Phillip Dutton showed off Amazing Odyssey’s amazing jumping ability, as they posted one of only three clear show jumping rounds on their way to a resounding win in the Jersey Fresh CCI***, May 15 near Allentown, N.J.

Dutton and August Vettorino’s horse finished almost 13 points ahead of second-placed Buck Davidson on Hyperlite and third-placed Karen O’Connor on Joker’s Wild.

“It was a nice course,” said Dutton of Sally Ike’s creation. “It wasn’t overly big, but the horses were tested yesterday, so it was about right. I really galloped yesterday, so he was pretty wound up today, but he’s a good jumper. I just had to think about not accelerating to the jumps too much. I held him back to get in deep.”

Davidson was thrilled with Hyperlite’s weekend. The three rails he had down were still the best show jumping performance he’s had with Davidson. “I’m really proud of him; he was great all weekend,” Davidson said of the horse owned by Wendy Lewis. Lewis also rode to second place in the two-star. “I got beat by a better horse and rider, but he jumped the best he’s ever jumped for me. I was a little upset about [my cross-country] time yesterday, but it all worked out.”

O’Connor was also proud of Dick and Vita Thompson’s Joker’s Wild, who will retire to the two-star level with one of her students after this weekend. They pulled two rails to retain third place. “My horse really tried,” she said. “I got to picking to the verticals, and that proved not to be a good technique. But he’s been a very good horse. This is his seventh consecutive three-day in the last three and a half years.”

Four years ago, O’Connor had nearly given up on Joker’s Wild because of an arthritic ankle. But shock wave therapy and careful shoeing has put him back in the sport. While O’Connor won’t be looking to future events with Joker’s Wild, and Davidson expects Hyperlite to be sold soon, Dutton is looking ahead to the Burghley CCI**** (England) with Amazing Odyssey, who has already taken fifth places at last year’s Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.) and last month’s Foxhall CCI*** (Ga.).

Rebecca Brown is also looking to the future with Twinkle Toes, her two-star winner with the only clear show jumping round in that division. “This is a stepping stone—I feel like all the work I’ve done in the last year is paying off,” she said. “I had three good rides, and I won on top of it. This was easy for him, so he has potential. When I bought him [as a 2-year-old], I didn’t know what I had.”

Brown, 18, of Dallas, Texas, said she’s considered going to the North American Young Championships but probably won’t. “I think it would be greedy for me and hard on him,” she said. “I don’t want to gallop on the hard Texas summer ground.”

Brown moved into the lead, ahead of Lewis on Galway Blazer, after the dressage leader Stephen Bradley pulled five rails on Jane Sleeper’s New Moon. He still finished third, on a horse he rode for the first time last Monday.

Unfortunately, Wild Frontier, who had been standing in fifth place in the CCI*** with Will Faudree, was not accepted at this morning’s horse inspection. Topspin, ridden by Laura Vandervliet, was also spun. Lellie Ward did not present Riverdance. In the two-star, all the horses presented were accepted.