Oliver Townend wins third consecutive title at the Kentucky Three-Day Event

Before now, in the 43-year history of the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, only Michael Jung had won three times in a row. On Sunday, world #1 Oliver Townend (GBR) made his mark when the two-time defending champion jumped clear under pressure to add to his record a third consecutive CCI5*-L victory at the Kentucky Horse Park and sixth career Five Star win. It was also the second Five Star victory for Ballaghmor Class, owned by Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop and Val Ryan.

The scores were incredibly close before show jumping, with the top eight all within a rail of the lead. Townend’s day had an unhappy start, when eighth place Cooley Master Class was spun from the final horse inspection. By the time Townend entered the Rolex Arena for his show jumping round aboard Ballaghmor Class, he was faced with needing a fault-free round to win. A successful effort and finishing score of 27.3 earned Townend a $50,000 pay day and one-year lease on a 2021 Land Rover Discovery.

“I had a plan and just went in and did it,” Townend said. “[Ballaghmor Class] was jumping exceptionally which makes my job very, very easy. My biggest concern is, I find it easy to have time penalties with him. He’s a big jumper and actually quite slow in the way he does things. It’s very easy to get stuck in gear. My biggest thing was to have a good strong pace, don’t be caught on time, and just try and get him in the position to clear the fences.”

Typically, the Rolex Arena is packed with fans on the final day of competition. Spectators were absent this year, but Townend felt there was still an atmosphere to contend with.

“The stadium itself is the most special stadium in the world for eventing. When you go in that stadium, whether it’s full to the brim or it’s completely empty, for me there is still a very strong aura because this place is so special to us,” Townend said. “Going down that chute when there are thousands of people watching or no one watching, when the pressure is on it will feel very much like the place we want to be. The pressure is still on. Of course we love a big crowd, we love to perform in front of the crowd, and we miss the crowd, but at the same time it took nothing away from the competition.”

Boyd Martin (USA) was sitting second after cross-country with his and the Turner family’s On Cue and needed a clear round to hold his placing. A rail at the first element of a double combination off a tight turn dashed his hopes of putting the pressure on Townend for the win, but with a fourth place finish on a final score of 31.8, Martin won the Land Rover/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship Presented by MARS Equestrian™ for the second time in a row. In 2019 he won the National Championship with Tsetserleg TSF. This year he piloted the 15-year-old mare On Cue to a National Champion title in her Five Star debut.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with On Cue. When you bring a horse to this level for the first time you don’t know quite what to expect,” Martin said. “She’s unbelievable though. She gave everything she had this weekend and exceeded my expectations. I thought it would be my other horse Tsetserleg that would have done better, but she really stepped up and tried her absolute guts out. I would have loved to jump clear today but having one pole down with this company here is still respectable.”

Martin also commented on the absence of spectators: “When I first came to Kentucky in 2006, I couldn’t believe the crowds. You’re galloping around the cross-country and there are seas of people cheering. As you get more experience you learn to focus in, but I would say this weekend I was just as nervous and terrified and there was just as much pressure. Being at the Horse Park here and the big jumps and stadium, I don’t think it was any easier not having people watching.”

The New Zealand power couple Tim and Jonelle Price placed second and third, respectively. They were also the only individuals in the competition to finish on their dressage scores with two out of five horses entered between them.

Jonelle Price and Grovine de Reve.

© RedBayStock.com

Tim and Xavier Faer moved up from equal 11th after dressage to finish second on 28.2 with no jumping or time penalties to add all week.

“I thought it was a very difficult show jumping course. It had all sorts of elements. The time wasn’t just a gimme. You had to work for the clock,” Tim said. “I thought there was an opportunity in there to jump a clear round, but I thought it was going to be difficult to manage today. I didn’t manage it on [Bango] … I managed to get it done with [Xavier Faer]. It’s not the same as being in the lead, so you can focus on your job and see where that leaves you.”

Jonelle had three horses in the competition and finished with two in the top ten. She placed third on 30.7 with Grovine de Reve, adding just 0.4 time penalties in show jumping. She and her longtime partner Classic Moet finished on their dressage score of 35.2 for seventh place.

Tim Price and Xavier Faer.

© RedBayStock.com

“I’ve had him two years. He had mileage with Dan Jocelyn prior to me getting him. I haven’t been given the ride on a lot of older, more experienced horses,” Jonelle said. “It took me a year to change him a little bit and adjust him to the way I wanted him to go. That was the first year really. The next year has been fine tuning him more and more. He’s got a lot in there. He’s not the most outward horse — we’ve had to coax it out of him — but he’s got an immense amount of talent. While he’s not the fanciest, he’s a real jumper and is giving me more and more as time goes on. I was really impressed with him this week.”

Aussie success

Kevin McNab and Scuderia 1918 Don Quidam finished the highest of the Aussie contingent, scoring 34.3 for sixth place. The pair had one rail down in the show jumping, with that being the only penalties added to their dressage score after going clear and under time in Saturday’s cross country. Had they jumped clear, they could have finished as high as third – having said that, their sixth place result was certainly impressive and Kevin was no doubt pleased!

Dominic Schramm and Bolytair had three rails and 0.8 time penalties in the showjumping to finished in 32nd place on 61.2 penalties.

”Not quite the finish I wanted. Boly was beautiful and soft and quiet when I went around to the first fence – a feeling I’ve never experienced before on him! I lost my composure which is unfortunate because he was ready to jump well – I’ll learn from this!” said Dominic via social media.

“Regardless it’s another CCI***** in the books and best of all – (Boly) gets to go on vacation! See you at Burghley!”

Ema Klugman and 19 year old Bendigo were 33rd in their very first five star, scoring 61.9 – an amazing effort!

“This level is really hard!” said Ema via social media post-event. “The room for error is very small, and I think for me what made the difference and allowed me to finish was having a super willing horse who just tries no matter what.

“The game is as much mental as it is physical. I think I entered the Rolex stadium a little bit in awe, and as a result lost my focus during my show jumping round. Being able to ride at the show just like I ride at home (or better) is difficult. Any top athlete has amazing control over their mind, and it seems to be a skill I need to practice, just like sitting the trot or jumping jumps.

“An enormous thanks to my beloved Bendigo. No one picked you as a five-star horse, and you probably shouldn’t have gotten me here, but you did. Thanks buddy!”

A huge congratulations to Kevin, Dominic and Ema on completing Kentucky CCI5*L – it’s hard enough to get to this level and make it to the start line (especially in the era of Covid-19!) and to complete the event is a serious achievement! Go Aussies!

Full results from Kentucky CCI5*L can be found here.

Alyssa Phillips and Oskar win the CCI4*-S

Alyssa Phillips and Oskar won the Kentucky CCI4*-S. The pair were tied for 15th after dressage on a score of 32.3, before adding 5.6 time penalties but no jumping penalties on a testing cross-country track Saturday. That cross-country performance put them second going into the final phase on a score of 37.9. They produced one of only five fault-free show jumping rounds to claim the class on the final day.

Full results from Kentucky CCI4*S can be found here.

Source: Event press release, adapted by Equestrian Life

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