There aren’t many three-days in the United States that Phillip Dutton hasn’t won at one point or another, but the Radnor CCI** had eluded him until today, Oct. 15. His fault-free round aboard Lucky Stripe gave his competitors no opportunity to deny him victory.
“This was a very big performance for my horse,” said Dutton. “He’s been a difficult horse for me. I was not the most confident guy going into show jumping.”
If Dutton was nervous, no one could tell as they entered the ring in the leading position after cross-country. He didn’t have a rail between him and fourth place, so a clear round was essential.
“It was a good course,” said Dutton. “There were rails coming down until literally the last fence. I was going to take the option at fence 5, because when he sees a lot of fences in a row he tends to get too bold.”
But Lucky Stripe came out on his game, so Dutton changed his plan and went the fast way afterall. They finished on their dressage score of 43.5 penalties.
The standings behind him didn’t alter too much after cross-country. Clear rounds by Donna Smith, Will Coleman, Kim Severson and Karen O’Connor kept them in the top five. Sharon White was able to move up four places to seventh with a clear round aboard The King’s Spirit.
“I was really proud of [my horse],” said Smith of Rocket. “He’s a good jumper, but green in his jump.”
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As the leading U.S. rider, Coleman came home with a trailerful of trophies. He not only won the two-star championship, but also best conditioned and best rider in the 22-26 age group with Kiki du Manoir.
Coleman may only be 23, but he didn’t admit to having any unusual nerves before show jumping. “I was thinking about having a clear round,” he said. “This horse doesn’t jump as well out of grass. He doesn’t come off the ground quite as neatly. But he went in there and perked up.”
Erin Spohr finished as the leading young rider aboard Corner Street in 10th place with three rails. Kim Severson grabbed the award for best mare and best young horse on Tsunami by finishing fourth.
Krissy Smith and Sarah Kuhn were eliminated on technical errors in show jumping. Krissy started before the signal with Clifton Vitori. Kuhn had one refusal on course and then missed the finish flags. She noticed and circled around to go through them on Only My Life, but that circle counted as another refusal, and two stops lead to elimination under FEI rules.
Neither Mikki Kuchta and Oz, nor Tamara Todorovic and Funshine Bear presented for the third horse inspection.
The official word on Gibson, Kyle Carter’s horse that was transported to the New Bolton veterinary hospital after hurting himself at fence 5 on cross-country, was that he had an injured ligament and was expected to recover with time.
