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The Fork is the final major prep for Rolex Kentucky coming up in Lexington in two weeks. Competitors in all three Advanced sections have the spring CCI**** at the Horse Park squarely in their sights.

Heidi White-Carty and Northern Spy continually improved their position throughout the three days of competition at The Fork, in Norwood, North Carolina. They were third after Dressage on a score of 48.10. They added nothing to that score in the Show Jumping phase, which was run on the second day, Saturday, due to rain on that day.Their double clear in the stadium moved them up to second place. Finally they ran one of only three double clears Cross Country to finish on their Dressage score and win the competition. Heidi and Northern Spy were the only pair of twenty-eight in the CIC***-W to finish on their Dressage score. (Heidi and Northern Spy are pictured at the right jumping into the last water.)

Clark Montgomery and Up Spirit also ran a double clear Cross Country; but, slightly blotted their copy book by having added one time fault in Show Jumping for a final score of 50.7 - 1.60 faults adrift of the winners. (Clark and Up Spirit are pictured at the left below jumping into the last water.)

Allison Springer led after the Dressage riding Arthur. They accrued four jumping and six time faults in the Show Jumping which dropped them to third and stayed in third place with four time faults on the Cross Country.

Mara Dean, who was second after the Dressage (43.10) with High Patriot rose to first place after Show Jumping (47.10); but then dropped to fourth after picking up eight time faults over the country.

Only three competitors ran double clear Cross Countrys - Heidi White- Carty, the winner; Clark Montgomery, the second place finisher; and Kim Severson with Tippery Liadhnan, third after Dressage (46.20); nineteenth after Show Jumping with 16 jumping faults for four rails down (62.20); and tenth place overall (62.20).

Final Top Twelve Finishers in the CIC***-W:

1. Heidi White-Carty, Northern Spy- 48.10 (FODS)
2. Clark Montgomery, Up Spirit - 50.70 (DCXC)
3. Allison Springer, Arthur - 52.40 (4 time XC)
4. Mara Dean, High Patriot 55.10 (8 timr XC)
5. Karen O'Connor, Hugh Knows - 56.10 (6.4 time XC)
6. Mike Winter (CAN), Kingpin 57.00 (3.6 time XC)
7. William Coleman, Twizzle 58.10 (.8 Time XC)
8. Boyd Martin (AUS), Neville Bardos - 61.20 (9.2 time XC)
9. Amy Tryon, Poggio II - 61.70 (9.2 time XC)
10. Kim Severson, Tipperary Liadhnan 62.20 (DCXC)
11. Phillip Dutton, The Foreman 62.40 (3.6 time XC)
12. Jessica Phoenix, Exploring 66.30 (6 time XC)
(28 competitors)

CIC***:

Great Britain's reigning Olympic Individual Champion Leslie Law rode Mystere du Val, formerly the ride of Stuart Black, to win the CIC Three Star on a score of 52.50. Leslie won the Dressage, dropped to second with two rails down and 2 time faults in the Show Jumping, and rose back up to the lead with5.6 time faults Cross Country. (Leslie and Mystere du Val are pictured at the right jumping the turtle into the last water.)

Karen O'Connor, who had been fifth in the World Cup qualifier with Hugh Knows, place second on Mandiba in the CCI***. just 1.4 faults behind the winners.

Laine Ashker, one of only three competitors to run double clears Cross Country, and the only competitor in the CIC*** to finish on their Dressage score, placed third on Anthony Patch. (Laine and Anthony Patch are pictured below at the left jumping the turtle in the last water.)

The other two pairs to run double clears Cross Country were Great Britains's Leslie Law on his second ride Private Heart (fourth) and Canada's Mike Winter with Manhattan (sixth).

Leslie Law (Mystere du Val and Private Heart), Mike Winter ( Glen Morangie and Manhattan) and Amy Tryon (Coal Creek and Leyland) each placed two horses in the top ten in the CIC***.

Final Top Ten Finishers in the CIC***:

1. Leslie Law (GBR), Mystere du Val - 3 52.50 (5.6 time XC)
2. Karen O'Connor, Mandiba - 53.90 (9.20 time XC)
3. Laine Ashker, Anthony Patch - 57.80 (FODS)
4. Leslie Law (GBR), Private Heart - 61.60 (DCXC)
5. Mike Winter (CAN), Glen Morangie - 61.70 (2 time XC)
6. Mike Winter (CAN), Manhattan - 62.10 (DCXC)
7. Amy Tryon, Coal Creek 63.60 (2 time XC)
8. Amy Tryon, Leyland - 63.60 (6.8 time XC)
9. Sara Dierks, Somerset - 67.90 (2 time XC)
10. Lauren Kieffer, Snooze Alarm - 71.00 (5.20 time XC)
(31 competitors)

Advanced:

Bonnie Mosser won the Advanced on the grey Merloch (35.10), from Phillip Dutton and Connaught (38.80) and John Williams riding Carrick also (38.80.) Phillip and Connaught were placed second due to a Cross Country run closer to the Optimum Time. Phillip had four time faults while John had five point two time faults.

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By Emily Daily

Heidi White-Carty and her longtime partner Northern Spy were able to post a double-clear show jumping round in the CIC***-W division at The Fork Horse Trials, taking home the Adequan United States Eventing Association (USEA) Gold Cup advanced division trophy. After a long and very stormy weekend, with the grounds crew working around the clock to make sure the footing was ideal, the conditions of the course were excellent, the ground was lush and springy, and rave reviews came in droves. All in all, it was a very rewarding day for the sport of eventing.

White-Carty, 42, who's based out of Aiken, SC, had a fabulous gallop around the Capt. Mark Phillips'-designed course, and was pleased with the care and preparation that went into the course maintenance as well as the upkeep throughout the day. "The ground crew did a super job, considering the conditions they had to work in this weekend," said White-Carty. She also said that she thought the officials made great decisions in deciding to take out jumps if they thought they might hinder horse's safety. "They were doing everything they could to make sure it was safe. The crew are the ones who should definitely get credit for the success of this event.

"This course was a confidence builder for Rolex, and so it was important to have a good run here," she said. White-Carty had hoped to give Northern Spy, a.k.a. "Farley," a great run before the four-star in Kentucky, and wasn't planning to go for the win necessarily. "I went out thinking I'd let Farley do his thing, but he felt so good that I took some of the direct routes, like going straight through the corners, and we ended up making the time," she added.

White-Carty thought that her entire weekend went wonderful, even though the conditions were less than ideal. "I've been working on dressage with Kim Severson, so that's been really great," she said. She and Farley stood in fourth place after Thursday's dressage left them with a 48.10, and they were able to post a double-clear round in the pouring rain in show jumping to move up to second. "The conditions were hard, with the rain lashing down in the ring, but he felt super. He's a big-footed English horse, so he's built to last," she said with a laugh.

After Rolex at the end of April, the pair will be training with the rest of the USEF high-performance team and gearing up for the Olympic Games this summer. If they head to Hong Kong, it won't be the first time that they've represented the U.S. in international competition—they were members of the U.S. team at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen and also placed second in the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** last April.

Clark Montgomery, 27, and Up Spirit, fresh off their win a few weekends ago at the Red Hills Horse Trials in Florida, also posted a double-clear show jumping round to jump up from fifth to finish in second place. Montgomery, his wife Jessica, and the nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding are headed to England, Up Spirit's homeland, to train at Mark and Sandy Phillips’ farm in preparation for the Saumur CCI*** (France), where they'll test their mettle against the best of the European riders.

Allison Springer and her young and talented Irish Sport Horse Arthur originally led the field of nearly 30 horses in the CIC***W division, but unfortunately a rail down and time faults yesterday dropped them to third, and coupled with four time faults, they did not move up in the standings. Springer, 34, of Marshall, VA, had to have been pleased, however, with the gelding's performance this weekend, and will be gearing up for his first outing at the four-star level in a few weeks at Rolex Kentucky.

Figuring out who won the Intermediate Gold Cup trophy and prizes was a bit more complex, since there were three separate Intermediate divisions and all of the competitors had to be pooled together for final Gold Cup standings at the end of the weekend. When all was said and done, Jennie Brannigan and her spectacular grey gelding Cooper were the unequivocal winners, finishing their weekend with a 33.5, the lowest score out of all of the intermediate divisions. The seven-year-old Dutch Warmblood (imported from Holland) was originally campaigned by Kelli Temple, but 21-year-old Brannigan has had remarkable success with him in the past year and a half, literally winning nearly every event they've entered, from novice to intermediate.

Brannigan was thrilled with the weekend, and especially her win in the Gold Cup division. "I thought the course was lovely and rode very well, with lots of very inviting jumps. Cooper felt super, and this was a great confidence builder before the Ocala CCI** next weekend," she said. Brannigan originally hails from San Diego, CA, but has been training with Canadian Mike Winter in Georgia since last summer.

The second best score out of all three intermediate divisions was held by Pippa Moon, 26, of Southern Pines, NC, and her 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Ribbo. Moon and Ribbo were tied for seventh after dressage with a 36.6 and were fault-free for the rest of the weekend.

Third-place finisher in the Intermediate Gold Cup division was Sharon White, sporting her customary orange colors on cross-country aboard Peter Barry's Irish Thoroughbred gelding Ashwood Lad. Based out of Summit Point, WV, at Last Frontier Farm, White had a fabulous weekend with a win in her intermediate division and two top five finishes in the other intermediate divisions as well.

For more information on the Adequan USEA Gold Cup Series, including the final leaderboard and coverage from each event, click on the Gold Cup link on the USEA website homepage at www.useventing.com.