Sinead Halpin won the Dubarry boots as the best-dressed woman at the first horse inspection. (Ben Radvanyi photo)

Lexington, Ky. - Sinead Halpin and Joe Meyer are the first riders to win awards at this year's Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Land Rover.

During Wednesday evening's welcome reception, they each earned a new pair of Dubarry boots as the best-dressed female and male riders at the first horse inspection, held on Wednesday afternoon.

Danny Hulse, from Dubarry of Ireland, presented the fashionable waterproof boots to them.

Halpin, 34, of Long Valley, N.J., wore a cream-colored sundress highlighted by a matching sun hat and a contrasting waist sash and cream-colored shoes. Halpin is riding the striking chestnut gelding Manoir De Carneville.

Meyer, 45, of Ocala, Fla., rides for New Zealand, and he wore a kilt of blue, green and black tartan with a matching blue sweater and gray-blue knee socks. He'll be riding Clip Clop this weekend.

This reception, held at historic Spindletop Hall outside of Lexington, also featured the annual drawing among the competitors for a Rolex watch. Panda Christie, 40, he only English rider to make the trip from Great Britain to compete at Rolex Kentucky this year, was the winner of the Rolex watch. She'll be carrying the Union Jack on Little Leo.

This Rolex watch is one of two signature watches given each year by the event's title sponsor -the event's winner receives the second, even-more-coveted watch on Sunday afternoon. No rider has ever won both watches in the same year.
  
Known as the "Best Weekend All Year," the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is being held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, April 28-May 1.

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by Land Rover is the nation's premier Three-Day Event and one of the most prestigious equestrian competitions in the world. The Fédération Equestre Internationale (International Equestrian Federation - FEI), the world's governing body of equestrian sports, has designated the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event as a four-star eventing competition, the highest designation, which is given only to the World Championships and six annual events around the world. "Rolex Kentucky" is the only four-star event in the Western Hemisphere.

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event will be broadcast on NBC on Sunday, May 8, from 1:30-3:00 p.m. EDT. USEFNetwork.com will livestream the competition in its entirety live as it happens and will also have the coverage available on demand. FEITV.org will also live stream the event internationally.

Equestrian Events, Inc. is a non-profit charitable Kentucky corporation that was established initially to produce the 1978 World Three-Day Event Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park. Following the success of those championships, EEI established an annual event that evolved into the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Land Rover.

For more information, or to purchase tickets to the 2016 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by Land Rover, please visit the Rolex Kentucky website at www.RK3DE.org.