All five American riders are safely through to Show Jumping at the FEI World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, after passing the final horse inspection on Sunday morning.
The hard work and dedication of all of Team USA’s grooms was clearly evident - the five horses looked healthy, happy, and beautifully turned out, their coats gleaming in the bright morning sunshine.
The U.S. team are currently in silver medal position and has a strong chance of winning the USA a first team medal at a World Championships since they took gold in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in 2002. Germany is currently in gold, but less than a show jump ahead of the U.S. Team Great Britain is in bronze - again, with less than the four penalties for a fence down behind America.
Tamie Smith, on a score of 24, is in bronze medal position individually with Alexandra and Ellen Ahearn and Eric Markell’s 16-year-old German Sport Horse gelding Mai Baum (Loredano 2 x Ramiro), just behind Germany’s Michael Jung and DOKR, Klaus and Sabine Fischer, and Hilmer Meyer-Kulenkampfffischer's 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding FischerChipmunk FRH (Contendro I x Havanna) on a score of 18.8. Young British rider Yasmin Ingham and Janette Chinn and Sue Davies' 11-year-old Selle Francais gelding Banzai du Loir (Nouma D'auzay x Gerboise du Cochet) sit in third on a score of 23.2. Close behind is Boyd Martin in sixth with a score of 26.2 aboard Thomas and Tommie Turner’s 15-year-old Trakehner gelding Tsetserleg TSF (Windfall x Thabana).
Will Coleman is in 11th place going into Show Jumping with a score of 27.2 with the Off the Record Syndicate's 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Off The Record (VDL Arkansas x Drumogoland Bay). He is followed by Ariel Grald in 18th on a score of 32.5 with Annie Elridge’s 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Leamore Master Plan (Master IMP IHR x Ardragh Bash), and Lauren Nicholson in 19th with Jacqueline Mars’ 15-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding Vermiculus (Sazeram x Wake Me Gently) on a score of 32.7 - a slight adjustment to Saturday night’s placings, as Ireland’s Padraig McCarthy and Fallulah, the thirteen-year-old Westfalian mare (Fidertanz 2 x Devona, by Di Versace) owned by Amanda and Nicholas Boyle, Di Brunsden, Peter Cattel, and McCarthy, was originally given 11 penalties on the scoresheet for a broken frangible device, which was later removed, and means he is currently in 17th place.
The Show Jumping for the top 25 of the remaining 72 competitors starts at 2:30 p.m. Italian time. Four horses were withdrawn overnight - Japanese rider, Ryuzo Kitajima and Cekatinka JRA who were in 34th place, Danish rider Hanne Wind Raamsgard and his own 10-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding Amequ Torino who were in the 50th position on the leaderboard, Polish rider Jan Kiminski and Marcin Kaminski's 12-year-old Polish Sport Horse gelding, Jard who sat in 61st, and The Netherlands' Jordy Wilken and the 16-year-old KWPN gelding, Burry Spirit owned by J. Wilken who sat in 69th.
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Let the fun and games begin! This morning kicks off the official start of competition at the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event (K3DE). The hefty four-star field is the first to set foot in the Rolex Stadium starting at 8:00 a.m. Last year we saw 49 four-star pairs in this division, but this year there are 63 pairs in the field.
Thirty-five five-star horses presented today under sunny skies at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event.
If all goes according to plan in the first part of the extended weekend, we will see 36 horses galloping across Derek di Grazia's CCI5*-L cross-country course at the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event (DK3DE). We partnered up with the team at CrossCountry App to bring you a preview of both the five-star and CCI4*-s tracks this year.
Lights, cameras, action! The first formal horse inspection (which some might informally refer to as "the jog") at the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event (K3DE) takes place this afternoon at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. While this part of the event is a fan-favorite historically based on the impeccable turnout of the horses and the stylish and forward fashion choices of the riders (we are looking at you Boyd Martin in hopes that you bring back the American flag suit circa 2022), it serves a very important purpose: ensuring that each horse is fit, sound, and ready to compete at the five-star level.