Lexington, Ky. – Cross-country was the order of the day at the Kentucky Horse Park as the second phase of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover took place under rainy skies. Despite deteriorating conditions the competition went off as planned with 72 starters challenging Derek di Grazia’s course of 47 jumping efforts. It was a tough day for the American contingent with several top placed athletes opting to retire on course, but brave rides were rewarded as the U.S. maintained five positions within the top ten.

As the last combination on course, Boyd Martin expertly piloted Master Frisky, owned by Stephen Blauner, over the gelding’s first CCI4* course. Martin kept the pressure on to come in just outside the time, finishing four seconds later than the optimum time of 11:06. The pair is now the highest placed American combination in sixth on a 48.6.

Phillip Dutton moved two of his rides into the top ten, adding an identical 3.2 in time penalties to the dressage scores of Mighty Nice and Fernhill Cubalawn. As one of the last combinations on course, Dutton and Mighty Nice, owned by Evie Dutton, Caroline Moran, Ann Jones, Kevin Keane, and Michael Bombar, handled the soggy footing to come home clear and just over the time, finishing in seventh place on 50.4. Fernhill Cubalawn, owned by Thomas Tierney and Simon Roosevelt, was Dutton’s second of three rides for the day. The 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding performed brilliantly over his first CCI4* course to end on 54.1, good for ninth place.

Will Coleman and OBOS O’Reilly, owned by the Four Star Eventing Group and Coleman, picked up one of only six double clear rounds to end the day on their dressage score of 52.6 and stand in eighth place.

Coming into the day as the leading American combination, Colleen Rutledge and her own Covert Rights continued their quest for success in the gelding’s first outing at the CCI4* level. They jumped clear and added 12 time faults to their dressage score, landing them in 10th on 54.3.

Tim Price of New Zealand and Wesko look over the lead on the strength of a double clear round and will head into the final phase on their dressage score of 36.3. Michael Jung of Germany and La Biosthetique-Sam FBW, formerly tied for the lead, missed the optimum time by a mere second and now sit a very close second on 36.7. Jung and fischerRocana FST climbed up one spot on the leaderboard to third place after a masterful double clear round. Defending Rolex Kentucky Champions William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain and Bay My Hero added 8.4 in time penalties, landing them in fourth on 46.9.

The Rolex Kentucky Champion and Rolex/USEF CCI4* Eventing National Champion will be crowned tomorrow at the conclusion of the show jumping phase, getting underway at 1:00p.m. ET. Competition can be viewed live and on-demand on the USEFNetwork.com.


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