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Phillip Dutton, twice an Olympic Team Gold Medalist, leads the Advanced Division with Mrs. Nina Gardner's House Doctor on a score of 31.7. (Phillip and House Doctor are pictured at the right.)

Phillip is .4 of a fault ahead of Stuart Black and Fleecework's Starlight (Stuart and Fleeceworks Starlight are pictured at the left below.)

John Williams and Sloopy are in third place, 1.6 faults out of the lead. John, who was member of the Bronze Medal Team at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, where he rode Carrick, is the Course Designer at Southern Pines.

John also stands in first place in O/P Section "A" with Sweepea Dean. Sweepea Dean, a Canadian bred from the breeding farm of Doug Dean, is 7/8 thoroughbred and 1/8 Friesan. Carrick's sire is Sweepea Dean's grand sire. (John and Sweepea Dean are pictured below at the left in the Results Section.)

There's a New Aussie in Town!

Boyd Martin, who stands in 7th place, 5.8 faults adrift of his countryman Phillip Dutton, after the Advanced Dressage, lives in Sydney, New South Wales. He and his horse Ying Yang Yo have only been in the United States for two weeks. Boyd travelled with Ying Yang Yo on the long trip from Australia to the Southern Pines Horse Trials - 14 hours by truck from Sydney to Melbourne; 3 hours flying time Melbourne to Auckland, New Zealand; 11 hours flying time from Auckland to Los Angeles; 4 days in quarantine in Los Angeles; 7 hours flying time from Los Angeles to JFK, in New York; a three hour van ride from JFK to Phillip Dutton's barn in West Grove, Pennsylvania; and, finally, a week or so later, nine hours on the truck from Pennsylvania to Southern Pines. (Boyd and Ying Yang Yo are pictured at the right.)

Boyd is on Australia's Long List for the WEG, in Aachen, Germany next August. Ying Yang Yo's best placing in Australia was 2nd at the Melbourne CCI*** last year. The antipodean pair are aiming for the Rolex-Kentucky CCI****, this spring, via Morven and The Fork.

At Press Time the Following Results were Available:

Advanced:

1. Phillip Dutton, House Doctor - 31.7
2. Stuart Black, Fleeceworks Starlight - 32.1
3. John Williams, Sloopy - 33.3
4T. Becky Holder, Courageous Comet - 34.2
4T. Tiffani Loudon-Meetze, Above N' Beyond - 34.2
6. Phillip Dutton, Hannigan - 34.6
7. Boyd Martin, Ying Yang Yo - 37.5
8. Momi Black, Fleeceworks Mullingar - 39.2
9. Molly Hooper Bull, Kiltartan - 40.0
10. Kristin Schmolze, Surprise Party - 40.4
(25 competitors)

Open Intermediate:

Lauren O'Brien and Dunrath's Alto (29.3) lead the OI from Christy Price and Barber's Berber (34.8) and Kim Severson with Tsunami (35.5), with approximately two thirds of the Section completed.

Open Preliminary "A":

1. John Williams, Sweepea Dean - 30.7 (John and Sweepea Dean are pictured at the left.)
2. Stephanie Baer, Letida - 33.0
3. Caroline Dowd, Raw Deal - 34.1
4. Lisa Mendell, Loughnatousa Sp[ring - 35.2
5. Paul Ebersole, Twisted Fate - 35.9
6. Matt Flynn, Hogo Boss - 36.3
(About 23 competitors)

Open Preliminary "C":

1. Steuart Pittman, Runaway Patriot - 21.5
2T. Gina Fiori, Remington - 25.6
2T. Jennifer Gobel, Berkley - 25.6
4. Amy Tryon, Reveille III - 36.7
5. Erin Renfroe, Benwald - 30.7
6T. David O'Brien, Money Spider - 31.1
6T. Beth Wheeler, Double Hierarchy - 31.1

The Cross Country starts with the Advanced at 9:00 AM Saturday.