Classic Eventing Nation

Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Waking up this morning, a few scenarios ran through my head. In one, Tom McEwen or Yasmin Ingham took home the crown, each of them having somewhat of a comeback storyline when it comes to competing in Kentucky, having both come close to earning a victory here over the last few years. In another, top-ranked U.S. rider after cross country Mia Farley would climb to the top and achieve a feat no one would have ever predicted at the outset of the OTTB Phelps’ career. In a third, FEI World #1 Oliver Townend would somehow climb the board with the precocious 10-year-old Cooley Rosalent after starting Sunday in third place. To me, the first scenario was what I’d be writing about tonight.

Oliver Townend had other thoughts.

Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

A Win for the Superstar

We in the U.S. got our first glimpse of Diana and Paul Ridgeon’s Cooley Rosalent (Valent – Bellaney Jewel, by Roselier) last year at the Maryland 5 Star. She was a 9-year-old, and Oliver was quite high on her. Born to a dam who had won the Scottish Grand National, contributing a gallop and speed, and a show jumping sire who contributed scope and movement, “Rosie” had all the makings to be a star. Oliver described her when he first laid eyes on her as a four-year-old. “Is this fool’s gold?” he thought at the time. Surely a horse that could move as correctly as she did as a gangly young horse was too good to be true. Add in the Thoroughbred blood on the dam side and Oliver knew he might have something special on his hands.

At Maryland, the mare impressed, answering all the questions on Ian Stark’s cross country course to very nearly take the win in her CCI5* debut.

Oliver made a plan to bring the mare to Kentucky this year as he makes a bid for the upcoming Paris Olympics. But after scoring a 31.4 to go into 8th place after dressage, Oliver thought he might be disappointed on the plane ride home to not have been more competitive.

“I was fairly upset with myself after the dressage and looking at the last three times up until this we’ve always gone home with a win from here, so I kind of thought to myself that it’s gonna be a bit depressing going home on that plane and having not won,” Oliver said. “And then I sort of, you know, just gave myself a kick into gear and thought she’s a very good horse and I knew she was an incredible galloper both from the feel of her and from her pedigree. I had a plan in my head after Maryland last year. Again, I mucked that one up, she should have won that one and I got in her way in the show jumping. So I just had a very clear picture in my mind of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it and if it was gonna be my week, what will be will be. Just do my job and try and look after her for the future but also try and be as competitive as possible.”

He entered a buzzing Rolex Stadium (thankfully free of any bird of prey hunting today) as the third last to go, delivering a clear round to put pressure on the top two, who had no rails in hand.

Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It was then reigning world champion Yasmin Ingham‘s turn aboard Janette Chin and The Sue Davies Fund’s Banzai du Loir (Nouma D’Auzay – Gerboise du Cochet, by Livarot)., out for revenge after dropping out of contention in 2023 due to a penalty on cross country. She nearly did it, but lowered a rail at fence 8, which came just before the triple combination. This error might have given Tom a rail in hand had it not been for Oliver’s clear round, so as it stood the 2019 Pau winner entered on JL Dublin (Diarado – Zarinna by Canto), owned by James & Jo Lambert, and Mrs. Deirdre Johnston, without a cushion.

Tom was nearly home, but then it happened: the vertical at the penultimate fence, which had come down for four previous riders, rattled and clattered to the ground.

It had happened. The falling of two poles — one for Yasmin and one for Tom — would give Oliver Townend his fourth Kentucky victory and a win on the weekend his historic 100th CCI5* start.

“I was lucky that it didn’t go the other two guys ways,” Oliver joked in the press conference. “You know, they’re on very established and famously good jumping horses. The pressure was kind of off me in a way, which I quite enjoyed because normally it’s me going in there in Tom’s position and having a fence down sometimes. It swings in roundabouts.”

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Despite this success for Oliver, it’s hard not to feel for Tom and Yasmin, who once again will board a plane back to Kentucky without a trophy in hand (though a podium finish at a 5* is hardly a failure, but it’s no doubt hard to put it into this perspective with the pressure of Olympic selection looming).

“Dubs has been amazing,” Tom noted. “I really feel like this weekend we’ve really cemented our partnership. It’s just taken a bit longer. He’s such a nice, polite, kind character and Nicola has done the most extraordinarily great job with him. It’s just taken a little bit of time for me to find the path with him. And this weekend I thought he did the most incredible dressage test and I was a bit gutted with the mark that I came out with, I thought it should have been better, personally.”

“To be honest today with the show jumping,” he continued. “He’s a great jumper and it’s just one of those things. I’m sure I’ll beat myself up about it, but I’ve only got a week to do it and then back to Badminton. But for me, Dublin is the most crazy special. I mean, the dressage test sort of showed half of what he can produce. It’s been a lot better than it has been here, so that was that was a bit of a gutting shame. But yeah, I know on his day that actually he will wipe floors clean. So it’s very good and exciting coming up into an Olympic year that he’s put himself in a great position, and sort of onwards and upwards really.”

Yasmin echoed Tom’s disappointed pragmatism. “I think overall he jumped super today. We just had a really unlucky rub on an oxer. So overall, I’m delighted with him and unfortunately it wasn’t our day and these things happen for a reason and we’ll come out stronger next time. But I’m absolutely delighted with him from the beginning of the week until today, so it’s really exciting to be on a podium at five-star, the highest level in the sport. And of course, it’s a very important year so he’s feeling amazing and obviously we ‘will go away and work even harder is the next thing on the list.”

Notes and Notables

Malin Hansen Hotopp and Carlitos Quidditch K. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Finishing fourth in Carlitos Quidditch K‘s (Quiwi Dream – Amsterdam, by San Patrignano Cassini) first CCI5* is Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp, who delivered the sole other double clear round today aside from Oliver’s to finish on a score of 37.9, moving from 10th place after cross country. I unfortunately did not get to catch up with Malin after her round, but will try to add some more perspective from her as she certainly experienced the weekend of a lifetime on her first trip to Kentucky.

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The newly-crowned USEF National CCI5* Champion is Lauren Nicholson, who brought the cheeky Vermiculus (Serazim ox – Wake Me Gently xx by Be My Native xx), who is owned by the wonderfully supportive Ms. Jacqueline Mars, to Kentucky to contest his ninth CCI5* at the age of 17 years young. After a minor injury prompted Lauren to keep “Bug” on the sidelines for the majority of 2023, she brought him out with a very big goal looming in the back of her mind: a spot on the Olympic team for the USA.

Coming into Kentucky, Lauren kept her expectations realistic: Vermiculus hadn’t run at the level since 2022, when he was fourth at Luhmühlen. His most recent major outing was at the FEI World Championships for Eventing, where he and Lauren assisted team USA to a silver medal.

“I mean certainly we came feeling a touch rusty because he hasn’t had a proper big outing since Pratoni and especially because in his career he hasn’t actually missed a season before,” Lauren said. “So we certainly came here wanting to be competitive and he has the experience to do so.”

Lauren did lower one rail — the first element of the triple combination at 9 — but her finishing score of 39.0 was enough to secure fourth place and the National Championship ribbon.

Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculus. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“I would have liked to beat this lot,” Lauren said, gesturing to her left at the podium finishers. “But he certainly, not outperformed expectations, but I was just very pleased, especially for such the fan following he has — he’s such a character anyway — that I was able to deliver what he deserved to get on the day.”

This achievement is Lauren’s third time winning the USEF National CCI5* Championship, second only to Phillip Dutton. She’s won the award twice before with her 2016 Olympic partner, Veronica, in 2014 and 2016. Vermiculus is another horse sailing toward the tail end of a lengthy career at the top levels, a testament to the program Lauren has designed under the advice of her longtime mentors David and Karen O’Connor and the team she has surrounded herself and her horses with.

With this result, and with two potential Olympic hopefuls for the U.S. dealing with minor injuries, the race for U.S. team selection seems like it’s nearly been blown wide open with a little over a month to go before team selections begin rolling in.

Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculus. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“It’s not a bad feeling, but you know, I think all these guys can agree you get to a point your career that you don’t want to go just to get the completion,” Lauren said when asked for her thoughts on the Olympics. “I’m eager that the U.S. has such depth too. If I get put on [the team], I want to get put on because I’m going to contribute to bringing home a medal, not just to go there for fun. I think it’s going to be a really hard choice for selectors to make because the three person team certainly is going to be a heavy factor in that decision. So we’ve done what we can this weekend and done our job and now it’s just wait and see what’s in the cards.”

Buck Davidson and Sorocaima. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Also securing a competitive finish at Kentucky are Buck Davidson with the off-track Thoroughbred Sorocaima (Rock Hard Ten xx – Sankobasi xx, by Pulpit xx), who jumped a clear round with a few seconds’ worth of time to finish sixth on a score of 41.8.

“I thought if I took the top rail off every jump, I might have a chance,” he joked after his ride. “After we jumped through the triple I thought, ‘my god, I didn’t think we had a chance at that.’ I’m just so proud of him, all three phases he just did better than he can do. Two years ago, I think I had eight [rails] down and he just keeps trying.”

Sourced originally by Jill Henneberg and sent to Buck as a training or resale horse, “Cam” has become a barn favorite amongst the Davidson clan, carving out his place as a sleeper top prospect with this result. “He’s stronger, he’s more mature, he’s been there and done that now,” Buck described. “You can’t underestimate the heart of a Thoroughbred. I mean, they just try and try and try, and he never didn’t try, he just didn’t know how to do it.”

Oliver Townend picks up his fourth Kentucky victory. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

This year’s Steve Stephens-designed show jumping track stayed fairly on par with its statistical history, yielding only six clear rounds for a 26% clear rate and just a 9% double clear rate (Kentucky has averaged a 21% clear rate on Sunday over the past few seasons, according to EquiRatings).

Problems were scattered throughout the course with no real clear bogey fence, though the penultimate vertical came down for five riders and fence 3 also causing trouble for five riders. Time was also a factor: the time allowed of 1 minute, 20 seconds was not enough for 16 pairs.

There was one withdrawal between the trot-up this morning and show jumping: Ariel Grald made the decision not to jump with Leamore Master Plan, who had been in 31st place after cross country. “Although he passed the trot up, I ultimately decided to save him for the future,” Ariel told us. “He’s a horse of a lifetime and doesn’t owe me a thing!”

Oliver Townend now stands in line to become the third rider to capture the elusive Rolex Grand Slam (Pippa Funnell was the first rider to win in 2003, followed many years later by Michael Jung in 2016) with his win at Burghley aboard Ballaghmor Class. He’s entered at Badminton in two weeks’ with Tregilder and Ballaghmor Class — arguably his top chance to win the event and the Grand Slam.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this report said Ballaghmor Class had been withdrawn from Badminton, but we are unsure if this is true due to how Badminton is listing their entries. I’ve taken that out while we confirm the status.

The End of Another #BestWeekendAllYear

Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculus. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

It’s been an absolute pleasure following along with Kentucky alongside you this week. I have many stories I’d love to tell yet, so please stay tuned as I catch up on some of the conversations I missed out on this weekend.

I chatted briefly with an elated Joe Meyer, who brought the Meyer family’s and Theresa Foote’s Harbin (who reminds Joe very much of his famous former partner, Snip) to the 5* level for the first time and delivered two incredible clear jumping rounds — look for more on that later. James Alliston also enjoyed a stellar weekend with the debutant Karma, owned by Alliston Equestrian and Ric Plummer, also delivering a clear cross country and show jumping.

I’ll be telling these stories and more throughout the week upcoming in between Kentucky and Badminton, plus much more, so stay tuned and as always, Go Eventing.

EN’s coverage of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is presented by Kentucky Performance Products, your one-stop shop for science-backed nutritional support for all types of horses. Click here to learn more about Kentucky Performance Products.

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Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

We saw a relatively tame and uneventful Final Horse Inspection this morning across both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the CCI5* divisions. In the end, all horses were accepted, and one — Quantum Leap (Doug Payne’s 5* ride) — was withdrawn from the holding box. Doug posted the following on social media:

“Unfortunately Quantum lost a shoe at fence 12. Slipping and sliding around the remainder of the course ultimately took its toll. Quantum wasn’t his usual self this morning so with his health and future our first priority, we’ll fight another day!”

Doug Payne and Quantum Leap. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The only other hold came in the CCI4*-S when Corture, the ride of Briggs Surratt, was sent to the holding box. The mare was subsequently accepted when Briggs presented her.

Briggs Surratt and Corture. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

So we now move forward with a total of 24 pairs in the CCI5* and 40 in the CCI4*-S. There were also two overnight withdrawals in the 4*-S: Lucienne Bellissimo withdrew Dyri and Lindsay Traisnel withdrew Bacyrouge.

Show jumping begins for the 4*-S at 10:30 a.m. ET, followed by the 5* at 2:00 p.m. ET. We look forward to seeing the conclusion of an exciting weekend of eventing. Live stream information can be found here. We’ll see you soon!

EN’s coverage of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is presented by Kentucky Performance Products, your one-stop shop for science-backed nutritional support for all types of horses. Click here to learn more about Kentucky Performance Products.

Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Tickets] [Scoring] [Ride Times] [Live Stream] [Ultimate Guide] [EN’s Coverage]

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Every year when I pull in to Kentucky Horse Park on cross country morning, I’m reminded of just how much I love this venue and this event. The energy and anticipation is palpable: eager fans milling about the trade stands as they make their way toward cross country, cresting a hill to one of the cross country fields and seeing nothing but seas of people as you scan the course, the tingle of both anxiety and excitement elevating my heart rate.

It’s just special here, and as is typical we were treated to a spectacle of eventing sport today across both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the headlining CCI5* divisions. You can catch up on the CCI4*-S action (and boy, was there action) here. For now, let’s dive right in to unpack a very impactful day of cross country.

The Top Placers

Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

I’m not sure anyone doubted Tom McEwen‘s ability to deliver an important clear round with more implications than solely a podium finish (or a win) here at Kentucky. But the pressure was on: at the outset of the day, the reigning Olympic individual silver medalist had just 1.4 penalties or 3.5 seconds of time “in hand” ahead of Yasmin Ingham.

On a day when only two pairs managed to come home inside the optimum time of 11 minutes, 15 seconds (more on that later), time was always going to exert its influence. Tom and JL Dublin (Diarado – Zarinna by Canto) generally average about 6-10 time penalties, according to EquiRatings, and they came home quicker than that with a total of four time (10 seconds). Had Yasmin Ingham not incurred time penalties of her own, Tom’s lead may have been in jeopardy, but as it stands now he will carry the lead and a 78% chance of winning into show jumping tomorrow with a two-phase score of 28.6.

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“He was incredible, I was cruising for the first five and I felt more like it was an Intermediate,” Tom said of his ride today on the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by James & Jo Lambert, Mrs Deirdre Johnston, expressing that he felt he’d been faster than he was but taking the long route at a couple of combinations, including the Park Question at 23, likely added some of those time penalties. “When I tried to balance at the coffin I thought the best decision was to keep very straight, but I’m not sure I wanted to. We just popped in the long route.”

Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Yasmin Ingham held on to her second place with 5.6 time penalties accumulated aboard Janette Chin’s and the Sue Davies Fund’s Banzai du Loir (Nouma D’Auzay – Gerboise du Cochet, by Livarot). Also very much in the hunt for an Olympic selection, Yasmin also had a few demons to put to rest on the Kentucky bluegrass today, having had a devastating runout on cross country in 2023 to take her out of podium contention. Put them to rest she did, and she was pleased to have done so.

“I’m just delighted. I’m so happy,” Yasmin said following her round. “I know he has that in him. Obviously we had our blips last year. We did a lot of training over the winter with Chris Bartle and with my dressage trainer as well, and it’s showing out there today I think.”

“I’ll be totally honest,” she continued. “It’s just an incredible amount of pressure. … Obviously we make the trip because this event is just worth it a million times over, but of course that’s on my shoulders that I have to ride him and produce results. So yeah, massive amounts of pressure. I’ve had incredibly supportive owners and parents and my guys at home that are running the show once I’m over here, so it takes an army to get the horse here fit and sound and ready to compete at his best and do my best. I feel a bit of relief now.”

Yasmin goes into tomorrow on a score of 31.6, which does not give Tom a rail in hand, and an EquiRatings prediction of a 15% win possibility. Tom and JL Dublin did produce a double clear show jumping round in 2023 when they finished in second, as did Yasmin and Banzai du Loir.

Oliver Townend and Cooley Rosalent. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Moving from eighth into third overnight following a clear cross country tantalizingly close to the optimum time are FEI world #1 Oliver Townend and Diana and Paul Ridgeon’s Cooley Rosalent (Valent – Bellaney Jewel, by Roselier), who added just .4 time penalties to go onto a score of 31.8. Cooley Rosalent, who is 10 this year, has certainly proven herself as a 5* horse across the country now with two fast clear rounds under her belt (the other came at Maryland in 2023).

“She’s a different world, isn’t she?” Oliver remarked. “You know, she’s only ten this time and it’s a big gamble that whatever happens from this point has paid off because the amount she’ll have learned out there is incredible and every distance that I wanted I just about got. You know, like, at the first, second pond I could’ve done five [strides] there and I said, ‘no, we’re gonna make four happen, you know one day you’re gonna be at Burghley so you’re gonna have to learn now’ and she’s just incredibly honest. I’ve had her from four years old and she’s as good as we always hoped.”

This was another pair who also opted for the long route at the influential Park Question, but they’d had enough time on the clock to still make it home close to the optimum.

“I’m still very conscious when I’m riding around although I’m trying to be competitive,” Oliver explained. “I’m also trying to half produce and half save her for hopefully, another seven years like we’ve had for Ballaghmor Class. It’s always long term in mind, and don’t get me wrong, I’m sure one day I will fling her at it and I’m sure she’ll answer the question beautifully, but I just thought that she’d pulled enough out of the bag today for me to give her a little breather.”

Monica Spencer and Artist. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Also making some moves on the board were New Zealand’s Monica Spencer and Artist (Guillotine – Maxamore, by Satin Blush), who moved from 10th to fourth overnight on a score of 32.7 with two seconds’ worth of time added to their dressage mark. Earlier this week, Monica noted that this would probably be the biggest challenge “Max” had ever faced, even having done World Championships in 2022 (which is, of course, not set at 5* specs).

“Oh, it was five-star,” she said, also noting that Artist had lost a shoe at the second fence but was able to keep galloping and turning on the good quality ground. “I felt sick and I felt desperate and he just kept saying, ‘sure thing, mummy!’ So awesome. Maryland, when I did that course it was the hardest course I’d ever done. And I was like, ‘oh my God, oh my God.’ Now I guess it might only be because this one’s fresh in my mind, but now I’m like this this is the hardest course I’ve ever done! Next time I might say it again.”

Mia Farley and Phelps. Photo by Sally Spickard.

Let’s hear it for another double clear cross country effort from Mia Farley and David O’Connor’s Phelps (Tiznow – Boom Town Gal, by Cactus Ridge), who once again proved — despite any misgivings and nerves Mia may have had as it seems will be her habit at these 5* events! — that they absolutely belong here. Mia was the sole rider to come home inside the time in her debut at the level last fall at Maryland. Adding another would have been her goal today, but cementing it must feel incredibly validating.

“It was actually fun,” Mia said. “I told myself I was gonna have fun and I did it. And I think same with Phelps. I think he was making fun of me like the whole first four minutes. Actually, before I went out I told David [O’Connor] I have a feeling the beginning of the course isn’t gonna be too fun because he just rolls and then once you put him up a hill, then you have some rideability.”

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Mia has noted the efficiency with which Phelps jumps (which has sometimes worked to his detriment on the final day, but more on that shortly), and the fact that his Thoroughbred gears allow her to set a pace early on that she can manage and stay on the minute markers — and to finish in as quick a time as 10 minutes, 52 seconds today, a whopping 23 seconds under the optimum time.

“I think with Phelps and with a lot of Thoroughbreds, we kind of set a tone at the beginning of the course and that’s what they have for the rest of it,” she elaborated. “But what I found that’s really cool is that at the end of the course, if you ask them to go they they have it. So before Phelps, I had a warmblood that I would do the four-star here on and you didn’t have very many options at the end. But with Phelps at Maryland and here, he’s here to be everything. So I think the Thoroughbred blood does help, and fitness of course.”

Germany’s Christoph Wahler was the first rider to catch the optimum with Stefan Haupt and Hendrik Von Paepcke’s D’Accord FRH (Diarado – Anette 80, by Aarkin), delivering an efficient round in a time of 11 minutes, 7 seconds. This pair will move from 15th into sixth overnight.

Equal third after dressage, both Liz Halliday with the Nutcracker Syndicate / Ocala Horse Properties’ Cooley Nutcracker and Lauren Nicholson jumped around clear with Ms. Jacqueline Mars’ Vermiculus with some time each to go into seventh and eighth, respectively.

Jennie Brannigan and FE Lifestyle. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Jennie Brannigan brought two very fit horses to Kentucky and delivered two clear rounds to have both FE Lifestyle (9th – 37.2) and Twilightslastgleam (12th – 39.9), both owned by Tim and Nina Gardner, in the top 15 ahead of show jumping (there’s nothing like a Thoroughbred with a big heart!). Malin Hansen-Hotop of Germany completes the cross country top 10 aboard Carlito’s Quidditch K on a score of 37.9.

Insights and Updates

Christoph Wahler and D’Accord FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Derek di Grazia’s course certainly showed itself to be up to snuff across both divisions. Of 32 starters, 26 completed the course for an 81.25% completion rate. There is an asterisk on that stat, though, as unfortunately Zach Brandt and Direct Advance were eliminated by the Ground Jury several hours after leaving the vet box and returning to the stables. Zach, who was also given a yellow card for riding an excessively tired horse, provided the following statement:

“I am so immensely proud of Rosco for his incredible effort today jumping a clear round around a hard track. Unfortunately, the ground jury chose to eliminate him this evening after the cross country was over, due to him being so tired coming home. While we completely respect their decision, we are ultimately gutted as Rosco recovered very well & trotted up looking absolutely amazing and sound this evening. The most important thing about this sport is the horses, so Rosco’s well-being and overall health is paramount and we are of course so happy that he looks so great. We are so proud of his effort having never lost his jump and we will be back in the fall with some very exciting plans.”

There were two horse falls on course: Phillip Dutton and Quasi Cool took a scary tumble at the final fence, prompting the grounds crew to provide screens as a precaution. Quasi Cool was up and walking and is reported to be resting and uninjured. Phillip went to the hospital to be checked out after both of his rides today, bringing home Azure clear as the final ride of the day. Honor Me and Lisa Marie Fergusson also fell at the A element of the Park Question; both horse and rider were up quickly and “Tali” is reported to be uninjured by Lisa.

6.25% (or two riders in Mia and Christoph) produced clear rounds inside the optimum time. This is a significant decrease from the 16% double clear rate from 2023 and more in line with the three years preceding last, which all saw sub-10% double clear rates.

The Implications

Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculus. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Looking to tomorrow’s show jumping finale, Tom McEwen certainly has the most pressure as the top-placed rider. Historically speaking, the leader after cross country has gone on to win the event 11 times out of the last 13 runnings of Kentucky. Michael Jung and fischerRocana FST were the most recent potential winners to lose out on the crown due to a pulled pole, according to EquiRatings. Despite this, Kentucky is traditionally a tough show jumping course. Designed this year by Steve Stephens, the show jumping generally produces just 1 in 5 clear rounds or a 21% clear rate over the last 13 years. By that number, that’s only five clear rounds in this year’s field of 25 starters (pending, of course, the Final Horse Inspection first thing tomorrow morning – which by the way was moved to 8 a.m., presumably because of my protest of the offensive original time of 7:30, you’re welcome).

All of this to say that even if Tom does manage the clear, we could be yet looking at a very different leaderboard than what we see this evening. It’s certainly going to be a thrilling finish to the weekend, and we hope you’ll join us for show jumping, which for the 5* begins at 2:15 pm ET with the first group and 3:00 p.m. ET for the second group. The 4*-S will be the first to see tomorrow, beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. Before that though, we’ll have the final horse inspection for both divisions at 8 a.m.

We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow for the conclusion of the #BestWeekendAllYear. Go Eventing.

EN’s coverage of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is presented by Kentucky Performance Products, your one-stop shop for science-backed nutritional support for all types of horses. Click here to learn more about Kentucky Performance Products.

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We all awoke this morning to a greatly-reduced field in the 2024 Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event after six overnight withdrawals. We’ve all said that this would be a bloodthirsty bunch, confirmed after no less than eight on-course retirements and five rider falls during this morning’s trials. Liz Halliday and superstar Miks Master C (Mighty Magic – Qui Lumba CBF, by Quite Easy) emerged victorious from the pack — 8 seconds of time weren’t enough to knock this power team out of their overnight lead.

Though they have only one second in hand headed into tomorrow’s show jumping round, the Swedish Warmblood, owned by Ocala Horse Properties, gave us a flawless show once again across the Kentucky bluegrass. Liz remains in the top ten with all three of her mounts so far, with The Monster Partnership’s Cooley Quicksilver (Womanizer – Kylemore Crystal, by Greggan Diamond) in seventh place on a 32.8, and Ocala Horse Properties‘ other gelding Shanroe Cooley (Dallas – Shanroe Sapphire, by Condios) four points behind him in eighth.

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Our current top three have less than one point separating them, with Will Coleman and Diabolo (Diarado – Roulett M, by Aljano 2) on Liz’s tail at 29.9, and Boyd Martin and Commando 3 (Connor 48 – R-Adelgunde, by Amigo xx) breathing down Will’s neck with a 30.1. Will’s longtime partner Off The Record (Arkansas VDL – Drumagoland Bay by Ard Ohio) follows in fourth on a score of 30.9, with Boyd Martin once again in fifth place aboard Fedarman B (Eurocommerce Washington – Paulien B, by Fedor), tied with Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake (Tolan R – Doughiska Lass, by Kannan) on scores of 32.5.

Our top seven will all be within one jump fault of each other heading into show jumping tomorrow — with Caroline Pamukcu the only other rider in that mix outside of the Liz, Will, & Boyd Show.

The word of the day is “coffin” — one we’ll likely wait to utter for a healthy period of time after today’s myriad of coffin-borne catastrophes. With a total of 24 refusals in the field, 20 of them were instigated by the 5*-worthy combination at 6ABCDE, with 75% of those refusals attributing to the final E element — a particularly tricky skinny brush. Three horses ended up retiring at the combination (Lucienne Bellissimo aboard Tremanton, Heather Gillette and Vincent Chase, and Leslie Law on Lady Chatterley) and we saw two rider falls as well: Molly Duda on Disco Traveler and Hannah Sue Hollberg with Carsonstown. Hannah Sue subsequently withdrew Capitol HIM from the 5*, though she isn’t seriously injured she did have trouble bearing weight on her right leg and decided not to run the 5* when she was not 100%.

The rest of the course was rightly competitive with a final clear rate of 44%, but saw nowhere near as many refusals as the dreaded combination. We did have three additional falls with Samantha Tinney, Autumn Schweiss, and Tamie Smith, and five others elected to retire on course. With the addition of Canada’s Lindsay Traisnel withdrawing her mount Bacyrouge after cross country, we now head into tomorrow’s second horse inspection with a field of 41 — the field 21 horses lighter than when we all emerged from the sandboxes.

Liz Halliday and Miks Master C (Mighty Magic – Qui Lumba CBF, by Quite Easy) maintained their flawless cross country jump record over Derek di Grazia’s minefield today, albeit keeping us all on the edges of our seats during some close calls (that had my heart in my throat on several occasions). Bred in the US by Laurie Cameron, “Mikki” and Liz have been partnered together for two years now, already with several high-profile completions under their belts. After acquiring the ride in 2022 from Maya Black, Liz had four consecutive wins with Mikki at the Bromont CCI2*L, Chattahoochee Hills Intermediate, Rebecca Farm’s CCI4*-S, and the FEI Eventing Nations Cup at Bromont CCIO-4*S.

Liz has seen a winner’s potential in Mikki from the start, which has held true as they were named to three US Teams in their short time together. The pair achieved a top-five finish at Boekelo in the 2022 FEI Eventing Nations Cup CCIO4*-L, another fifth place in Aachen’s CCIO4*-S last June, and contributed to Team USA’s Silver in the 2023 Pan American Games at Santiago, Chile, where they had the lowest dressage score in the field and finished seventh individually.

“Mikki gave me a run for my money,” Liz said of the current division leader. “He was a little keen today, but jumped all the jumps spectacularly.” One of four total rides today, Liz was understandably a bit beat after her completion on Cooley Nutcracker — who ended the day in eighth position in the Defender Kentucky CCI5* — and managed to maintain her lead on Miks Master C after already pushing herself to the max with two previous runs. Regardless, Liz says Mikki took great care of her on course and pulled off yet another spectacular performance. “He is just such an incredible athlete and he’s a very good jumper and he’s very careful, so although he was strong in between the fences, he was very thoughtful and very organized at all the combinations, which is what I sort of always look for for him.”

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Liz also spoke with great pride of her runs on current seventh- and eighth-place rides, Cooley Quicksilver and Shanroe Cooley, respectfully. “The young horse [Shanroe Cooley] blew my mind away. He was so clever, he’s a real one in the making. Monster scrapped his way around like he always does for me. To finish up like this with four clear rounds — I think my slowest one was 6.4 time — that’s a pretty good day at the office, and we don’t always have good days at the office so I’ll take it! I’m just happy all my horses are fit and well and feeling good in themselves — that’s the most important thing.”

Liz and Miks Master C’s prep run for Kentucky at the Carolina International CCI4*-S last month ended with a victory gallop as they left with the blue ribbon, and the last time Mikki and Liz left Rolex Stadium together, it was with a third-place finish at the gelding’s CCI5* debut one year ago. With reigning champions Tamie Smith and Mai Baum withdrawn, and reigning reserve champions Tom McEwen and JL Dublin returned to the 5* for another (rather likely) shot at victory, will this partnership emerge victorious this year in the 4*-S? We’ll be eagerly waiting to see tomorrow afternoon!

Moving up from sixth place overnight thanks to being the fastest round of the day, Will Coleman and Diabolo were the only combination to go double-clear in the 4*-S this morning. Will was clearly on fire as he stormed across the country today, having also delivering the second-fastest round (tied for time with Boyd Martin’s Fedarman B) on his current fourth place holder Off The Record.

Like Mikki with Liz, the Diabolo Group LLC’s gelding known as “Dab” has also only been with Will for a short time, having acquired the ride on the stunning Holsteiner from Australia’s Gemma Tinney last year. This is the pair’s sixth 4*-S start, but will hopefully be their third completion — Will is affectionately known as a horseman who continues to be very considerate of his horses’ wellbeing and condition, opting to withdrawn Diabolo from three events to include the Stable View Aiken CCI4*-S three weeks ago. Clearly this policy works, as Will hasn’t yet been outside of the top ten with Dab, with two podium finishes with last fall at the Terranova CCI4*-L and Morven Park International CCI4*-S.

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Will and Diabolo sat in sixth position heading into this morning, but sped to the forefront as Lucienne Bellissimo and Dyri (Diarado – La Calera, by King Milford xx), who’d held second place overnight, were knocked down to 31st place after a refusal at the dreaded 6ABCDE coffin. Will commented on the coffin complex, noting that it was, as many found out the hard way this morning, “pretty close to five-star” in terms of difficulty.

“It was a proper rail, and I actually think a lot of the horses just looked like they didn’t quite know where to look,” Will said of the tricky combination. “There is a lot going on there, it was early in the course, and your four-star horses, obviously most of them were a bit greener. [Diabolo] ran at it for so long, sort of looking at it. I think most people that had trouble, it looks like to me like they didn’t really have their horse back in what you would say is a proper coffin canter — and then if you jump in and get either too fast or too out of balance, then the horse falls away from you a bit harder, and I think it can be hard to then recover over the ditch and make the two stride, make the one stride.”

Nevertheless, Will stated that he thought this question was a smart one — one that could be expected to weed out the stars in a pack of upper-level potential gunning for the Olympic team. “It was a clever question because it didn’t walk intimidating at all, but in a strange way it just caught a lot of people out,” he said. “I think because at that part of the course, your horse is running on, and it can be hard work just getting them to get back and sit on their haunches and be organized for it.”

Heading into show jumping tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll all be anxious to see how the leaderboard may shake up. Diabolo has only taken two poles ever on his international record, but we can expect to see a few seconds of time — it will all come down to speed tomorrow, and how well our champion trio recovers from their gallops today.

Much like Will & Diabolo, Boyd Martin hasn’t yet been out of the top ten with Commando 3, rounding out our top-three’s pattern of new partnerships as the two have also only been together for the past year. Boyd and “Connor” added just 1.2 time faults to their very solid dressage test on Thursday, allowing the pair to move up to third place headed into show jumping tomorrow. The pair are looking to add on to their international winning streak they’ve held since September — stealing the blue at the Tryon 4*-S, Morven Park International 4*-L, and Stable View 4*-S in the last eight months.

Commando 3 certainly has his quirks that Boyd is still working to figure out, but was overall thrilled with his heart out on course today. “When he’s feeling fresh, he’ll find any excuse to jump around a bit” Boyd laughed. “The horse has got so much quality, we sort of put up with his antics.”

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Heading into the final showdown tomorrow, Boyd says he has great trust in Connor and expects competitive performances from everyone currently vying for the win. “I think we’re all on very good showjumpers — the top four or five horses are very good show jumpers and good show jumping riders,” he admitted. “So I think the goal would be to get the horses a good night’s sleep and potentially school them a little bit on the flat in the morning and give it our best tomorrow.”

The German-bred gelding, owned by Yankee Creek Ranch LLC, has only been improving over time with Boyd in the saddle, to include his spotless record on cross country. Like Diabolo, dropping a pole is very rare for Connor, but he also has only a very small handful of time scattered throughout his entire competition history. The Holsteiner gelding’s trustworthy speed will be paramount to his success tomorrow with the time being so important in this tight top three.

Will’s 2021 Aachen champion Off The Record is still not to be discounted in this race, adding only 0.8 time faults to their dressage score this morning and moving up to fourth place. The 15-year-old “Timmy” has three 5*s under his belt, all of which have been here at Kentucky with their placement improving every year, so it’s safe to say that he’s become well-acquainted with the Rolex Stadium. This proven partnership is very reliable when it comes to time over the colored sticks, so a clear round for them tomorrow could still be very competitive against the higher ranks.

The Liz, Will, & Boyd Show features Pan-American Games gold medalists Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake, who sat in third overnight after a stellar dressage test. Caroline and Blake took 5.2 time penalties on course, falling down the ranks to tie for fifth with Boyd Martin’s other ride, Fedarman B. HSH Blake is one of the youngest horses in the field at just nine years old, with this being the horse’s third start at the 4* level, taking third place at their 4* debut at Terranova in 2023 and second at Tryon just last month.

The Annie Goodwin Syndicate’s Fedarman B is a two-time blue ribbon winner at the 4* level, winning at the 2022 Tryon International CCI4*-L and the 2023 Tryon 4*-S. The 14-year-old known as “Bruno” was blazing on course today, shooting up to fifth from 13th position after adding just two seconds to their time.

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It all comes to a head tomorrow — with Olympic team selectors standing by with a watchful eye as some of the top riders in the world descend on Rolex Stadium starting at 10:30am. Team EN is flitting across the grounds at the #BestWeekendAllYear, but you can bet we’ll be locked in place to bring you updates on our leaders and eventual champions tomorrow morning. Best of luck to all the competitors and Go Eventing!

EN’s coverage of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is presented by Kentucky Performance Products, your one-stop shop for science-backed nutritional support for all types of horses. Click here to learn more about Kentucky Performance Products.

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Flowers and Squirrels and Corgis, Oh My! Photo from CrossCountryApp.

“Endurance, bravery, stamina, scope”; “fair”; “big”; “five-star”; “five-star”; “five-star”…

That’s a Derek di Grazia Kentucky CCI5* course for you.

The riders all seem very keen to get out there and give it a good shot. Hopefully they’ve all had a good look at the actual fences as well as the impressive floral arrangements that they just can’t stop talking about.

The Brits are glad to be on dry ground, and sitting pretty in first and second; the US contingent are snapping at their heels with Liz Halliday and Lauren Nicholson in joint-third place; and the Germans aren’t far behind. There are six nations represented in the top twenty and the scores are so tight that every single stride, step and second is going count as the runners and riders vie to be at the top of the pack going into tomorrow’s finale.

There’s certainly a lot to do out there (and a lot of flowers), and the riders will have to be switched on the whole way ‘round. The Defender Head of the Lake is an immense question at 13ABCD and the coffin complex Park Question at 23ABCDE is really tricky, especially given where it comes up on the course. But really, we could say hard things about every single one of the fences on the 5* track, as almost all of the riders remind us, it’s for sure a 5*.

We’ve wrangled together a fair few of the talented bunch who’ll be tackling the cross country to find out what they thought of the task ahead. But first, some housekeeping:

If you want to see when your favorites will be heading out of the start box, you’ll find the ride times here.

We’ll be bringing you live updates from the 4*-S (from 9am ET / 2pm CEST) and 5* cross country (from 1:30pm ET / 7:30pm CEST), and the finale of the 5* show jumping, as well as daily reports from each stage of the competition, and SO MUCH MORE! Keep it locked onto EN and click here for all the Kentucky content you can handle As if that isn’t enough, we’ve also got loads of great IG content happening courtesy of our team on the ground too @goeventing.

And now, let’s get the riders’ reactions to the 5* cross country at The Best Weekend All Year…

EN’s coverage of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is presented by Kentucky Performance Products, your one-stop shop for science-backed nutritional support for all types of horses. Click here to learn more about Kentucky Performance Products.

Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event [Website] [Entries] [Schedule] [Tickets] [Scoring] [Live Stream] [EN’s Coverage]

Tom McEwen – GBR – JL Dublin – 24.6 – 1st

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Heading the charge after the first phase, Tom and ‘Dubs’ have put themselves in a great spot going into the cross country. Especially as we know what a great jumper this lovely gelding is. They were runners-up last year – will they hang onto the top spot and take the win this time around? Only time (and fences) will tell, literally.

In his post-test interview for the live stream, Tom was very keen to point out that the flower arrangements out on course are “second to none”, and he’s not the only one to notice the amount of effort that’s gone into making Derek’s course appealing to the eye.

Does he have anything else to say on the matter? Well, yes, but also more on the flowers:

“The course is beautiful. [Derek’s] courses are always incredible – beautifully designed, best flower arrangements by far. It’s pretty epic to look at. But I think it’s a really clever course. It’s not for the faint-hearted – it is a true five-star track. [There’s] open and closed distances and you’ve got to make up your mind and be reactive at the same time.”

He was clearly totally wowed by those flowers – I hope he managed to tear his gaze from them to take a glance at the fences he’s about to gallop at.

Yasmin Ingham – GBR – Banzai du Loir – 26 – 2nd

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World champs, and runners-up at Kentucky in 2022, Yas Ingham and Banzai got their Best Weekend All Year off to a fine start with the best test on the opening day of dressage to top the leaderboard overnight. They weren’t quite able to hold off compatriots Tom and Dubs, but they’re not in a bad spot as they head into the cross country.

The first thing Yas noted when we asked her about the course was how beautiful it is out there – shout out to crew and volunteers who’ve dressed the course!

“It looks brilliant. Derek di Grazia does such a brilliant job of designing each year. He’s asking different questions. It’s a really true big five-star track. The the ground is just perfection. The way the course has been dressed is just beautiful. I’m very much looking forward to riding it on Saturday and the presentation is just 10 out of 10.”

In typical British fashion, Yas is keen to talk about the weather. We’ve had another incredibly wet spring (and winter, and fall, and last summer…) over in the UK, so Yas is very much looking forward to galloping across the superb Horse Park ground:
“We’re used to galloping around in the mud at home sometimes, so it’s a treat to be on top of the ground.”

Any big questions she’s pondering as she makes her plans?

“I think there’s questions the whole way throughout the course. We start with the first water at fence five [MARS Sustainability Bay – 5ABC – a hanging log into the water, onto a roll-top and then a brush corner]. Each individual combination is asking a different question. I think [Derek’s] definitely ticked all the boxes of endurance, bravery, stamina, scope. He ticks all the boxes here and obviously, to be galloping around this park is such a treat. [Banzai’s] always run well here in the past, so I’m hoping that I can give him a good ride on Saturday.”

Lauren Nicholson – USA – Vermiculus – 30.6 – 3rd=

Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculus. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

What a showing ‘Bug’ gave between the white boards for joint-third place. This seventeen-year-old can still boogie like the best of them!

Lauren’s plan for tomorrow is simple: “Go fast and don’t make any mistakes!”

She’s sitting on the most reliable cross country jumper on the field according to EquiRatings’ stats, and one of the most experienced horses, so it could actually be that simple, couldn’t it?

“It’s a Derek course – it’ll reward good riding. It’s a bit different than what we’re typically used to here. When I was out walking with David [O’Connor], I typically like to do one less everywhere and he’s like, “No, you got to do one more here… You’ve go to do one more here…”.

It’ll reward riding correctly, riding accurately, taking the time where you need to and then trying to make up time in between. The ground is fast, which will help me I think. He’s not the fastest horse in the world, but we’re longtime partners and I’m really excited to get out there.”

And does she have any worries? “I’m worried that I’m not worried!” she told Frankie Thieriot Stutes in her post-dressage interview.

Nothing to worry about then, it seems, despite facing one of the world’s toughest cross country courses in just a matter of hours. We all need to be a little more Lauren from time to time – you go girl!

Elisabeth Halliday – USA – Cooley Nutcracker – 30.6 – 3rd=

Liz Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Joining Lauren in third place is Liz Halliday, whose stunning gelding ‘Bali’ proved what an exciting young talent he is when he came out in his first 5* with a very impressive test that showed off all of the scope and power that’ll come in very handy out on Derek’s course.

How does she think Bali will take to the top-level questions he’ll face when he heads out of the start box?

“Obviously he’s never done a five-star; he’s only done two four-stars in the US but he’s finished those with plenty of gas. I actually think it’ll be great for him for me to just let him gallop. He has an incredible gallop – he is quite keen ride cross country. I like the beginning of the course for him, there are fences that you can just ride up to which I think will be great to settle him in. He’s incredibly brave, but he’s never done five-star, so we’ll see, but I truly believe he’s ready for it. I like the course this year and I think hopefully he’ll really enjoy me being able to let him go and let him gallop.”

Sharon White – USA – Claus 63 – 30.7 – 5th

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Sharon’s no stranger to bringing horses up to the top-level – Claus is the sixth horse she’s produced to 5*. He’s making his debut at the pinnacle of the sport here this weekend, and what a start he’s had. He’s proved he’s up to it in the dressage, now for the best bit of eventing.

In her post-test interview she summed up Derek’s course building to a tee:

“It’s like [Derek] likes horses. It’s challenging but obvious.”

Sounds pretty perfect.

Kirsty Chabert – GBR – Classic VI – 31 – 6th

Kirsty Chabert and Classic VI. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

One of the four British combinations to have made the trip out to Kentucky, Kirsty Chabert is back at the Horse Park for a second go around. What does she make of this year’s track?

“It’s gorgeous. I think the main water [Defender Head of the Lake – 13ABCD] is the obvious one at the moment that sort of gives the appearance that it requires fairly accurate riding. The rest of it is really beautiful – very flowing, very clear to the horses. I’m really looking forward to it.”

In case you’re wondering about the accuracy question at the Head of the Lake – and what an accuracy question it is! – there’s a big drop into the water, then a bending line to a skinny on an angle, followed by a corner on a very, very tight line, which, seriously, I don’t know how they’ll get to. But these are 5* pros we’re talking about, the superheroes of our sport who make all this look like Pony Club. There is an alternative route if needed, but for sure the big guns will be going for it and what a show it’ll be for the thousands of spectators who’re sure to be crowded right up to the tape.

Oliver Townend – GBR – Cooley Rosalent – 31.4 – 8th=

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The World No.1 has topped the podium three times at Kentucky. He’s a little further down the order than we expected with this talented mare, but will be gunning for a leaderboard climb and is another Brit who’s noticed it’s not raining and the ground is well, really good.

The best in the world describes course designer Derek as “the best in the world” – sounds like a top match then. What does he think of Derek’s offering this year?

“I think it’s incredible. Five-stars are five-stars, but I’m a huge Derek fan. I think that he has your twisting and turning early on, which means you’re going to be behind your minutes before you’ve even kicked off and got into a rhythm. He tests you all the way to the end.”

He may be a little off the lead as he heads out of the start box, but as we all know, this is…

… “definitely not going to be a dressage competition. I think that stamina will have a huge effect even though the ground is incredibly good, good to firm. So we’re on the good ground, but I still think you’ll see a lot of mistakes and a lot of times penalties.”

Just not for him, he hopes.

Calvin Böckmann – GER – The Phantom of the Opera – 31.4 – 8th=

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Birthday boy Calvin Böckmann will be hoping his 24th is one to remember. Personally I enjoy a drink or four on my special day, but Calvin’s mounting up and launching himself ‘round one of the toughest cross country courses in the world on his. As you do.

History tells us it’s not actually a bad idea if you’re an eventer. Michael Jung took the Tokyo lead in the dressage on his birthday, Swiss eventer Felix Vogg won Luhmuhlen the day he turned thirty-two and Kitty King celebrated her day with a second place finish at the German 5*. Blow out those candles and make a wish Calvin.

What does he think of the course? Has Derek delivered up a gift?

“Everything is quite clear for the horses and for the riders. I think the course designer did an amazing job, because here and there, you can always choose if you want to take one stride more one stride less, so I think it is really, really fair. But you always need to be focused – every jump you really need to be there and be 100% focused, so I think that’s going to be very interesting.”

Hannah Sue Hollberg – USA – Capitol H I M – 33 – 12th

Hannah Sue Hollberg and Capitol H I M. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Hannah Sue’s here in hot form with ‘Chito’ after finishing 4th at Maryland last fall and then coming out with a win at Bouckaert Farm this season. She made her 5* debut at Kentucky in 2007 with a horse she’d found in the classified ads when she was thirteen, and has returned a number of times since then. What does she think of the course this year?

“It looks hard… harder. I feel like Derek’s courses normally walk in a way where you’re like, ‘Where’s the trick here?’ because it walks kind of okay. I don’t feel like this walks that great. He’s done a great job, but it looks harder than I normally walk his courses at this level. But that’s good for me because I need to take it very seriously.”

Any bits more serious than others?

“I think the beginning is really twisty and then it gets kind of up and down the hills, wearing them out a bit. Then that coffin is way harder [The Park Question at 23ABCDE – she’s right, it looks incredibly hard!]. I’ve got to ride every literal stride. But I’m excited. I love this horse very much, and I love his owner and Ms. Mars, her mother, and it’s just a really special thing for me to be able to be here on him.”

Phillip Dutton – USA – Quasi Cool – 33.8 – 13th= / Azure – 37.4 – 21st

Phillip Dutton and Quasi Cool. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s a dad and daughter race going on over in the 4*-S between Phillip and Olivia, but what does he think of the 5*? Basically, it’s exactly what he expected it to be:

“It looks, as we expected – big and scopey, and it’s going to test all the training that we needed to have done. It’s an endurance test. You got to have a speedy horse, you got to have a scopey horse, you got to have an adjustable horse – all of what we expect when we come here.”

Christoph Wahler – GER – D’Accord FRH – 34 – 15th

Christoph Wahler and D’Accord FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Christoph’s been on the 5* podium over in Germany, but what does he make of how things go down Stateside?

“It’s difficult, it’s big enough. It walks like a real five-star track. You have to be very, very smart and sort of intelligent as a rider in the beginning – just give [your horse] a good feeling, get him into the course, because it twists a little bit and turns and you just want to get into a good rhythm and give him a nice confident feeling about what’s to come. And then the course opens up a little bit more and gets more galloping. That’s probably going to suit [D’Accord] a little bit more. There are tough questions all the way around. [The horses] have to be fit and they have to be willing to jump everything that we put them in front of.”

Sara Kozumplik – USA – Rock Phantom – 35.3 – 16th

Sara Kozumplik and Rock Phantom. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

She’ll be our trailblazer and give us our first proper look at the course with her 5* first-timer ‘Rocky’. But will she be looking at the fences or the flowers? Sara’s another rider to notice the aesthetics of the course (hopefully, also the fences):

“It’s absolutely beautiful. Derek di Grazia is one of my favorite course designers, and he always does a very good job. The builders here are unreal as well – everything looks amazing.”

Did she notice anything other than the decor (delightful as it may be)? Thankfully, yes:

“The ground is absolutely top notch this year, we’re very lucky. It’s a five-star. Derek’s courses, historically, somebody might think something looks like it might might be fairly straightforward, but it rarely is. He rewards positive riding and, fingers crossed, he gives us quite a few options if things don’t go quite to plan or if you’re on a greener horse – I think we’re very lucky that way.

Ema Klugman – AUS – Bronte Beach – 36.6 – 18th

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Law student, eventer, superwoman, Ema Klugman is obviously the studious type having recently passed the bar – has she applied herself as keenly to her course walk? Um, absolutely.

How many times do you plan on walking the course, Ema?

“300!”

OK then.

And her three hundred thoughts on it?

“I think that it’s very well built. I think it’s quite big. Obviously, coming here, you wouldn’t think it would be small. I think that not any one combination stands out as being extremely technical or hard or big or anything, but the accumulative impact of the course is going to really be the challenge, for everybody, but certainly for me and my horse. There’s nothing out there she’s never jumped – she’s done variations of all of those questions for years and years, and she’s done them well, but putting them all together in eleven and a half minutes is a big question, so I’m hoping that I’m very accurate and brave and I give her a good ride.”

Bruce Davidson Jr – USA – Sorocaima – 37 – 20th

Buck Davidson and Sorocaima. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Buck Davidson is no stranger to Kentucky Horse Park, it’s been a part of his life forever. As a toddler he watched his dad triumph at the event, and now, each time he rolls up to compete here himself, he’s greeted by the famous bronze statue of Bruce Davidson Sr and Eagle Lion in that most iconic of eventing poses – hailing a cab.

The course at Kentucky is as bold and beautiful as ever, but there are some changes. And Buck’s in favor:

“I think it’s an amazing course, it’s the best one I’ve seen here. I think the last few years it hasn’t flowed that well and I didn’t think it was really that nice to ride. I think [this year] it flows really well. There’s not so many ABCDEF [combinations], there’s no U-turns and so the horses will be thinking forward – when they’re thinking forward, they’re going to jump better. I’m looking forward to it.”

One big change is that the course is running in the opposite direction, meaning the terrain will come into play in a new way. Buck’s sat on a Thoroughbred who was incredibly successful over his racing career, winning over $80,000. How does Buck think this new track will suit his speedy guy?

“It feels like there’s more uphill, but it feels like there’s more galloping as well. It’s all about what you’re sat on right? I’m on a Thoroughbred horse that can gallop and so I love it. [Derek’s] done a great job. The way he make you slow down on your lines is genius. If you were going to go a minute and a half slow, it would probably be pretty easy to pick your way through this, but to try to go really fast, mistakes are out there for sure.”

Andrew McConnon – USA – Ferrie’s Cello – 37.7 – 22nd / Wakita 54 – 41.5 – 33rd

Andrew McConnon and Wakita 54. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Andrew’s another rider with his eye drawn to the spring flowers. He’s also very appreciative of the volunteers – and the media – and for that Andrew, we thank you. Here’s what he actually said:

“The cross country looks great. It’s beautifully presented – it’s decorated really well. The volunteers do an incredible job. We couldn’t do it without everybody here – and the media like you guys. [The course] should suit the horses quite well. Everything’s there to be jumped and I’m looking forward to having to go.”

Doug Payne – USA – Camarillo – 38 – 23rd / Quantum Leap – 39.9 – 29th

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Doug’s got two rides in the 5* – one super experienced top-level campaigner and third place finisher here in 2022, and one debutant at the top level. What’s his plan?
“[With] Quantum I’m just going to take a shot everywhere. It’s direct. As fast as I can get it. With him, I’m probably going to go out 80 percent fast early, and then sort of gauge what we’ve got. I’ll probably go wide at the coffin [The Park Question at 23ABCDE] – I don’t think it’s a huge time waster, and it’s absolutely a ton safer. I guess you’re just going to react on the day, if something weird happens, you’ve got to always have your plan B and C and D ready. I think he’s more than capable of doing it.”

And what does he think of the course?

“It’s pretty typical of what [Derek] presents for the horses. I think it’s super fair – everything’s laid out, no traps or tricks or anything. There’s a lot of opportunity to make mistakes – it’s one of those deals. Individually it’s all very doable, and it’s just a matter of getting it done in its entirety.

Ariel Grald – USA – Leamore Master Plan – 38.2 – 24th

Ariel Grald and Leamore Master Plan. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

“It looks amazing. As always, Derek, sets a brilliant track. There’s plenty to do out there, all the way through the course. I just think he’s so genius in how he uses the terrain and changes up all the questions and he really asks everything of you and the horse. It’s going to be a proper test.”

Rebecca Braitling – AUS – Caravaggio II – 39.3 – 28th

Bec Braitling and Caravaggio II. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Rookie combination Bec Braitling and Ernie have a long, hard wait ahead of them, going so late in the day.

This is what she said about the course:

“It’s pretty big. Big and long. Looks hard.”

And there you have it, straight from the horses’ mouths, so to speak.
With that, let’s go eventing!

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