USEA Podcast host Nicole Brown is joined by Frankie Thieriot Stutes to look back on an incredible week at Land Rover Kentucky. From the magic moments of Tamie Smith's win, the eye-catching performances, and how the numbers stacked up, let's relive the best weekend all year!
Lexington, Ky.—April 30—When Hot Bobo first joined Karl Slezak’s barn, the Canadian rider posted on Facebook on December 13, 2017, “She’s finally here!!! After a very long journey from Ireland to England to France to Belgium then to New York for quarantine she finally made it to Florida! Meet Hot Bobo!!!!” The Monart Sale in Ireland, from where “Bobo” was sourced as a 4-year-old, shared the post to its page, saying, “We can’t wait to see how they get on!”
Cross-country played a huge factor in the leaderboard today at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, ultimately shifting U.S. pair Tamie Smith and Alexandra and Ellen Ahearn and Eric Markell’s 17-year-old German Sport Horse gelding Mai Baum (Loredano x Ramira) from third into the pole position going into show jumping on Sunday. Smith and Mai Baum were one of only six pairs to go double-clear across Derek di Grazia’s five-star track. Prior to the afternoon’s action kicking off, Lauren Nicholson opted to withdraw Landmark’s Monte Carlo. As the day played out, eight pairs elected to call it a day on course and three pairs were eliminated. Miss out on the livestream? We’ve outlined the full play-by-play for you below.
From the precision of dressage to the boldness of cross-country, 38 horse and rider pairs in the CCI5*-L and 49 in the CCI4*-S are moving on to eventing's next phase at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. Big crowds are expected to line the galloping lanes of Derek di Grazia's cross-country track to cheer on eventing's very best.
Lexington, Ky.—April 27—While Tom McEwen has enjoyed soaking up the local Kentucky bourbon and racehorse culture this week, the British rider came to the U.S. for a much more important reason—taking a shot at the top spot at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. He’s started his weekend off right, taking the lead on the first day of dressage with Jo and James Lambert and Deidre Johnston’s JL Dublin on a score of 22.6 in his first trip to the Kentucky Horse Park.
The wait is over! The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian finally kicks off this morning with four-star dressage leading the way at 8:00 a.m Eastern where we will see the first 24 pairs make their way down the centerline. Following yesterday's first horse inspection of the five-star field, all 38 pairs that presented were accepted with 20 of them starting their five-star journey this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. EST.
Are you following along with the action from home this weekend? Or maybe you're competing at an event and need information fast. Either way, we’ve got you covered! Check out the USEA’s Weekend Quick Links for links to information including the prize list, ride times, live scores, and more for all the events running this weekend.
The Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington is soon to be flooded with eventing enthusiasts from across the world eager to soak in all that is the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by MARS Equestrian. While the feature CCI5*-L division is the highlight of the competition, spectators also get a real treat with the added bonus of the CCI4*-S division—first run in 2021 and often referred to by riders as “mini-Kentucky”—and the Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Grand Prix.
This year’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event will feature several five-star horse and rider veterans like Boyd Martin and Tsetserleg TSF and Phillip Dutton and Z, but three of the entries will be making their dreams come true in their five-star debuts. We caught up with Sydney Solomon, Andrew McConnon, and Alina Dibowski to learn more about their journeys to Kentucky.