Australia's gold medal winning team at Sydney 2000 Olympics (L-R) Andrew Hoy, Phillip Dutton, Matt Ryan, Stuart Tinney
Photo: Julie Wilson/An Eventful Life - Life Stories of Eventing Champions
It’s official - Phillip Dutton and Mystery Whisper have qualified for London 2012 Olympic Games thanks to their win at this weekend’s CCI3* at Jersey Fresh in Allentown, New Jersey.
It’s now highly likely that the Australian bred horse and rider will now compete as a part of the US eventing team at Greenwich in July. According to the US Eventing website;
“It’s a big relief actually – not just to win but to get the horse qualified,” said Phillip. “I knew that he was more than good enough to win, but although that wasn’t the object it was icing on the cake. Every time we do something a bit more he steps up a little bit better. I guess the biggest thing I learned this weekend is that he can go for ten minutes very easily, and that is a great sign for the future because he will be even that much fitter if he gets to run London. There is not much the horse doesn’t have as far as being a three-day event horse.”
The 12-year-old Warmblood Gelding (Richmeed Medallion x Socialite) was purchased from Heath Ryan last year by the Wildasin family for their daughter Arden to ride. However, Arden generously agreed to allow Phillip to have the ride through this summer’s Olympic Games.
“I have been in this a long, long time,” said Phillip. “And I know that you just take it week to week. I have to say that I am enjoying the horse. Being a part of a really incredible horse, it’s pretty neat. He is going to be Arden’s horse, so I just really appreciate the opportunity.”
Phillip and Mystery Whisper led from the start with a fantastic score of 32.6 in the dressage, giving them a seven point lead over second placed Karen O’Connor and Veronica. Mystery Whisper’s dressage prowess is no mystery – he is by Richmeed Medallion, a stallion imported into Australia by Heath Ryan and Ed Richards. This makes Mystery Whisper’s grandsire May Sherif, producer of at least five international Grand Prix horses, including Matador (Kyra Kirkland) and Andiamo (Sven Rothenberg). Medallion himself was a successful Grand Prix stallion, until his retirement from international competition the year before his death.
His previous owner, Heath Ryan, is one of Australia’s top dressage riders who had trained Mystery Whisper to a high level in pure dressage as well as competing him in eventing. Phillip gives credit to Heath for much of the horse’s training but there can be no getting away from the fact that Phillip is a great jockey and seems to have struck up a very good relationship with this horse in the short time they have been together
This was the first CCI 3* cross country course for Phillip and Mystery Whisper as a combination but they finished with only 1.2 time penalties and managed to increase their lead over the second placed Karen O’Connor and Veronica to head into the show jumping with a rail in hand.
Mystery Whisper had his first rail down of the season but still held on to his lead to take the win and Olympic qualification.
In the CCI 2* another ex-pat Aussie, Boyd Martin, took the win on Crackerjack, a nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, a horse which Boyd likens to Neville Bardos as “one of those that will just keep going and going”
With Phillip and Boyd likely to be in the US team, my home team being the Brits and my favourites being the Australians, it’s going to be exhausting cheering them all on at London 2012! Can’t wait................................
To watch footage of Mystery Whisper on the cross country at Jersey Fresh, visit
