British Invasion as Pippa Funnell Overtakes the Lead
at Rolex Kentucky Three-Day
Event, Presented By Bayer, April 24–27
Lexington, KY—April 25, 2003—A
change in the leader board saw three new faces at the top of the
standings at the 2003 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented
by Bayer, held at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.
Following the conclusion of the opening
phase of dressage, two-time European Champion Pippa Funnell and
her mount, Primmore’s Pride, topped the 55-horse starting
field with a score of 38.6 penalty points. Funnell has developed
the 10-year-old English thoroughbred gelding since his owners,
Roger and Denise Lincoln, purchased him as a yearling.
“I think this horse is a good example
of a British eventing horse,” noted Funnell, 33. “He’s
only going to get stronger and improve physically over time.”
William Fox-Pitt, who finished fourth at
the 2002 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event riding Stunning, is currently
in second position with the Irish-bred Moon Man following a dressage
score of 42.6 penalty points.
“I am very uncomfortable being in
this position, I wish I was 10 or 15 points ahead of William!”
joked Funnell.
Fellow British competitor Polly Stockton,
29, was leading following the opening phase of dressage on Thursday
but fell to fourth position with her score of 43.4 penalty points
earned aboard Tangleman.
Breaking up the British domination was
Amy Tryon of Redmond, WA, who moved into third position with a
score of 43 penalty points riding My Beau, a 13-year-old Canadian
thoroughbred gelding. 2003 marks the pair’s fourth time competing
at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.
“My Beau is older and wiser and, what
he lacks in scope, he makes up for by being genuine,” remarked
Tryon. “The course deserves a tremendous amount of respect.
It will ride as it rides, and we’re going to go out there
and jump the jumps!”
Tryon, 33, was a member of the United States
Equestrian Team gold medal effort at the 2002 World Equestrian
Games in Jerez, Spain, and also finished third at Rolex Kentucky
Three-Day Event in 2002 with Poggio II.
13,367 spectators enjoyed Friday’s
dressage competition in addition to the more than 125 merchants,
the Priefert Six-Horse Percheron Hitch, the USPC Prince Philip
Cup and a variety of other fun family activities and entertaining
attractions.
Held over two days to accommodate the large
number of entries, 28 horses performed their dressage test on
Thursday, while the remaining 27 competitors competed on Friday.
Beginning at 8:22 a.m. on Saturday, the challenging cross-country
phase of competition will take place over the demanding track
designed by Michael Etherington-Smith of Great Britain. The Rolex
Kentucky Three-Day Event concludes on Sunday with the third and
final phase of stadium jumping.
The CCI**** Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event,
the only three-day event in America to be held at the Olympic
level, serves as the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Four-Star Championship.
Current results and other interactive features
are available on the official Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event web
site, www.rk3de.org. For ticket
sales or additional information, please contact Equestrian Events,
Inc. at (859) 254-8123, or by faxing (859) 254-5116.
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