Well "Crikey" a famous Aussie once said. Dual Olympic Team Gold medalist Phillip Dutton has notified the Equestrian Federation of Australia that he plans to change nationality in order to ride for the United States. The news is the biggest in our sport in 2006 and huge shot in the arm for Eventing in the USA. Dutton is one of the world's most experienced international Eventing competitors having competed in four World Championships and three Olympic Games since his debut in 1994.

Dutton was part of Australia’s gold medal winning Eventing teams at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics. He even had the honor of being flag bearer for the Australian team at this year’s World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. Dutton moved to the USA in 1991 and with his American wife and three daughters lives in Avondale, Pennsylvania.

“I would like to thank the EFA for everything they have done for me and my career as a Three-Day Event rider,” Dutton has said. “It has been an honor to be a member of the Equestrian Federation of Australia and to represent Australia internationally for the past 12 years. Please know that Australia and the EFA will always be in my heart as I move forward in this new chapter of my life,” he wrote in a letter to the EFA.

President and Chairman of the EFA Geoff Sinclair said: “Whilst Phillip's decision means a considerable loss for Australia, we do not wish to stand in the way of an athlete who has built up a great career in the USA and has his family and home there.”

“We have been in contact with the Australian Olympic Committee which has agreed to a speedy transfer”, Sinclair added. “On behalf of all EFA members, we wish Phillip, Evie and their family all the best.”

Dutton has been the most successful rider on the US Eventing circuit since 1998 and was named US Eventing Association Leading Rider of the Year in 1998. Even though that was the first time a foreign rider took that award he has gone forward since then with seven straight wins from 2000 to 2006. A remarkable performance that is unlikely to be matched for many many years.

He was also the No.1 FEI World Event Rider in 2005. The benefits for the USA Eventing team to have a rider of his caliber, can only catapult the USA Eventing team to a new high. We look forward to seeing Phillip one day flying the Red White Blue colors in victory for land he has called home for the past 15 years.

Aussie Aussie Aussie!!