Lexington, KY—January 14, 2004— One of the world’s most prestigious, action-packed equestrian events is set to return as the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, April 22-25, 2004.

The event will host many of the world’s best horse-and-rider pairs as they compete for one of the most coveted purses in equestrian sports and one of the most prestigious championships in the sport of Eventing.

This year’s competition is unique in that it will host two separate divisions. The CCI****, Kentucky’s hallmark competition with $190,000 in prize money, remains a qualifying competition for the 2004 Olympic Games and includes the 7th competition for the USET Pinnacle Trophy, signifying the zenith in Eventing competition. The U.S. Equestrian Federation requested that Rolex Kentucky host a Modified Four Star Three-Day Event for horse-and-rider combinations that have already qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece this August. The U.S. Equestrian Federation plans to use both divisions as Selection Trials for the Games.

The Modified Three-Day is in part patterned after the format to be used for the Athens Olympic Games. Recognized only by the U.S. Equestrian Federation, this division is “Open to U.S. citizens and Riders residing in North America who as a combination with the entered Horse have qualified for the Olympic Games as per FEI rules and have been approved by their National Federation for entry.” It will be the first time ever that horses and riders will run the shortened distance prescribed for Athens.

The modified division will include Horse Inspections, with health records maintained for each horse. The Cross-Country Test will include a short Roads and Tracks phase along with a Cross-Country that will be set at a distance close to what will be used for the Olympic Games with the same proportionate number of jumping efforts that will be used for the Olympics. The Jumping Test of the Modified Three-Day will be set at the 1.25m height to be used at the Olympics in the second Jumping Test that will determine the Individual classification.

The riders that will compete in this year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event are some of the world’s best horsemen and horsewomen. They include Olympic veterans, Olympic hopefuls, World Champions, Pan American Games medalists, and seasoned veterans of international equestrian competition. Expected to compete in the 2004 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event are riders such as David and Karen O’Connor, Kim Severson, John Williams, Darren Chiacchia, and Bruce and Buck Davidson. Skilled riders like these, that are teamed up with some of the most talented Eventing horses on the planet are what make Rolex Kentucky so special.

Last year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event winner was Great Britain’s Pippa Funnell who became the first rider to win the $250,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. The Rolex Grand Slam is a special challenge for a rider to win the Rolex Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley events in succession. Funnell won the Burghley Masterfoods Horse Trials (CCI****) in England last September on her Kentucky winner Primmore's Pride after having won the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (CCI****) in England on her 2002 Badminton winner Supreme Rock the weekend following her win at Rolex Kentucky.

Last year’s competition was extremely memorable for those in attendance. On Sunday, the last day of competition, a ceremony took place to formally retire two of Eventing’s living legends. Jacqueline Mars’ Prince Panache and Giltedge were honored and relieved of their competitive duties at the emotional ceremony. This year there will be a ceremony that will honor and formally retire 2000 Olympic individual Gold Medal Winner, Custom Made, one of David O’Connor’s most accomplished mounts. The 19-year-old Irish Thoroughbred owned by Xandarius, LLC will no doubt cause the tears to flow as he thrills the huge Kentucky crowd one more time with his magnificent presence, movement and jumping ability.

This year’s course will be run in the same direction as last year, the reverse of the previous 15 years of competition. Course Designer Mike Etherington-Smith and Course Builder Mick Costello work together to ensure a course that challenges riders and horses but is safe and "horse friendly.” After Etherington-Smith’s visits to the Kentucky Horse Park in July and October of 2003, Course Builder Costello quickly began to construct new obstacles, change the contour of the ground in various spots along the track of the course and modify some existing obstacles for this year’s competition.

The Rolex Three-Day Event is one of only four CCI**** events in the world and is the only one held in the Western Hemisphere. The other Four Star events are the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and the Burghley Masterfoods Horse Trials in Great Britain and Adelaide in Australia.

Tickets for the 2004 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, are on sale on the Rolex Kentucky website, www.rk3de.org. To be placed on a mailing list to receive the Ticket Brochure, please contact Equestrian Events, Inc., P.O. Box 12110, Lexington, KY 40580-2110, (859) 254-8123, (859) 254-5116 (fax), rk3detickets@mindspring.com.

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