Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

We said yesterday that Michael Jung’s leading day one dressage score of 27.1 would be beaten on Friday at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event — the key question was how many horses would ultimately pass fischerRocana FST.

At the conclusion of the dressage phase, only one pair managed to best the three-time winners. Marilyn Little and RF Scandalous now top the leaderboard going into cross country on 24.8, a personal best score at CCI4* level for this pair.

RF Scandalous, a 13-year-old Oldenburg mare (Carry Gold X Richardia, by Lario) owned by Phoebe and Michael Manders and Jacqueline Mars, stayed relaxed in the buzzing Rolex Stadium.

“I was excited to go on Friday afternoon. She was very businesslike and gave me a great ride. She was really looking to please and did her job,” Marilyn said.

“I knew that she was capable of putting in a great test today. We’ve been working quite hard with Bo Jenå, who is the chef d’equipe for the Swedish dressage team, over the past year and a half. I think it’s been steadily improving. I haven’t competed her so much because we’ve been focused on the training, and I thought if she put in her personal best she could be on top today.”

Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST, a 13-year-old German Sport Horse (Ituango xx X Rose II, by Carismo) owned by Brigitte and Joachim Jung, now sit in second place on 27.1.

As for how it feels to be sitting ahead of the king and queen of Kentucky, Marilyn said: “Those feelings will come and go I’m sure, so I’m going to enjoy this very moment.”

Chris Burton and Nobilis 18. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Chris Burton and Nobilis 18, an 11-year-old Hanoverian (Nobre xx X Lilli, by Lemon xx) owned by Sue Lawson and Carolyn Townsend, sit third on 27.9.

“He stayed lovely and relaxed,” Chris said. “Of course, there can always be things that I wish I could do better, but I’m really happy with the horse, because with horses we know that things can always be worse.” (No truer words have ever been spoken.)

This is Burto’s first time being back at Kentucky since he represented Australia at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, and he said he is delighted to be back in the Bluegrass State.

“It’s a really beautiful track and it’s a beautiful place,” he said. “I walked the course yesterday on my own. I had a nice time out there and I was thinking, ‘This is one of the best courses in the world, isn’t it?’ It’s absolutely beautiful.”

Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

We have two Americans in the top five after dressage, with Kim Severson and Cooley Cross Border, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Diamond Roller X Whos Diaz, by Osilvis) owned by the Cross Syndicate, sitting in fourth place on 28.3.

Oliver Townend has both of his rides in the top 10 after dressage. Cooley Master Class, a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Ramiro B X The Swallow, by Master Imp) owned by Angela Hislop, sits fifth on 28.7. MHS King Joules, a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Ghareeb X Gowran Lady, by Cavalier Royal), scored 31.3 for eighth place.

As for how Diarm Byrne’s prediction that fischerRocana would be the only Thursday dressage performer still in the top 10 at the conclusion of dressage today, he very nearly called it bang on. Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg are the only other pair still holding on to a spot in the top 10. The 11-year-old Trakehner (Windfall X Thabana, by Buddenbrock) owned by Christine Turner now sits sixth on 31.2 in his CCI4* debut.

Lauren Kieffer and Jacqueline Mars’ Vermiculus, an 11-year-old Anglo Arabian and full brother to her first four-star partner Snooze Alarm, scored 31.2 to tie for equal sixth place.

Lynn Symansky and Donner. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Lynn Symansky and The Donner Syndicate’s Donner, a 15-year-old Thoroughbred (Gorky Park X Smart Jane, by Smarten), very nearly caught his personal best at CCI4* level, scoring 31.3 to tie for eighth place.

Colleen Rutledge and her homebred Covert Rights, an 11-year-old Thoroughbred/Clydesdale (BFF Incognito X Let’s Get It Right, by Covert Operation) round out the top 10 on 24.8.

How the Numbers Played Out

It was not an easy day in the sandbox for a number of combinations, with the ground jury of Christian Landolt, Sue Baxter and Jane Hamlin scoring consistently tough across the board. EN’s data analyst and stats wizard Maggie Deatrick crunched the numbers, and the judges seemed less inclined to be generous with the pairs predicted to deliver the best tests. For horses expected to score in the 20s, as a group they were +2.55% above expected. Expected 30-35 was +2.21%, 35-40 was +1.57% and 40s scored +1.17%.

The final session of dressage was scored +2.56% above expected averages for these horses and riders. The eight sessions across both days of dressage were scored +1.38, +1.93, +1.32, +2.22, +2.35, +2.58, +1.52, +2.65. There was a maximum of 1.33% between the hardest and softest scored sessions, which indicates that this ground jury was consistent in how they marked across both days. 

Each of the judges on average consistently agreed with the other two: Sue Baxter varied by 1.57% from the other two, Christian Landolt 1.29%, and Jane Hamlin 1.49%. The biggest disagreement of the competition was on Wembley, where Jane Hamlin scored him 7.25% above the average of the other two judges. No other disagreement versus the other two judge average was more than 5%.

All to Play For Tomorrow

While Derek di Grazia’s course is expected to shake up the leaderboard tomorrow, the fact that we have a clear forecast means we should see more pairs jumping clear and making the time than we have in the last three years, all of which had rain on cross country day.

RF Scandalous completed her first CCI4* at Luhmühlen last year with 6.8 time penalties on a day when more than half the field made the optimum time, so there is a question mark surrounding her speed.

“Scandalous is a great cross country horse — she’s very courageous,” Marilyn said. “She’s got nice technical ability, good footwork, plenty of scope. The footing is nice. I’m looking forward to a nice ride out there. There’s certainly a number of questions, but everything is very fairly presented, so I think that horses that are well prepared should continue gaining confidence as they course goes on, and those that maybe aren’t having quite the best day might find out early on that it’s not meant to be.”

Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST made the optimum time here in 2015, and added 0.8 time penalties in 2016 and 1.6 time penalties in 2017. In short, they are a very speedy pair around Kentucky regardless of the conditions.

“I hope we can enjoy it because everything is perfectly prepared,” Michael said. “We have super ground and super weather for tomorrow. We have a really, really good course. It’s a tough course but a really nice build with many options.

“I try to go fast and clear — I’ll try for sure, but in the end we get the info from the horse from the warm up and from fences two to three, we go step by step through the course. Then we have to be open in our mind which plan we go — if we take an alternate jump if we have to go slow because also in the end we have tough combinations, we need a lot of power in the horse for the end, so we have to take care that we start not too fast.”

Click here for a fence-by-fence preview of the course. Based on the dry forecast and perfect going, EN’s data analyst Maggie Deatrick is predicting that 22.8% of the field will make the optimum time of 11 minutes, 3 seconds, so we are looking at 10 or 11 horses to beat the clock.

Only 22.4 penalties separate the leader from the last horse in the field. The removal of the dressage coefficient means scores are much more tightly bunched than we typically see, and every second of time added tomorrow will prove all the more costly.

Cross country starts at 11 a.m. EST/4 p.m. BST and will stream live on USEF Network. If you can’t watch, be sure to follow along here on EN in our open thread or on Twitter. Click here to catch up on all of EN’s coverage from #LRK3DE. Go Eventing.

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Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST lead the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event at the conclusion of the first day of dressage in their quest to claim a historic fourth win here in Lexington, Kentucky. (If you missed it, watch a video of their test here.)

But their score of 27.1 (which converts to 40.7 under former FEI scoring) leaves the door open for the heavy-hitters still to come tomorrow. As we discussed in the lunch update, fisherRocana, a 13-year-old German Sport Horse (Ituango xx X Rose II, by Carismo) owned by Brigitte and Joachim Jung, has scored better in the first phase in all three of her previous trips to Kentucky.

As always, Michael said the mare gave him a “very good feeling” in the sandbox today. “I think I can ride her really nice and like I wish. I had a little mistake at the halt at A before the reinback — she stood not really quiet — just a few things like this. All in all I’m happy.”

Tsetserleg checks out the atmosphere at his first CCI4*. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

The entire top five at the lunch break remained unchanged through the afternoon session. Boyd Martin and Christine Turner’s Tsetserleg delivered an impressive performance in the 11-year-old Trakehner’s debut at the level to sit in second place on 31.2.

“When you finish (the test) you always wish there was one part or another that was a bit better,” Boyd said. “Overall he did as good as he could with where we are at the moment (with his training). It will get better and better, but at this point I’m very pleased.”

Bred in the U.S. by Timothy Holekamp, Tsetserleg is a son of Olympic team bronze medalist Windfall. “Ten years ago when I came to America for the first time, I saw Darren Chiacchia and Windfall. I remember watching his test here and it was spectacular,” Boyd said. “Who would have thought that 10 years later I would be riding one of Windfall’s babies?”

Tamie Smith and Wembley. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Tamie Smith sits third with Kevin and Ann Baumgardner’s Wembley, a 15-year-old KWPN (Lester X E-vip, by Cantus), on 32.1 in the horse’s first CCI4*. She said she perhaps spent a bit too much time in warm-up, which saw him get a bit tired towards the end of the test, but overall she is thrilled.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect about Wembley because he can go into the test and be quite tense,” Tamie said. “He was very workmanlike. I couldn’t have asked him to be better.

Caroline Martin and Sherrie Martin’s Spring Easy, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Garrison Royal X Castlegrogan Clare, by Ballinvella), sit in fourth place on 33.3.

Phillip Dutton and Z, a 10-year-old Zangersheide (Asca X Bellabouche, by Babouche VH Gehucht Z) owned by the Z Partnership, sit fifth on 33.7 in the horse’s CCI4* debut.

Waylon Roberts and Kelecyn Cognac lead the way for Canada and also delivered the best test of the afternoon session, scoring 34.2 to sit in sixth place. The 15-year-old Thoroughbred owned by Anthony Connolly and Skye Levely is another horse in the field making his CCI4* debut here at Kentucky.

Waylon Roberts and Kelecyn Cognac. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

How the Scoring Stacked Up

As we look ahead to the second day of dressage, the question isn’t whether fischerRocana will still be leading at the end of the day tomorrow — she won’t. At least four horses (Cooley Cross Border, Cooley Master Class, Nobilis 18, and RF Scandalous) are expected to score better than 27.1 tomorrow, with MHS King Joules also having achieved a CCI4* personal best better than that mark.

That stat is courtesy of EN’s data analyst and all-around wizard Maggie Deatrick, who has been crunching numbers and tweeting about how the ground jury of Christian Landolt, Jane Hamlin and Sue Baxter performed today.

Overall, the afternoon sessions scored +1.68 above the expected averages for these pairs, in line with the +1.61 of the morning sessions. Thursday was scored +1.65 above expected averages, which indicates the judges are not inclined to be generous for tension or mistakes.

Jane Hamlin offered the highest marks this afternoon on six of 10 pairs, including all four in the final session. Christian Landolt gave the lowest marks on four of the 10 while the other two judges were lowest on three each.

The judges scored within 1% of each other on 9.52% (two) of the pairs who went today. They differed by 5% or more on 14.29% (three) pairs. In the final session, Jollybo received the largest disagreement of 6.04%, with Jane Hamlin offering 62.007% and Sue Baxter offering 56.03%.

Be sure to follow EN on Twitter to read more of Maggie’s stats.

Your top three after the first day of dressage: Boyd Martin, Michael Jung, Tamie Smith. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Looking Ahead

We will likely be looking at a very different top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of dressage tomorrow. Diarm Byrne of EquiRatings has made the gutsy call that aside from Jung and fischerRocana, none of the combinations in the top 10 after day one will still be in the top 10 at the conclusion of day two.

While Sam Watson, the other half of EquiRatings, wisely noted today that “four-stars aren’t won in the dressage, but they are lost there,” Kentucky is almost certainly not going to be a dressage show.

Derek di Grazia’s cross country course, which runs in reverse direction this year, is beefy and technical right up to the very end. (Click here for EN’s fence-by-fence preview.)

The top three all weighed in with their thoughts on the course in this afternoon’s press conference, and Michael Jung agreed that reversing the direction of the track has significantly changed the feel and flow of the course.

“The ground is perfect, also great weather, so I’m really looking forward to the cross country,” he said. “Really nice jumps, really nice build. You have a tough course — many different places with difficult jumps. Nice alternative jumps everywhere so you can choose your options; you can change your idea if you feel that the horse is tired … I really like it at the moment, but we have to walk it a few more times.”

Boyd said he thought the course is as tough as he’s ever seen it here. “I think that the first part of the course is quite forward and galloping, and I think the second half of the course, starting at the Head of the Lake, gets much more difficult. As we know the horses tire toward the second half of the course a bit. I think it’s actually going to be hard to make up time,” he said.

“Usually (Derek) gives you a nice long gallop somewhere in the last minute or two, and this year he’s kept the combinations. As Michael said, there’s not one fence out there that’s breathtaking. I think there will be trouble throughout the course.”

Tamie added that the course is technical the whole way. “The Head of the Lake will be quite influential going the direct route, and like Boyd said, we have a brush combination toward the end of the course that might catch out some tired horses. Hopefully mine’s not tired!”

The second day of dressage starts tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. EST and will stream live on USEF Network. Click here to view Leslie Threlkeld’s beautiful photo gallery of all the horse and rider combinations today. Click here to catch up on all of EN’s coverage from #LRK3DE so far. Stay tuned for much more from the #BestWeekendAllYear. Go Eventing.

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Fence 1 – Red, White and Bluegrass. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event is an important competition on the North American calendar in any year, but it is all the more critical in a championship year. As a U.S. selection trial for the 2018 World Equestrian Games at Tryon, all eyes will be glued to Derek di Grazia’s cross country course come Saturday.

This year’s course runs in reverse direction, which places many of the familiar combinations later on the track. The first three fences — a log called Red White and Bluegrass at fence 1, the Market Table at fence 2, and the Double Brush at fence 3 — are galloping efforts to settle horses and riders into a rhythm, and the terrain has a steady uphill climb to start.

Fence 4ABC – Water Park. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The first combination comes at fence 4ABC, the Water Park, with horses jumping in over a set of rails before making a sharp left-hand turn to jump a boat in the water, then galloping on to a second boat as the C element. Fence 5 is the Whiskey Barrel Table.

The next combination comes at the coffin at fence 6ABCD, the Park Question. After jumping in over a hanging rail at A, horses and riders will navigate down a sharp slope to the ditch at B, then turn right to jump over a house at C. The biggest challenge by far will then be quickly turning left to jump a massive right-pointed open corner as the D element. There is absolutely no margin of error at the corner, and finding the right line and holding it will be all important.

The open corner at fence 6D, the Park Question. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Fence 7 is the always impressive Keepers Brush, then it’s on to a massive open oxer at Cora’s Crossing at fence 8, before the Ditch Brush at fence 9.

The next major question comes at the second water complex on course at fence 10ABC, the Rolex Grand Slam Challenge. Horses and riders will drop in over a rolltop at the A element, then gallop out of the water before turning right to jump a right-pointed brush corner at B and kicking on to a double brush at C.

Fence 12 and 13A – Pet’s Hollow. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Fence 11, the Picnic Table, starts a steady uphill climb to the mound complex at the furthest point of the course at fences 12 and 13. Pete’s Hollow, named in honor of chief course builder Mick Costello’s bother, begins with a massive table at fence 12 and then a very steep uphill climb to a narrow stump at fence 13A. Riders will then navigate back down the mound to a left-pointed brush corner at 13B.

Fence 14 brings the second open oxer on course, the Loblolly Pine Rails, which then leads to a combination of two angled logs set on mounds at fence 15AB, the Fallen Trees.

Fence 16, the Cedar Lodge, is set on a downhill slope that leads to the Waterview Cabin at fence 17 and then the famous Land Rover Head of the Lake at fences 18 and 19. The direct route has riders drop in over a brush at 18A, then kick on to a left-pointed brush corner at 18B. Fence 19 requires riders to turn sharply right to jump a double brush at 19A, then gallop back into the water to an arrowhead brush at 19B.

Fence 18AB – Land Rover Head of the Lake. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Fence 20 is a new Trakehner, and then it’s on to the Normandy Bank at fence 21ABCD. Horses and riders will jump up the bank at 21A, bounce over the goose at 21B, then jump off the bank and turn left to a combination of two angled brushes set on one stride as the C and D elements.

The Stepped Table at fence 22 leads to the fourth and final water complex on course at fence 23, the Frog Pond. Horses and riders will jump in over a table at 23A, splash through the water and then jump a left-pointed corner at 23B.

Fence 26AB – Mighty Moguls. Photo by Jenni Autry.

The Victory Brush at fence 24 and the Wattle and Daub Cottage at fence 25 lead to the Mighty Moguls at fence 26AB. Horses and riders will jump the brush at A and then navigate the undulating terrain before jumping a sharply angled brush at B. Once again, there is little room for error at B, and this will almost certain catch out pairs late on course.

The final combination comes at fence 27AB, the Cabins and Boathouse. Riders will jump the cabin at the A element before turning right to jump a massive table set on an angle over a ditch. This is far from a let-up fence late on the course, and horses and riders will need gas left in the tank here. Fence 28, the Lucky Horseshoe, is the final jump on course.

Fence 27AB – Cabins and Boathouse. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Derek di Grazia’s course is 6,295 meters in length with an optimum time set at 11 minutes, 3 seconds. It is beautifully presented, and all credit goes to builders Mick Costello, Tyson Rementer, and Levi Ryckewaert, as well as chief course decorators Sheila Woerth and Rita Boggs and the 100+ volunteers who worked on decorating the course. Go Eventing.

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Good girl, Queen Rocana! Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

As expected, three-time winners Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST took their rightful place at the top of the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event leaderboard as the final pair before the lunch break on the first day of dressage.

While they currently sit in first place, Michael and Rocana’s score of 27.1 (which translates to 40.7 under former FEI scoring) is their highest at the CCI4* level since 2014 and well off the pace of their personal best of 22.7 (34.1 under former scoring). In short, it’s beatable.

With the dressage coefficient removed, we are looking for horses that can score in the low 20s to challenge for the lead after the first phase. “Roxie,” a 13-year-old German Sport Horse (Ituango xx X Rose II, by Carismo) owned by Brigitte and Joachim Jung, is the only horse to score in the 20s so far, but we still have plenty of dressage action to come.

Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Looking to the rest of the morning’s tests, Boyd Martin and Christine Turner’s Tsetserleg (Windfall X Thabana, by Buddenbrock) sit in second place on 31.2 in the 11-year-old Trakehner’s debut at the level.

Tamie Smith is back at Kentucky for the first time since 2009 and currently sits third with Kevin Baumgardner’s Wembley, a 15-year-old KWPN (Lester X E-vip, by Cantus), on 32.1 in the horse’s first CCI4*.

Tamie Smith and Wembley. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

Caroline Martin made her CCI4* debut here last year with her own and Sherrie Martin’s Spring Easy, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Garrison Royal X Castlegrogan Clare, by Ballinvella). She has “Paddy” back at Kentucky and improved on their test from last year with a score of 33.3 for fourth place.

Phillip Dutton and Z, a 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Asca X Bellabouche, by Babouche VH Gehucht Z) owned by the Z Partnership, round out the top five at the lunch break on 33.7 in the horse’s CCI4* debut.

Phillip Dutton and Z. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

EN’s data analyst Maggie Deatrick is crunching the numbers throughout dressage, so be sure to follow her analysis on Twitter.

The pairs in the first session scored +1.38 points above their expected group average. Sue Baxter was the highest scoring judge for 50% of the riders, while Jane Hamlin gave the lowest marks for four of the six pairs. The second morning session scored +1.93 above their group expected average, with an overall +1.61 points for the morning.

The judges have an average disagreement of 3.05 percentage points per pair so far. They disagreed most on Tamie Smith and Wembley, who received 72.76 from Jane Hamlin and 65.34/65.69 from Sue Baxter and Christian Landolt.

The afternoon group is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., with Ellie MacPhail O’Neal and RF Eloquence leading off. Looking to pairs who can challenge for the lead at the conclusion of the first day, Sharon White and Cooley On Show have scored in the 20s in both of their international starts this season. Click here to view ride times and here to read about the best dressage combinations of day one.

Remember you can watch all the action live on on USEF Network with a free fan membership; click here for details on how to sign up. Follow along with all of EN’s coverage in our Ultimate Guide to the event. Stay tuned for much more from #LRK3DE. Go Eventing.

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Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Forty-six combinations will start the competition at at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event following the first horse inspection on an overcast afternoon here in Lexington, Kentucky.

The inspection was not without drama, as the ground jury of Christian Landolt (SUI), Jane Hamlin (USA) and Sue Baxter (GBR) sent seven horses to the holding box: Caroline Martin’s mount Spring Easy, Joe Meyer’s mount Johnny Royale, Erin Sylvester’s mounts Mettraise and Paddy The Caddy; Colleen Loach’s mount Qorry Blue d’Argouges, Sara Gumbiner’s mount Polaris, and Allie Knowles’ mount Sound Prospect.

Johnny Royale was withdrawn from the holding box. Mettraise was sadly not accepted upon re-presentation to the ground jury. The remaining five horses were all accepted.

We saw a number of fresh, fit horses, with Joe Meyer’s mount Clip Clop and Oliver Townend’s mount Cooley Master Class both kicking up their heels. As always, Lynn Symansky’s mount Donner provided quite the finale as the final horse in the order to jog — nothing runs like a deer!

Will Coleman and Tight Lines. Photo by Jenni Autry.

We had two guest Olympians jogging horses for injured riders in Leslie Law and Karen O’Connor. Leslie jogged both Spring Easy and The Apprentice for Caroline Martin, who is nursing a foot injury she sustained at Carolina International last month. Karen O’Connor jogged RF Scandalous for Marilyn Little, who is also battling a foot injury she sustained last November at the Ocala Jockey Club.

Stay tuned for a full photo gallery from the first horse inspection, as well as the winners of EN’s Unofficial Jog Awards.

Dressage starts tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. EST with Buck Davidson and Park Trader as the first down centerline. Click here to view ride times. Dressage will be shown live on USEF Network. Click here for details on how to watch live.

Click here to catch up on all of EN’s #LRK3DE coverage so far. Go Eventing.

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Three-time Kentucky winners Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST. Photo by Leslie Threlkeld.

The first CCI4* of the 2018 eventing season is upon us, and you can watch all the action from the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event live and for free on USEF Network.

In past years the USEF Network’s broadcast of the event has been geo-restricted to North American countries only, but EN confirmed that viewers in ALL countries will have access to the broadcast this year.

To watch the USEF Network live stream, you must be a US Equestrian member OR sign up for a free fan membership using the promo code “LRK3DE” at this link.

Both days of dressage, cross country, and show jumping will be shown live. USEF Network will not air the horse inspections this year.

The broadcast schedule is as follows:

Thursday, April 26 – Dressage
Morning session: 9:30-11:20 a.m. EST/2:30-4:20 p.m. BST
Afternoon session: 1-2:26 p.m. EST/6-7:26 p.m. BST

Friday, April 27 – Dressage
Morning session: 9:30-11:20 a.m. EST/1:30-5 p.m. BST
Afternoon session: 1-2:42 p.m. EST/6-7:42 p.m. BST

Saturday, April 28 – Cross Country
11 a.m.-3 p.m. EST/4-8 p.m. BST

Sunday, April 29 – Show Jumping
1-3 p.m. EST/6-8 p.m. BST

Click here to watch the USEF Network live stream. Don’t forget to use the promo code “LRK3DE” to sign up and watch for free. Go Eventing.

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Doug Payne and Vandiver at Carolina International 2018. Photo by Jenni Autry.

With the first horse inspection at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event just one week away, the number of starters has dropped from 60 at the closing date to 53 appearing on the most current entry list.

Seemingly endless rain in England and Ireland has taken a toll, with numerous event abandonments leading to a dearth of critical prep runs for combinations aiming at spring four-stars.

William Fox-Pitt withdrew Fernhill Pimms due to a lack of prep runs, as did Sam Watson with Horseware Ardagh Highlight.

Injuries have also sidelined a number of combinations. Vandiver, a hot favorite for Kentucky after his win at the Carolina International CIC3*, had a joint flushed in his right hind leg following his withdrawal from The Fork. Doug Payne is now tentatively aiming the horse for Bromont CCI3* instead.

Kurt Martin also withdrew DeLux Z due to injury. While Longwood is still appearing on the current entry list, Katherine Coleman confirmed he sustained an injury at The Fork and will not compete.

Rachel McDonough has also withdrawn Irish Rhythm. Sally Cousins‘ stalwart mare Tsunami has also been withdrawn.

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica and Will Coleman and OBOS O’Reilly are still appearing on the Kentucky entry list, but both horses will contest the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.

While we initially had five U.S. combinations entered for Badminton, Katie Ruppel and Houdini and Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn, who were also cross-entered at Kentucky, have since withdrawn from both events.

Removing Longwood, Veronica and OBOS O’Reilly from the Kentucky entry list brings the total down to 50 expected starters.

That number is likely to change further still. Oliver Townend has three horses on the entry list, but he is widely expected to compete two, with the other staying in England to compete at Badminton.

Caroline Martin has three horses entered but only two will start cross country. If Pebbly Maximus presents at the trot up next week, he will only contest the dressage phase before going on to England for the Bramham CCI3*-Under 25.

Keep checking back for more Kentucky news as we count down to the Best Weekend All Year. Go Eventing.

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The preview video for the cross country course at the 2018 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event is here! Four-star eventer Lisa Barry, who recently relocated to Lexington, joins course designer Derek di Grazia to discuss the track, which runs in a reverse direction this year.

After three galloping fences to get the horses into a rhythm, horses and riders will come to the Water Park at fence 4 as the first combination on course. Riders will jump in over an imposing set of rails, turn to jump a boat in the water, then jump out over a second boat.

“It will be very important for the horses and riders to have a good confident ride here,” Derek said, “because there are other combinations which will be coming soon on the course, so they’re going to want to have their horses ready for those.”

The next major question on course comes at the coffin, the Park Question, which riders will tackle after jumping a big table at the top of the hill.

“After they come off the table at the top of the hill, they are going to have to switch gears and get the horses back in more of a power canter so that they have them a little more underneath themselves,” Derek said.

The direct route at the coffin will have riders jump in over a set of rails, then jump the ditch at an angle to get on the correct line to the cabin at the C element, before turning left to jump a right-pointed open corner as the D element.

Then riders will have a long uphill gallop to the mounds, called Pete’s Hollow this year. The hollow usually comes just past the 7-minute mark on course but will be earlier this year with the track running in a reverse direction.

Horses and riders will come down into the hollow, jump a sizable table at the bottom, then keep galloping up to a narrow stump on the mound, then down to a big brush at the bottom of the hollow.

Then it’s on to the iconic Head of the Lake, which comes later on course than usual, just after the 7 minute mark this year. Horses and riders will come down the hill to the Head of the Lake, “which keeps a lot of momentum, and maintaining control will be key,” Derek noted.

Horses and riders will drop into the Head of the Lake over a big brush, then turn right to a brush corner, keep turning to a big brush oxer, then jump out over a narrow triple brush as the D element.

The next major question on course comes at the Normandy Bank. This year horses and riders will jump up the bank and bounce over a beautifully carved goose, then jump down to an angled line of brushes, “which will make sure that the riders not only maintain a line but also keep their position,” Derek said.

The Normandy Bank typically comes a bit past 8 minutes on the course. “The riders have to be thinking about how their horses feel at this point in the course, and really at this time they have to think about how to maintain that clear round if that is how it’s going for them.”

Are you getting excited yet, EN? We will be bringing you a fence-by-fence preview of the course one week from tomorrow. The countdown is on to the Best Weekend All Year! Go Eventing.

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