FAIR HILL, MD-October 28, 2001-David O’Connor of The Plains, VA won a record fifth U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Fall Eventing Championship with a penalty-free stadium jumping ride Sunday at the Fair Hill International.

O’Connor, the 2000 Olympic individual Gold Medalist who won his fourth overall Fair Hill title (his 1995 USET title came as the top U.S. finisher behind Australian David Green), finished with a three-phase score of 58.8 penalties after completing Sunday’s stadium jumping phase fault-free on The Native.

Australian Phillip Dutton, the defending champion and two-time Olympic team Gold Medalist, was the event’s last entry and entered the ring on Cayman Went with a score of 58.4 penalties. He appeared to have the fault-free ride he needed to win his third Fair Hill title until his seven-year-old Thoroughbred knocked down the rail at the last fence on course for five jumping penalties and a final score of 63.40.

“I knew I had to make the time to win and I pushed him a bit hard to the last fence,” said Dutton who was with his wife Evie when she delivered twin girls at 2:30 Saturday morning. “He jumped it a bit like a cross country jump and the last rail came down.”

“I really owe this win to my horse,” O’Connor said. “I came out of the turn to the triple combination very badly and I didn’t have the stride to the fence. This horse tries so hard and he really saved me.”

O’Connor also finished third overall on his other mount, Tigger Too, with a score of 71.40, while David O’Brien of Southern Pines, NC was fourth with a score of 73.20 on Fox In Flight.

Beale Morris of Middleburg, VA received Fair Hill’s award as the trop finishing amateur rider for her 15th place finish on Eastern Shore. Michael Pollard of Columbus, NC received the USET’s Markham Award as the top placing Young Rider (up to age 21) for his 30th place finish on Chumba Wumba. Gina Miles of Creston, CA was honored as the top finishing rider competing in a CCI*** for the first time. She placed 17th on McKinlaigh. John Williams of Middleburg, VA was honored for having the Best Conditioned horse, his mount Sloopy.

On Saturday at the Fair Hill International, 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.