Raeford, N.C. – The exciting marathon phase of 2016 USEF Single Horse Driving National Championship took place Saturday at the Southern Pines CDE. The field of talented combinations drove well over Richard Nicoll’s tough marathon track around the Carolina Horse Park, demonstrating their skills for the team selectors for the 2016 FEI World Driving Championships for Singles. Overnight leader Suzy Stafford had a speedy marathon phase with PVF Peace of Mind to remain atop the leaderboard with a score of 124.92.

Stafford (Wilmington, Del.) delivered a great marathon performance with her own PVF Peace of Mind to maintain her lead in the championship. She and the 2007 Morgan mare had some bobbles in obstacle four, the Pine Trees, but won the phase with a score of 87.32, having the fastest times of the division in obstacles three, the Wood Pile, seven, A Bridge Too Far, and eight, the Gum Tree Wheel.

“It was quite fast, but not as smooth as I like it to be. At times she was a little distracted, I’m not sure why, but certainly she was fit and powerful enough. Unfortunately, I got the speed and power without the focus. Every once and a while that was a little bit of an issue,” Stafford explained. “I would say number four was probably the worst [obstacle] for us. She was guessing and ducking into wrong gaps, but she is so strong and has a huge stride that she was able to make up for it. I think the other drivers had some hiccup somewhere, so it kind of kept us all at an equal playing field.”

Leslie Berndl (Newcastle, Calif.) and Uminco had a solid marathon phase to remain in second place with an overall score of 132.31. Berndl and her own 2001 KWPN gelding struggled in obstacle four, but made light work of the rest of the course, finishing the phase in third place with a score of 90.44.

Sterling Graburn (Paris, Ky.) and his and Laura Corsentino’s Mannkato had an excellent marathon phase to move up to third place on the leaderboard with an overall score of 135.06. Graburn and 2001 Dutch Harness gelding scored 87.68 after having the fastest times of the day in obstacles one, Cool Breeze, four, five, The Bird Bath, and six, The Gates.

In the CAN2* Four-in-Hand division serving as a Selection Trial for 2016 FEI World Driving Championships for Four-in-Hand, James Fairclough (Newton, N.J.) had an excellent marathon day with his team, winning the phase with a score of 126.12 and having the fastest time in six of the seven obstacles. He stands atop the leaderboard with an overall score of 176.55. Josh Rector (Dyke, Va.) and his team were second in the marathon phase with a score of 180.38, having the fastest time in obstacle five, and are second overall with a score of 232.63.

The championships concludes Sunday with the cones phase beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Find out more about the Southern Pines CDE and view results.