Take 5 With Phillip, Presented by Equilume: Nothing Was Too Difficult for Cayman Went

Just in case you were worried we might miss a #ThrowbackThursday #TBT (!) here’s beautiful Cayman Went at Rolex. By Easy…

Posted by Phillip Dutton Eventing on Thursday, July 30, 2020

One doesn’t need to look far to find written evidence of the over achieving nature of Cayman Went, the off-track Thoroughbred gelding piloted by Phillip Dutton in the early 2000s. A bright horse who took to eventing quickly as a four year old, Cayman Went was well known for his freakish talent that earned him a hard fought second place (“Not to worry,” Phillip said after an unlucky rail put David O’Connor and The Native at the top of the podium. “This time last week I would have been happy with second.”) at Fair Hill CCI3* (now CCI4*-L) in 2001 at the age of just seven.

“Cayman” was also one of the horses owned by Annie Jones, one of Phillip’s biggest supporters and owners through the years. Annie’s owned all or part of several of Phillip’s horses, including easily recognizable stars such as Woodburn, The Foreman, Mighty Nice, and many others. A fun fact: Annie used to do much of Cayman Went’s fitness work in his heyday, an avid horsewoman and fox hunter herself with a background in the Thoroughbred industry. Another fun fact? Phillip and Evie Dutton’s twin daughters, Mary and Olivia, were also born the same weekend Cayman Went had his big finish at Fair Hill.

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Cayman wasn’t the only horse to show incredible talent and acumen for winning at a young age, and the Australian native’s already golden touch with sensitive horses has proven to be a winning formula for success with these talented athletes.

Phillip and Cayman would go on to finish in the top 20 at Kentucky in 2002 and the top 15 at Badminton in 2003 before later retiring from eventing and finishing out his career as a fox hunter. As if to say “challenge accepted,” Cayman went out first on cross country at Kentucky in 2002 and jumped clear over a course that included a fence that was later removed after the Ground Jury deemed it too difficult.

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