Gina Miles entered Fair Hill’s show jumping arena on Oct. 22 in third place, but her clean round with McKinlaigh laid the foundation for her first CCI*** win, in Fair Hill, Md.

Miles inherited the win when overnight leader Jonathan Holling dropped three rails aboard Lion King. They had one rail in hand, but the first rail fell at fence 4A, the first of two verticals off a six- or seven-stride bending line. They then lowered fences 10 and 11 to drop to seventh overall.

“There were a lot of good questions, and it was big,” said Miles. “You had to balance between being careful and trying to make the time. I was really excited to have this win for him.”

Miles celebrated her win with her husband, Morgan, and friend/groom Sara Williams. But her mother Pat, who usually accompanies her to major events, was home with Miles’ 13-month daughter, Taylor, and McKinlaigh’s owner, Thom Schulz, couldn’t attend Fair Hill, either.

“I was so sorry for Jonathan,” said Miles. “He’s a wonderful person and rider, working on clinching that big win. I was disappointed for him but thrilled for my horse.”

Jan Byyny and Waterfront jumped into second place with another double-clear round. “I’m very pleased with my horse; he’s done two three-stars and been second twice,” said Byyny, who rode to the top two places this spring at the Jersey Fresh CCI*** (N.J.) on Task Force and Waterfront.

Phillip Dutton stood second overnight and might have jumped into the win with TruLuck, as the pair left all the rails in the cups, but they incurred 3 times penalties to finish third.

“I thought I was close [to the time],” said Dutton. “He’s not the most careful if I go fast. I tried to keep him collected and take tight lines, but we didn’t quite get there. There will be another time for him.”

Bruce Davidson finished fourth with a perfect round aboard Jam, who finished on his dressage score. Darren Chiachia’s one rail aboard Better I Do It left him fifth.

Other riders with double-clear rounds included: Kristin Bachman/Gryffindor (sixth); Kristin Bond/Fleeceworks Blackout (eighth), and the first rider of the day, Samantha Taylor/Livewire (38th).

Julia Steinberg looked like she and Mr. Big were on the way to a double clear, but Steinberg briefly lost her place on course, turning left rather than right after the oxer at fence 5, and crossing her tracks for a technical refusal, although Mr. Big never came close to touching a rail and still managed to make the time. They still moved up from 12th to 10th overall and won the top amateur title for the second consecutive year. Steinberg was also judged the best-turned out at the horse inspections.

Dorothy Crowell entered the arena in ninth place aboard Radio Flyer, but he seemed unwilling to add a stride anywhere, and when he made a bid to leave long and launched at the oxer at fence 11, Crowell came off. She remounted to finish, but the time and jumping penalties sadly dropped her from the top 10 to 32nd.

Six horses were held at the final horse inspection on Sunday morning—Madison Park/Kyle Carter, King Street/Tiana Coudray, Kheops Du Quesnay/Debbie Adams, Livingstone/Hawley Bennett, Kiltartan/Molly Bull, and Critical Decision/Missy Ransehousen. All passed upon re-inspection except for Livingstone. In addition, Elisa Wallace withdrew Jackson before the inspection.

Jane Sleeper took the fitness award for UN; Bruce Davidson won the award for the top U.S. mare with his homebred Jam for the second consecutive year. Loreen Kay, who celebrated her birthday today, won the best first-timer title with Russian. Emilee Libby won the top young rider title with Cahir. Sharon White won the grooms award. Phillip Dutton was, of course, the top foreign rider.

Robin Groves concluded Fair Hill’s combined driving competition by winning her second championship there since she began competing at the event 20 years ago. This year, she won the single horse advanced division driving Lana Wright’s 11-year-old Connemara/Thoroughbred cross, Thor’s Toy Truck.

Groves first ventured to Fair Hill in 1986 with her husband, Wilson, and competed at preliminary level. She stepped up to advanced competition in 1993. Wilson took third place this year for single horses aboard his own U.V.M. Worthy.

“I couldn’t do it without him. He’s my crew and support,” said Robin Wilson of her husband.

Now after Toy Truck’s second full year of advanced competition, “He’s exceeded my expectations,” Robin said proudly of the 15-hand gelding’s performances.

Suzy Stafford brought Believe It Or Not to his first advanced combined driving competition and left with the single pony victory. What’s more, she’s only driven Believe It Or Not—owned by Beverly Lesher and David Forney—for two months now. Nonetheless, they won the division in a head-to-head competition with Sybil Humphreys and Cefnoakpark Bouncer.

Stafford drove Humphreys’ Cefnoakpark Bouncer to the FEI World Combined Pony Driving Championships gold in 2005, so she knew that pony well. “It was neat to see Sybil driving her own pony here,” said Stafford.

She added of the two-entry class, “I guess if you’re a competitive person, you’ll always want to compete against someone. But ultimately, it’s all about your own goals.”

Holding a six-point lead going into the final phase, Stafford topped Humphreys in cones and finished off her three-day score at 150.25.