Today’s speed competition course looked a little bit like a Hunter Derby Finals course. I don’t know that they used any of the same jumps, but it really brought me back to Derby Finals. It was a great-looking course and used the entire stadium. The course theme was “The Nature of Kentucky” according to course designer Conrad Homfeld. It included a Kentucky Folk Art fence, a Natural Arch fence, a Kentucky Fence Line (which caused quite a few problems), a Farm Entrance fence (which also caused quite a few problems), a Kentucky Bourbon fence, a Tobacco fence, a Mountain Range fence, and many, many more. According to our riders it rode beautifully but was certainly technical.
The stands were pretty full today despite it being fairly chilly. We got an update on numbers, and with the weekend attendance of nearly 80,000, the WEG has now seen more than 262,000 visitors. You wouldn’t necessarily know it—the lines and traffic haven’t been too bad. I hope we continue to drive traffic to the horse park whether it’s locals or others coming to learn about these animals and our sport and gain a greater appreciation for it.
The U.S. riders had some difficulties today. Mario took the lead when he went in the first round and kept it. McLain went third to last out of 121 riders today and nearly beat Mario with his clean round and a time just fractions of a second behind him. As he came out of the ring Mario yelled a congratulations to him and McLain jokingly responded that he thought of him at the last fence and decided not to beat him. I would say the U.S. camp is happy all around right now for their team. Lauren had a few problems that meant a foot in the water and a rail down, and Laura had two rails down which she credited to a frazzled Cedric. In the upper warm-up ring, four carriages went by and “lit him up”, and Laura said she wasn’t really able to settle him in time for her round. She plans to not warm up in that ring tomorrow just in case there is more carriage traffic!
Beezie Madden was here to support her team, and the other jumper celebrities were present as well. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum is here competing and recently had a baby who was proudly displaying her support for team Germany. She looks just like a little Cabbage Patch doll, so I had to snap a picture of her. I wanted to put an American flag in her hand, but I wasn’t sure her parents would appreciate that.
There is an unusual presence in the press conference room that I have to share with you. It’s a life-sized big blue horse named “Big Lex”. I think he is supposed to be Lexington’s mascot. Anyway, after each athlete wins a medal and comes to the press conference they are asked to sign Big Lex with a silver Sharpie, and supposedly he will be put on display somewhere in downtown Lexington. It’s kind of a nice touch and is something people will be able to see for years to come. Kind of cool-a great way for Lexington to put their stamp on these Games. I can’t wait to get a photo of our U.S. team putting their John Hancock on Big Lex!
