FAIR HILL, MD-October 27,2001-Less than one point separates Olympic Gold Medalists Phillip Dutton of Australia and David O’Connor of The Plains, VA entering Sunday’s culminating jumping phase in the Fair Hill International Eventing Championship.

Dutton, the defending champion who won team Gold Medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, leads with a score of 58.4 penalties on Cayman Went after receiving .4 time penalties in Saturday’s cross country phase. O’Connor, the 2000 Olympic individual Gold Medalist who has won three previous Fair Hill eventing championships, also completed Saturday’s cross country with .4 time penalties for a two-phase total of 58.8.

“Because of the terrain here and how the course is laid out, it’s always hard to make the time,” said Dutton who was with his wife Evie when she delivered twin girls at 2:30 Saturday morning. “My horse went well which I appreciated as I was a bit worn out from the night before.”

In addition to his battle with Dutton, O’Connor also faces a showdown Sunday for the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Fall Eventing Championship with his wife and two-time Olympic teammate, Karen. Karen stands third overall and second among U.S. riders with a score of 62.6 on Grand Slam. Karen placed second to David in the USET Championship at Fair Hill in 1999.

Jim Fairclough of Newton, NJ won the USET Four-In-Hand Championship. Fairclough, who placed first in all three phases, scored 10.0 penalties in Saturday’s concluding cones phase to complete the competition with a three-phase score of 160.34. Finishing second as Reserve Champion was five-time USET champion Tucker Johnson of Oldwick, NJ with a score of 303.40, ending his streak of four consecutive championship titles.

“It was nice that I did well on the first and last days,” said Fairclough who previously won the Championship in 1982 and 1994 and who has been runner-up eight times. “I didn’t do as well as I would have liked in the marathon, but then again, everyone had trouble with it.”

Nancy Johnson of Lincoln, MA won the American Horse Shows Association (AHSA) Singles Championship with a score of 121.42 penalties. Johnson’s score also earned her the championship in the Jaguar Triple Crown of Driving, presented by Driving Essentials/Glinkowski Carriages. “I wish we were better in dressage,” she said, “but I really couldn’t ask any more of him in the marathon and cones. I’m really very proud of him and I look forward to receiving my new carriage,” she added referring to the new Glinkowski carriage she’ll receive from Driving Essentials for winning the Triple Crown.

Placing second to Johnson in the Jaguar Triple Crown was two-time winner and five-time USET Pairs Champion Lisa Singer of Chadds Ford, PA. Singer successfully defended her title in the Fair Hill Pairs Classic with a score of 139.09, but missed out on a chance for a record third Jaguar Triple Crown Championship when she scored 19.5 penalties in cones. Singer, who like Johnson, won her division at both Fair Hill and the Gladstone Driving Event, needed a clean drive in cones to edge Johnson.

“I was trying to go fast in the straights and steady on the turns,” she said. “I was hoping to go clear but the sand builds on the covers of the corners and the balls went down.”

In the AHSA Pony Driving Championships, Muffy Seaton of Bluemont, VA won the Pairs Championship with a score of 144.38 and Jack Wetzel of Aiken, SC won the Singles Championship with a score of 137.78.

In addition to serving as the final leg of the Jaguar Triple Crown of Driving, presented by Driving Essentials/Glinkowski Carriages, the Fair Hill International also served as a USET selection trial for the 2002 Four-In-Hand and Singles Driving World Championships, to be held in Jerez, Spain and Conty, France, respectively.

The Fair Hill International is sponsored by Cosequin, the United States Equestrian Team, Banner Life Insurance, Bit of Britain, First Union Private Capital Management, Glenmede Trust, Jaguar, Nawpac, Outback Performance Wear with Gore-Tex Fabric by Outback Trading Company, Ltd., Pennfield Feeds, Practical Horseman, Scudder Financial Services, Southern States Cooperative, Supracor, Thornhill Enterprises, and Thoroughbred Charities of America, Ltd. For full results and more information on the Fair Hill International, please visit www.fairhillinternational.com.