William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain Overtakes the Lead at 2002 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented By Bayer, April 25 - 28

Lexington, KY-April 26, 2002-In front of a crowd of 14,110, the leaderboard changed dramatically following the completion of dressage at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, April 25-28, 2002.

With 36.20 penalty points, William Fox-Pitt of Great Britain overtook the lead from countryman Ian Stark, whose score of 44.40 with Jaybee dropped him to eighth position following the completion of the first phase of dressage. "Today he tried very hard," praised Fox-Pitt, 33, of his equine partner, the Irish-bred Springleaze Macaroo. "He's actually got a good change in him when he's relaxed."

Darren Chiacchia, 37, of Ocala, FL, moved into second position with 36.80 penalty points riding R.G.'s Renegade, a 12-year-old Thoroughbred/Selle
Francais gelding owned by Colleen Hofstetter of Mars, PA. Exemplifying the international flavor of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Olivia Bunn, 23, who traveled from Australia to compete at this year's event for the first time, holds down third position with GV Top of the Line on a score of 37.40.

"I decided to come here instead of Badminton because I had heard how beautiful it is here," Bunn said. "I'm very glad I did." Kim Vinoski, 28, of Scottsville, VA, is currently in fourth position with 38.00 penalty points earned with Royal Venture and also holds down tenth place with Winsome Adante.

The largest four-star field in Rolex Three-Day Event history, 63 horses will compete in Saturday's challenging phase of cross-country, beginning at 8:30. Competition concludes on Sunday with stadium jumping. The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event serves as the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Four-Star Championship and is a selection trial for this year's Eventing World Championships to be held at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain in September.

With entries from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States, there is no shortage of star power as the world's best compete for $190,000 in prize money with the winner taking home $60,000 and a Rolex timepiece.

In addition to being an international equestrian event, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event has something for everyone - an International Trade Fair with more than 150 merchant and food vendors, Dog Agility competition and a variety of other entertaining attractions.

For general information on the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, please call Equestrian Events, Inc. at (859) 254-8123. Up-to-the-minute results and a variety of additional event information can be obtained by visiting the official web site, www.rk3de.org.

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