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Perfection on the equestrian course

Published:Tuesday | July 31, 2012 | 12:00 AM
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Zara Phillips of Great Britain rides High Kingdom as she competes in the equestrian eventing cross-country phase at Greenwich Park, at the 2012 Summer Olympics, yesterday in London. - AP photos
Zara Phillips
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LONDON (AP):

Zara Phillips had a few things to celebrate yesterday: Her first wedding anniversary, and a penalty-free ride through the treacherous cross-country portion of the Olympic equestrian eventing competition that counted towards Britain's second-place finish going into the final round.

Her cousins, Princes William and Harry, donned 'Team GB' polo shirts and joined an esti-mated 50,000 less-regal fans in Greenwich Park to root for Phillips as she negotiated her horse over 28 obstacles and a slippery course that claimed a dozen fallen riders.

"The crowd was unbelievable!" Phillips said after she finished Day 2 of her Olympic equestrian debut. "I hope I didn't take any heads off on the way cutting corners."

Hers was one of the top three scores counted in Britain's second-place standings going into today's final show jumping round with 130.2 points. Germany led with 124.7 points and Sweden was third with 131.4. The United States was fifth with 155.2.

Phillips, a former world and European eventing champion who is 14th in line to the throne, said the only drawback to the raucous cheers was that she couldn't hear the timer ticking on her wrist. Timer or no, her under-the-limit ride added no further penalty points to her 46.1 score from dressage a day earlier and left her tied for 10th place in the individual standings.