Eighty-nine riders from 21 nations will compete at the FEI World Championships for eventing in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, after one horse was withdrawn at the first horse inspection.
Three horses were held by the vets and the ground jury - Christina Klingspor (SWE), Peter Gray (CAN) and Christian Steiner (AUT) - Joystick, ridden by Aminda Ingulfson for Sweden, Cecelia, the 19-year-old mare ridden for Mexico by Daniela Moguel, and Brazil’s Ballypatrick SRS (Ruy Fonseca). Both Joystick and Ballypatrick SRA were passed on reinspection, but Cecelia was withdrawn from the holding box and will not take part in the competition.
All five American horses breezed through the trot-up, which took place in a small area between the main dressage arena and the practice arenas. The three female US riders - Ariel Grald, Tamra Smith and Lauren Nicholson wore belted pink tweed skirts, knee-length boots, dark blue poloneck tops and Panama hats, while the men - Boyd Martin and Will Coleman - wore cream chinos and US team jackets.
The British squad wore black armbands to mark the recent passing of Her Majesty the Queen, as did the Australian team.
Will Coleman and Off The Record will be the first US partnership to go at the FEI World Championships They will be 11th into the dressage arena tomorrow (Thursday, 15 September) at 11:05 a.m. Italian time.
Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculous will follow them as number 33, and will perform their test at 15:35 p.m. Italian time.
The individual rider for Team USA, Ariel Grald (Leamore Master Plan) will be second to go on Friday morning as number 47 at 9:38 a.m. Italian time.
Tamie Smith and Mai Baum, number 61, are scheduled to do their dressage test at 12:00 p.m. Italian time on Friday.
Boyd Martin (Tsetserleg TSF, number 86) are the final pairing to represent the USA at 4:38 p.m. Italian time on Friday. They are part of the last rotation of riders, which also includes world number one and Tokyo team gold medallist Oliver Townend from Great Britain, Australian individual bronze medallists from the Tokyo Olympics Andrew Hoy and Vassily De Lassos, Pau CCI5* winners for New Zealand Tim Price and Falco, and the Japanese combination who were fourth at Tokyo, Kazuma Tomoto and Vinci De La Vigne.
Badminton CCI5* winners Laura Collett and London 52 are drawn third for the British team at 15:51 p.m. Italian time on Thursday. Britain’s individual competitor is team rookie Yasmin Ingham, who will ride her 2022 Kentucky CCI5* runner-up Banzai Du Loir at 12:00 p.m. Italian time on Thursday.
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At the end of an eventful day of cross-country at the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L, three British riders rose to the top of the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L, led by dressage leaders Tom McEwen and JL Dublin.
In comparison to its little sister, the Cosequin CCI4*-S, the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5*-L was much calmer in terms of shock factor today. There were four pairs who retired on cross-country, two riders who parted ways with their horses, and five pairs finished with jump penalties added to their score.
“He knows Kentucky,” Liz Halliday said with a chuckle when referencing how strong Miks Master C can look on cross-country. “He knows this place. He knows how to run fast here. He was waiting for that 11 and a half minutes.”
“There’s been a lot of learning around this track so far,” said commentator Frankie Thieriot Stutes as riders contested the Cosequin CCI4*-S at the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event.