United States Eventing Association

No one was particularly shocked when William Fox-Pitt put in a brilliant dressage test to score a 44.0, or when he made it around cross-country inside the time, or when he jumped a double-clear show jumping round to clinch the win.

Ask any sampling of the 35,000 spectators who they thought would take home the Rolex watch and $80,000 prize check, and two names would be repeatedly spoken: Fox. Pitt. After all, this is the British rider's third Rolex Kentucky Champion title in the last five years.

Maybe everyone expected that William Fox-Pitt could win, except William Fox-Pitt.

“The odds are always so stacked against you in our sport,” he said, noting that he will give his third Rolex watch to his son since he and his wife Alice already have one from previous wins. “I didn’t come here expecting to win; I came here with two lovely horses hoping to do well.”

However, Bay My Hero didn’t seem like the horse to put your money on, especially over the more seasoned Seacookie TSF, who finished second at this event last year. Catherine Witt’s Bay My Hero is one of the younger and greener horses in Fox-Pitt’s illustrious string of upper-level horses, having had a setback in 2013 and a very light year as a result.

The horse has only run one four-star prior to Rolex (Pau in France), and he was pleasantly surprised when the “plump” 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse made it around Derek di Grazia’s cross-country course inside the time.

“I knew he was fit, but I just thought he was fat,” Fox-Pitt laughed. “Normally when they come to America, they lose 20 kilos. They dehydrate and they stress, but he arrived here spot on as he left [England].”

Fox-Pitt is headed back home to put the finishing touches on his horses that are competing at the Badminton CCI**** in just ten days.

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica earned their spot on the four-star radar this weekend with an equally unexpected second-placed finish. Their place on the podium was unexpected for a lack of experience, but not a lack of talent. They have won a smattering of two- and three-stars, but this is their first four-star experience together, and finishing as the top-placed American isn’t too shabby.

Riders trotted down the ramp to tackle Richard Jeffery’s show jumping course in reverse order of standing, and since Kieffer (The Plains, Va.) was in second place after cross-country, she had all of Sunday morning and afternoon to be nervous.

“It took a lot of mental focus to try to stay cool but I tried to ride it like anything else,” said Kieffer, who received a deafening cheer from the crowd after nailing a double-clear round. “I’ve been working with [Olympic eventer and Grand Prix show jump rider] Scott Keach in show jumping all winter. I think he would be happy with me today.”

Kieffer’s history with Veronica is one that has come full circle. Keach had a hand in importing the Dutch Warmblood mare (Pacific – Kimbel) as a youngster and asked Kieffer to sell her.

“I took her to one event and broke my arm,” said the 26-year-old, who is based at the O’Connors farm. “I asked Karen [O’Connor] to catch ride her and she liked her so much that she bought her after one event.”

Marilyn Little briefly rode Veronica after O’Connor was injured and subsequently retired from eventing. Utimately, the reins were handed back to Kieffer.

“I always got along with her but it definitely took us all of last year to work out the small details of our partnership,” she said, noting that the fit mare still felt fresh in today’s show jumping. Kieffer now boasts the title of 2014 Rolex USEF National Champion.

Buck Davidson had yet another successful year on longtime-partner Ballynoe Castle RM, besting his fourth-placed finish here last year with spot in the top three. The pair added nothing to their dressage score of 51.7. The 14-year-old Irish Sport Horse (Ramiro B – Ballyvaldon Natalie) was one of the most experienced horses at Kentucky this year, having competed in his first four-star at nine years of age.

“[He] has been a consistent horse his whole career. I didn’t change anything in my routine [to prepare for the event],” said the 38-year-old of Ocala, Fla. “The only thing I had to deal with this year is that he had an injury last year.”

“Reggie” sustained a bone bruise while standing up from a nap in his stall. After he recovered, Buck had a conversation with the horse’s owners about a plan to move forward.

“I brought him back in November and talked with the Segals to make a plan for Reggie. We started him [back to work] early in case we had any setbacks, which we did – he got pneumonia.” Reggie battled back to health in plenty of time to prepare for Kentucky.

"The heart that horse has is incredible," said Davidson.

The Americans had a very strong showing on their home turf this year, claiming seven of the top ten spots on the leaderboard, and all eyes are set on the World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France this fall. Fan-favorite Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville also finished on their dressage score for fourth place, and Marilyn Little placed fifth and sixth with RF Smoke on the Water and RF Demeter, respectively. She had an unlucky rail coming out of the triple combination on Demeter, which dropped them down in the placings after a double-clear cross-country run yesterday. Jan Byyny and Inmidair added four jumping faults and a bit of time on cross-country to their dressage score to finish seventh on a 56.7. Trading Aces and Phillip Dutton, winners of the Land Rover Optimum Time award, also dropped a rail today and finished in eighth place.

Check out the full results.

See the rest of the USEA’s coverage.