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Kelli Temple, of Round Hill, Virginia, riding Paris leads the Advanced A - Test "C" section with Paris on a score of 23.9 from Ralph Holstein, who lives in Hinckley, Ohio, and Arctic Dancer, who are in second place on a score of 32.6, 8.7 faults adrift of the leaders.

Ralph and Arctic Dancer led last fall's Radnor CCI**, with Steeplechase, until the Show Jumping Phase, when he fell to fourth. (Ralph and Arctic Dancer are pictured at the right.) Ralph spoke of his plans for Arctic Dance for the rest of this season, "He's going to the CIC** at Stuart, (in Victor, NY) Then he'll do the Advanced at Richland, Michigan, and Morven (in Virginia) and, if all goes well, we may go to the Fair Hill CCI***. He's already done two Advanced clean on the Cross Country - at Pine Top and Poplar - this spring. I thought he was extremely relaxed and obedient (today) considering that this is only his third time at this level in Dressage."

Cathy Wieschhoff, of Lexington, KY and Ocotillo are in the third slot after dressage. Their score was 33.04 less than one full fault behind Ralph and Arctic Dancer. Cathy is planning to run Ocotillo only at Horse Trials this fall and try to work out a few rough spots. He has done two three satrs and one four star - Rolex-Kentucky -in the last two years since coming off two years of time off, so Cathy wants to give him a breather before next spring when she will do either Rolex-Kentucky or Badminton. (Cathy and Ocotillo are pictured at the left.)

Other placings in Advanced are:

4. Hannah Sue Burnett, Keep the Faith - 34.7
5T. Holly Johnson, The Frenchman - 37.0
5T. James Moore, Herzjuwel - 37.0

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Karen O'Connor, of The Plains, Virginia, leads the CIC** with the O'Connor Syndicate's Mr. Ripley on a score of 47.2. The Syndicate has six members including Dick and Vita Thompson and Lourdes Peralta, long time supporters of Karen.

Karen spoke of Mr. Ripley and of how the Syndicate acquired him. "He was bred in Australia and raced until he was five. He's nine now. We got him from Percy Douglas. She used to groom for us and took a lot of time with him as he had some mental problems - weaving and stall walking. She rode him through their (Australia's ) Novice Level. When I got him and rode him at a few events, I realized there was a serious lack of knowledge in some areas - narrows, turning and corner - things we practice at home all the time, so I dropped him back to Prelim. They ask the same questions (as Intermediate) but easier. If he gets two qualifying scores we'll go to Radnor - you realize that Stuart is the last qualifier for Radnor. We'll move him back and forth between Prelim and Intermediate for the rest of this season." (Karen and Mr. Ripley are pictured at the right above.)

Lucia Strini of Scottsville, Virginia, and Addis Abba are in second place. Their score is 50.6 - 3.4 faults out of the lead. Mike Huber, came from Texas with Kittengala to tie with Chelsea Zimmerman and Reyer Road for third place. Both have scores of 54.4. Rebecca Brown, of Dallas, Texas, and Twinkle Toes, the Jersey Fresh CCI**, with Steeplchase, winners, are in the fifth spot on a score of 55.3, just 8.1 faults behind the leaders.

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Heather Morris, also from Mike Huber's barn in Texas, leads the CIC* riding Double Up. Their score is 45.0. Jill Gill and Glorious Joy are second on a score of 49.6.

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Karen O'Connor also leads the OI/YOI with Mrs. Jacqueline Mars' A Phar Cry. A Phar Cry is out of a mare that Karen King left to me in her will. It's a strange story. I was living in England, at the time, and was at the Belton Horse Trialswith Biko and Prince Panache and something didn't feel right, so I packed up the horses and went home, Later, I found out that Karen and her dog died tragically in her camper at a horse trial, of asphixiation that night. I flew the horse to England and competed her there and then sent her to Willem Micklem's breeding farm, in Ireland. A Phar Cry is by the then leading National Hunt sire Phardante. Last year A Phar Cry - we call him PJ - the mare's stable name was Punkie, so he's PJ for Punkie Junior - won the Training Section at the American Eventing Championships This year he was 2nd in the CCI* at the Virginia Horse Center and won the Preliminary at Groton House." (Karen and A Phar Cry are pictured at the left above.)

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The US Eventing AssociationYoung Event Horse Tests wer held on Thursday, July 7th at the Wayne Horse Trials. Dorothy Crowell, of Lexington, Kentucky, rode Rowland and Eleanor Miller's McClintock, to the win in the five year old Section. This win qualified him for the Young Horse Finals to be held at Morven in the fall, as he had won at Plantation Field and tied for second - placed third - at (a third competition). He's won a Novice Horse Trial and placed in the top four at four Training level trials. He's for sale for $40,000. (Dorothy and McClintock are pictured at the right.)

Dorothy spoke of McClintock. " He's either a son or a grandson ofPleasant Colony. We bought him as a three year old off the track and we turned him out. When I came back from Radnor last fall he had grown four inches in just over a month and filled out. I couldn't believe the change! The first hack after Radnor he said, 'I'm big and bad now!' I rode him for a while with a wiffle bat, which makes a noise but doesn't raise welts like a regular whip. Now he's broken."

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The Cross Country starts on Saturday, July 9th, at Pratt Wayne Forest Preserve. at 7:30 AM with the Novice Rider Section. The Advanced follows beginning at 8:42 AM.