Kate Berta and Vince Berta's Thoroughbred gelding Bourbon trotted into the lead today in the 40-rider Training Three Day division of the Hagyard Midsouth Three Day Event and Team Challenge. Their fluid and focused test earned the pair a 32.9, putting them 2.5 points ahead of the next-placed Jonathan Ketzler on Sal.
Lara Borson-Knight leads the Preliminary Three Day on Shooby Do with a 34.1, and Canada's Penny Rowland won the dressage in the CCI* on Northwinds Breeze with a 41.3.
The "Brownsboro Babes"—Irene Lampton on Daisy, Anna Kjellstrom on AEC Champion Blue Stocking, Trudy Atrens on Charley Farley, and Millie Forrest on It's Friday—took over the lead in the Preliminary Team Challenge competition after dressage and showjumping. They will return to defend their top position tomorrow afternoon in the cross country.
The Training and Preliminary Classic Three-Day riders also enjoyed expert tutorials on riding the steeplechase phase from clinician Cathy Wieschhoff. Part of the Smartpak Equine/USEA Classic Three-Day Event Series, the T3D and P3D will ride a full-format endurance day tomorrow, which includes two phases of Roads and Tracks, a steeplechase, and challenging cross country tracks.
Cross country starts at 8 AM tomorrow. For full results and information, visit www.kyevents.net.
Riders in both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L are sharing similar sentiments about this year's cross-country courses: course designer Derek di Grazia didn't play around this year. Here is what some of the riders across both divisions had to say about the tracks they will aim to conquer on Saturday.
Off The Record decided not to let Michael Jung be the only record-breaking entry at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event this week and delivered a career-best score in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S on Friday morning. He and Will Coleman delivered a test that received a score of 21.8, not only marking a personal best for the horse but also securing their position at the top of the leaderboard going into cross-country tomorrow.
Boyd Martin and the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 were the last pair to go in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L field on Friday afternoon and were warmly greeted to the bluegrass with an impressive downpour that outshined anything the other horse and rider pairs had to combat throughout the day. But that didn’t stop this pair from putting their best foot forward and impressing the judges enough to earn them a score of 26.0, just 0.2 points ahead of second-place pair Tom McEwen (GBR) and Brookfield Quality.
Please always remain vigilant when it comes to sending any personal communications via email or text. Every year we receive reports of members and leaders of our sport receiving phishing attempts both online and by phone. These are often communications disguised as being sent from USEA staff or other leaders. As the years go on, the phishing attempts appear to be more directed and tailored.