United States Equestrian Team Foundation Presents Pinnacle Cup to Phillip Dutton
RELEASE: April 29, 2010
AUTHOR/ADMINISTRATOR: By Jessica Nemzoff
Photo by Jessica Nemzoff/PMG (Phillip Dutton and Woodburn.)
The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation is pleased to announce Phillip Dutton of West Grove, PA, and Aiken, SC, as the 2010 recipient of the USET Foundation Pinnacle Cup. Awarded annually, the Pinnacle Cup went to the highest-placing American competitor at the prestigious Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bridgestone. Dutton was honored with the award after securing second-place honors aboard Woodburn, who is owned by Acorn Hill Farm, Annie Jones, and Mardie Faucette. Dutton navigated the CCI**** course, April 23-25, in Lexington, KY. This year is Dutton's third year winning the trophy; he won it previously on Bruce Duchossois' Connaught in both 2007 and 2008.
Piloting the 14-year-old New Zealand Thoroughbred, Dutton finished the dressage phase with 47.7 penalty points, a score that would hold throughout the duration of the competition. Dutton and Woodburn mastered Mike Etherington-Smith's 30-obstacle cross-country course within the time allowed and then went on to complete the third and final phase of the event with a fault-free show jumping round in the Kentucky Horse Park stadium.
The USET Foundation Pinnacle Cup stands among Dutton's numerous career accolades, including 11 United States Eventing Association Leading Rider of the Year titles, 2009 Developing Rider Coach of the Year, and multiple international CCI**** wins. Representing his native country of Australia, Dutton competed at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Sydney, and Athens, respectively. His efforts in 1996 and 2000 aided the Australian Eventing Team in taking home the Eventing Team Gold medal on both occasions. In order to fulfill his dream of representing the United States in international competition, Dutton, who is originally from Australia, became an American citizen in 2006 and went on to contribute to the Team's 2007 Pan American Games Gold medal in Rio De Janeiro and also earned an Individual Silver medal of his own.
The year's Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bridgestone, welcomed Dutton aboard four horses, Kheops Du Quesnay, Waterfront, The Foreman, and Woodburn. Woodburn topped Dutton's list as he finished in second, but The Foreman was not far behind for the sixth-place honors. Dutton won the Rolex CCI**** in 2008 with Connaught, and this year's second-place finish will be his sixth time in the second-place position at Rolex. He was second aboard True Blue Girdwood in 1998, Simply Red in 2001, Nova Top in 2004, The Foreman in 2005, Connaught in 2007, and now with Woodburn in 2010.
When asked about his trend of finishing second, Dutton commented, "I am really grateful for second," adding with a smile, "second is better than third, and hopefully he will have his day that he is not second, but wins one of these."
For more information, please contact the USET Foundation by calling (908) 234-1251 or you may visit
www.uset.org.