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Canada's Stuart Black, riding Elkins Wetherill's Midnight Magic, set a record at the Wayne Horse Trials, on Sunday. He became the only rider in the 12 year history of the Advanced competition to win the Bar Holder/Forty Winks Trophy twice! What's more Stuart did it in consecutive years, having won last year with Polaris.

Midnight Magic was the only horse in either Advanced Section to finish on his Dressage score, having completed a double clear on Cross Country as well as in Show Jumping to win the "B" Advanced Section. (Stuart and Midnight Magic are pictured at right during their victory gallop.) Stuart also won the OI, again finishing on his Dressage score with Tommy Star.

Stuart, a Canadian Olympic veteran, hopes to make the Canadian Team for the Pan American Games, which will be held at Fair Hill International, in October. "We (the Canadians) get 10 spots," Stuart commented, "Four team members and six Individuals. We'll try to fill one of those spots."

Stuart's wife, Momi (nee Akeley) herself an Advanced Eventing competitor, was at home in Bluemont, VA. She is expecting their first child, a girl, in four weeks.

Darren Chiacchia and Power Ty finished in second place, with one rail down for a score of 49.53. Darren plans to take Power Ty to the Burghley CCI****, in England, at the beginning of September. (Darren and Power Ty are pictured at left at the last fence.)

Heather Morris, of Dallas, Texas, who had stood second after Cross Country, with Rebel Express, had four rails for 16 faults in Show Jumping and dropped to third place on 50.21.

Diana Rich with Running Cool was fourth. Darren Chiacchia riding Windfall placed fifth.

In the "A" Section of Advanced, Sara Kozumplik, who lives in Clifton, VA, had 13.63 faults in hand when she entered the Show Jumping arena at the Lamplight Equestrian Center, in Wayne, IL, riding her long time partner As You Like It.

Jumping in reverse order of standing after the Cross Country, Nathalie Bouckaert, of Chatsworth, GA, standing second with Oliver Edgecombe, had been only 8.63 faults adrift of the overnight leader, Sara Kozumplik; however, one rail down and one time fault increased the leader's margin to 13.63 faults. (Nathalie Bouckaert and Oliver Edgecombe are pictured at right.)

Sara and As You Like It used up nearly every bit of their cushion as As You Like It pulled three rails for 12 faults. The time on the Show jumping course was tight. Many competitors had had time faults. Spectators held their breaths - two time faults would have dropped Sara to second. Whew! She incurred only one time fault to triumph by .63 of a fault. It was a squeeker!

"I had more rails than I would have liked - this is his weakest phase." Asked if she would have minded being beaten by Nathalie, Sara graciously answered, "Natalie and I are good friends. She won Young Riders the year before I did." Sara won in 2000 riding the other horse that she competed at Wayne, What You Will. (Sara Kozumplik and As You Like It are pictured at left.)

Sara spoke of the Cross Country course, "It flowed very well. It made a good start to the (summer/fall) season. Mark (Mark Phillips, the USET's course Inspector - Rich Temple designed the course) likes to put things off of bends. It was more difficult than I had anticipated."

Asked if the crowds around Fence # 10abc, the Coffin, had bothered As You Like It, Sara replied, "My horse is better with crowds."

Sara would like to go to the Burghley CCI**** with As You Like It - he competed there last year; but, she is worried that there will be many highly qualified American combinations for a limited number of spaces. In case they do not make Burghley, the pair plans to go to the Fair Hill International CCI***, in Maryland.

Anita Nemtin-Gilmour rides for Hungary Internationally, and is a former winner at Wayne, in 1997, with her veteran Kaesar. This pair rose from fifth place to third on the strength of a double clear Show Jumping round to finish on a score of 60.52.

Stuart Black (CAN) with Fleeceworks Pacific Storm was fourth. Penny Rowland (CAN) riding Aberdare placed fifth.

The Chronicle of the Horse 2003 Northern Adult Team Championships

The Preliminary Adult Team Championship was won by the Leaps and Bounds Team, of Suzanne Panacek and Excalibur; Patricia Wheaton with Gallagher; and Bernard Morauw riding Kirwane. (The Leaps and Bounds Team is pictured at the right.)

Leaps and Bounds led the three other teams after Dressage on a combined score of 106.5. They dropped to second after Cross Country on 131.2, behind the Lots of BS team (126.9) All three team members Show Jumped clean to ride their way back into the winning position (131.2).

Bernard, riding Kirwane, also was the highest place individual in the competition. (Bernard Morauw and Kirwane are pictured at left jumping the fence into the second water.)

The Training Adult Team winners, Our Sassy Cide, (Gigi Iacovelli on Apple Cider (54.80); Christina Schiffmayer with Shiloh's Dance (38.60); James Price and Maximus (40.00); and Aimee Bohlman on Absolutely Sweet Marie (39.30)) were the only entrants. Nonetheless, all team members completed all three phases.

Peck of Pickled Peppers - the Team with which Announcer Bryan O'Connor had the most fun - won the Novice Adult Team Championship on a combined score of 95.3. Nine teams competed at the Novice level. The winning team members were Lauren Balough on Forest Glen; James Kane with Gaelic; and DC McBroom riding Woodbine.

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The Maui Jim Wayne Horse Trials is held for the benefit of the Illinois Wisconsin Search and Rescue Dogs Organization. The unit is on call 24 hours and can provide: Scent Specific Dogs; Field Search; Underwater Body Detection; Weapon and Article Recovery; and Cadaver Location.

Buddy, pictured at right being held by his owner, Carol, is a mixed breed who specializes in live trailing on land and water cadaver recovery. A body has been found in 58 feet of water in Lake Geneva. A drowned body gives off oils which rise to the surface. Buddy riding in the bow of a small boat signals the location of a cadaver by becoming alert, whining, crying and barking. Truly an amazing ability!

Saturday, July 12, Cross Country

Rich Temple's Cross Country course, across Dunham Road from Lamplight, in the Pratts Wayne Woods Forest Preserve, turned Advanced Division "A" completely topsy turvy.

Sara Kozumplik and As You Like it came from 4th place after Dressage (35.65) to first place by adding only 9.6 time faults for a final score of 45.25. (Sara Kozumplok and As You Like It are pictured at right jumping into the second water.)

Nathalie Bouckaert and Oliver Edgecombe, who had a Dressage score of 43.48 for 14th place, tacked on 10.4 time faults to climb to second place on a score of 53.88. Nathalie rose 13 places. (Nathalie Bouckaert and Oliver Edgecombe are pictired at left, below, jumping out of the first water.)

Canada's Penny Rowland, a veteran of many International competitions, as a representative of our neighbor to the north, added 14.2 time faults to her 12th place Dressage score of 42.61, for a climb of 9 places, to third position, with a score of 57.41.

There were 5 eliminations or retirements from 16 Cross Country starters in Division "A". These included the over night leader Peter Green, who had a fall from Just a Tramp at Fence # 6, the Log House, as well as several refusals thereafter. Becky Douglas, second after Dressage, had a fall from Highland Hogan at Fence # 10, the ABC Coffin, and did not continue.

The Coffin, a new fence this year, caused the most trouble of any fence on the course. Anyone who had a refusal at the "C" element, a skinny, could not gather enough impulsion to jump it on a second or third attempt and were therefore eventually eliminated.

Advanced Division "B" was slightly less decimated. There were only two eliminations from 15 starters.

Only one Advanced competitor made the time - Canada's Stuart Black, with Elkins Wetherill's Midnight Magic, another experienced International horse, rode a beautiful double clear to grab the lead, after a third place Dressage finish, on a two phase score of 31.74. (Stuart Black and Midnight Magic are pictured above right jumping up onto the bank.)

Heather Morris and Rebel Express rose from 4th place after Dressage to second, accruing only 1.6 time faults for 34.21. (Heather Morris and Rebel Express are pictured at left jumping into the second water.)

Darren Chiacchia, the overnight leader of Division "B" picked up 16.4 time faults to drop to third place on 45.53.

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Stuart Black also leads the OI with a double clear with Tommy Star to finish the two days on his Dressage score of 37.0. Stuart and Tommy Star had been in 4th place after the Dressage phase.

Ashley Bailey-Classon also had a double clear with Celebrity Pick to finish in second place on 40.50. This was a six place rise, from eighth to second.

Preston Wofford and Herman, the third pair at the OI level to turn in a double clear Cross Country, rose to third place from fifteenth, a 12 place gain.

Show jumping begins Sunday morning in two rings at about 8:30 AM. The Advanced should start around lunch time.

NB: This reporter will be leaving the Wayne Horse Trials immediately after the conclusion of the Advanced Show Jumping on Sunday, to travel to Lexington, KY. Final results should appear in these pages early Monday morning, followed later in the day on Monday by pictures and interviews.

Friday, July 11, Dressage

Your intrepid reporter has not been to an event in the western ex-urbs of Chicago since the Pan Am Games at Oakbrook (- please don't tell -), in 1959. One look at the Maui Jim Wayne Horse Trials, at the Lamplight Equestrian Center, in Wayne, IL, would show that that long absence had been a serious mistake! What a show place - beautiful flowers; clean food facilities, which include a Starbucks Coffee Bar, overlooking the Show Jumping course; five dressage rings running simultaneously and a Cross Country Course across Dunham Road, also running on Friday morning; and more than 300 competitors. Top it all off with perfect weather - mid 70's and breezy - not at all usual for Wayne in July, and the perfect mix has been achieved.

This set up could hardly be run by a one armed paper hanger; but, never fear, Organizer Katie Lindsey has a firm hand on the helm! Katie said, "I am most pleased by the number of Advanced horses we have this year. We have never had more that 22 before - this year we had to split into two divisions (with a total of 39 entries). I am convinced," Katie continued, "that it is our footing. We work very hard at it. We spend as much to aeravate the galloping lanes as we do on building the course. We have a gal who comes from Missouri, Julie Culver, who works 10 hours a day for two weeks before the event. Wayne. IL is where Christ lost his sandals, as far as the Eventing world is concerned. It has to be the footing! We are in the middle of a drought - even with the rain last night it would have been greasy on top of hard if we hadn't aeravated - now it's like a sponge."

Peter Green, of Upperville, VA, Chairman of the USET' s Selectors, leads Advanced Section "A" with Just a Tramp on a score of 29.57. (Peter is pictured at right with Just a Tramp.)

Becky Douglas of Mendotta Heights, Minnesota, is second with her old pal, Highland Hogan, on 31.30. Becky was Short Listed for the Sydney Olympics with Highland Hogan, in 2000. She recently moved to MN to live with her fiancee. Highland Hogan's owner, Faye Woolf, lives in Chapel Hill, NC and wanted her horse to compete closer to home. The ride was given to Karen O'Connor. Becky said, "They (the O'Connors) are so good and do everything so well. Karen did a beautiful job with the horse They gave me so many breaks - I lived in their house. It's hard to replace the rider who started the horse. It's a tribute to the sport that there is such a bond between the horse and rider." Becky and Highland Hogan are back together and both seem to relish the renewed partnership. (Becky and Hoghland Hogan are pictured, reunited, at left.)

Canada's Stuart Black is in third place, on the "A" section, with his young horse, Fleeceworks Pacific Storm.

Darren Chiacchia dominated the Dressage in Advanced Section "B". He leads with Power Ty on 29.13 and is second on the Trakehner stallion Windfall, with a score of 30.43. (Darren and Power Ty are pictured at right.) Stuart Black continued to uphold the honor of the Maple Leaf, this time riding Midnight Magic, for a score of 31.71 and third place.

Windfall is competing for the first time since placing 2nd over all and highest of the American competitors at the Foxhall CCI***, in Georgia last April. Windfall was more than ebullient in his return to competition. "He's entitled,"Darren said. "He's been breeding extremely regularly this year and he's a little distracted. He's better when he's surrounded by horses. He's looking at the warm up area - he's looking at the traffic on the road. Where are the mares?" Darren deserves a great deal of credit, as he really finessed Windfall into an excellent test for second place, after the hi-jinks displayed at the left before entering the ring. (Windfall returns to competition with Darren Chiacchia, pictured at left.)

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Becky Douglas and Remington lead the OI after the Dressage phase on 35.00. Darren Chiacchia is tied for 2nd with San Salvador and Regal Wood - both have scores of 36.50.

Darren said, "San Salvador belongs to a pupil of mine, Kate Luce, of Mobile, AL. Southbound, (who stands 5th, with Darren, in the OI,) came from Suzie Tuckerman. He is new to the barn and new to the program. He belongs to Lydia Holsworthy, who is from New Mexico."

The Cross Country begins at 7:00 AM Saturday with the N ATC, sponsored by The Chronicle of the Horse. The Advanced horses go at 8:30 AM Saturday.