Three of the world’s four top-ranked riders and defending champion Tamie Smith (USA) head to the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian from April 25-28.
The Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event features one of only seven annual Five Star three-day events in the world. In addition to the traditional CCI5*-L, the event also features the Cosequin® Lexington 4* and Kentucky CSI4* Invitational Grand Prix presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.
With many riders’ sights set on the Paris Olympics this summer, the CCI5*-L and the Cosequin Lexington 4* will be thrilling to watch. Smith won last year’s K3DE 5* with Mai Baum, her longtime partner with whom she was reserve rider on the 2021 Olympic team and helped the U.S. win team Silver at the 2022 World Championships. She has entered him in the 4* alongside Danito (with whom she finished second in the 2022 MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill) and Kynan.
Looking to dethrone Smith are several of the sport’s biggest names, including three of the world’s four highest-ranked athletes: British riders Oliver Townend (World #1 and three-time Kentucky 5* champion) and Tom McEwen (World #4 and last year’s Reserve Champion at Kentucky), and three-time U.S. Olympic veteran Boyd Martin (World #3). Townend and McEwen have one entry each in the 5*, while Martin has several horses competing at both levels.
Also riding for Great Britain are 2022 World Champion Yasmin Ingham aboard Banzai Du Loir, her Gold-medal partner from the 2022 World Championships with whom she finished second at Kentucky that same year, and Leslie Law, a two-time Olympian with three Olympic medals, including individual Gold in 2004.
In addition to Smith and Martin, the star-studded U.S. contingent includes 2012 Olympian Will Coleman, who has several rides entered including his 2022 World Championship mount Off The Record; seven-time Olympian and five-time USEF CCI5*-L National Champion Phillip Dutton; Olympic veterans Lauren Nicholson and Doug Payne; and all four members of the U.S.’s Silver medal-winning team from the 2023 Pan American Games – Sydney Elliott, Liz Halliday, Sharon White, and individual Gold medalist Caroline Pamukcu.
Representing Canada are two-time Olympians Colleen Loach and Jessica Phoenix, as well as Tik Maynard and defending Cosequin® Lexington 4* champion Karl Slezak. Other international contenders include Olympic veterans Matthew Grayling and Joe Meyer of New Zealand and Germany’s Christoph Wahler, who helped Germany win team Gold at the 2022 World Championships.
The full list of CCI5*-L entries can be found at Kentucky Three Day Event
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Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.