (from Saturday to Sunday) and shortened course at Bouckaert Farm, in a tour de force, to win his second CIC-W*** of the spring season. (Phillip previously won at Red Hills, in Tallahassee, Florida.) Dutton had more points towards qualifying for the FEI World Cup, to be held at Malmo, Sweden, August 11-14, 2005, than any other rider in the world before Chatsworth. He now leads the qualifying pack by a nearly insurmountable margin.

Mrs. Annie Jones' The Foreman, who had placed second in the Dressage and Show Jumped double clear, on Saturday, picked up 1.2 time faults, for 3 seconds over the Optimum Time Cross Country, to finish on a score of 46.2 for the win for Phillip, of West Grove, PA, and his owner, who resides in Coatesville, PA. (Phillip and The Foreman are pictured at the right jumping off the island in the water)

For a bit of icing on the cake, Phillip rode Bruce Duchessois' Hannigan to a Cross Country double clear, good for second place, on a score of 46.9. Duchessois lives in Aiken, SC. (Phillip and Hannigan are pictured at the left below jumping onto the island in the water.)

Phillip collected $16,000 from a total purse of $30,000 (the largest purse for a Qualifier in the US) along with the North American Beaulieu Classic Perpetual Trophy. The amiable Dutton was naturally pleased with his horses’ performances this weekend.

“Hannigan was brilliant as I would have expected with him,” he remarked of a horse of whom he is particularly fond.“He’s one of my all-time favorite horses; a real character, I’ve got a soft spot for him,” he said. The pair was one of only two combinations to make the optimum time of 4 minutes and 43 seconds over Mark Phillips course, which had been reduced to omit some soft footing after the heavy rain of last week. “I had to work harder on The Foreman,” added Dutton who collected just 1.2 time penalties on Mrs. Annie Jones’ nine year-old thoroughbred gelding, The Foreman. “Hannigan made the time easy but The Foreman is not so experienced so I went easy on him.

The second of the two double clears run at North Georgia.(Yes, Chatsworth is still referred to as "North Georgia".) went to Keene, Virginia's Olympic Individual Silver Medalist Kim Severson riding Linda Wachtmeister's Winsome Adante. "Dan" had blotted his copy book by pulling two rails in the Show Jumping, on Saturday; however, his confident and fast run over the country did much to redeem his standing. Kim and Winsome Adante placed third on a score of 50.3. Kim had won North Georgia in 2000 with Over The Limit and placed second last year with Winsome Adante. (Kim and Winsome Adante are pictured at the right jumping the second part of the bounce into the water.)

Severson, who collected a check for $3,500, as well as qualifying for the FEI World Cup Final, was the highest placed US rider. She was clearly relieved that the weather had cooperated to dry up the footing and that the course had been shortened. “I think they [the Ground Jury] did the right thing,” she said after returning with the only other double clear round from 26 starters. “I was very surprised at how good the footing was; it was excellent. My horses finished well and I think most people had a good time,” she added.

Kim also placed fourth with Linda Wachtmeister's Royal Venture, who picked up 1.6 time faults for a final score of 52.1.

Darren Chiacchia and the Trakehner stallion Windfall II, dropped to fifth place, with a final score of 54.3. This pair accrued 4 time faults for ten seconds over the Optimum Time, over the Captain Mark Phillips designed Cross Country Course.