Lexington, KY—April 15, 2004—Custom Made, the famed horse that David O’Connor rode to the Individual Gold Medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, with the best score in Olympic history, will be formally retired in ceremonies at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, April 22-25. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 25.

Custom Made, the 19-year-old Irish Thoroughbred owned by Xandarius, LLC, will no doubt cause tears to flow as he thrills the huge Kentucky crowd one more time with his magnificent presence.

In addition to his Gold Medal Olympic performance in Sydney, Custom Made finished fifth at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Custom Made also had tremendous success at the Badminton Horse Trials CCI**** in Great Britain, finishing third in 1996 and then in 1997, helping David O’Connor become only the second American ever to win the prestigious event over its first half century.

In 2002, Custom Made had a fairytale finish to his illustrious career when O’Connor rode him to victory in the U.S. Equestrian Team Eventing Three-Star Fall Championship at the Fair Hill International in Fair Hill, MD. O’Connor had announced prior to the event that it would be Custom Made’s final competition and the horse beloved by so many went out and delivered yet another championship performance.

Custom Made is also no stranger to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. He has made many appearances at the event including when he won the CCI*** in 1995, O’Connor’s first Three Star with him, and when he placed third overall and won the USET Reserve Championship in 2001.

This year’s 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 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event will host two separate divisions. The CCI****, Kentucky’s hallmark competition with $190,000 in prize money, is a qualifying competition for the 2004 Olympic Games and includes the 7th competition for the USET Foundation Pinnacle Cup, signifying the zenith in Eventing competition. The U.S. Equestrian Federation requested that Rolex Kentucky host a special competition for competitors who had already qualified for the Olympic Games. It was decided that it would be a Modified Four Star, which 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 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 Horse Trials in Great Britain and Adelaide in Australia.

NBC-TV will present a 90-minute telecast of the 2004 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer. The national network broadcast will be titled the “Rolex Equestrian Championships” and will air on Sunday, May 2, from 1:30-3:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The Cross Country portion of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event will air on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) on May 9 (from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. EDT) and will re-air on Friday, May 14 (from 12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. EDT).

The Stadium Jumping portion of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, which will include a Cross-Country recap, will air on OLN on Sunday, May 16 (from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. EDT) and will re-air on Friday, May 21 (from 12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. EDT).

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event also will be broadcast in Europe on CNBC Europe, which will air coverage on Sunday, May 2 at 10:00 pm (Central European Time).

Tickets for the 2004 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event may be purchased at the Rolex Kentucky Ticket Booths at the Kentucky Horse Park beginning April 22. To keep abreast of scores and Event activities, go to the Rolex Kentucky website, www.rk3de.org. To be placed on a mailing list to receive the 2005 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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