Lexington, Ky.—April 28
Show jumping day at the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L started with three British riders in the lead, and it ended that way as well, although dropped rails juggled the standings to give Oliver Townend a victory in his 100th five-star start.
“I just thought out here that she was nearly trying too hard, and that’s when you know you’ve got a very good one, after they’ve really put their heart and soul into the cross-country the day before, and they still come out and know their job and want to do their job,” Townend said of Cooley Rosalent, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse owned by Paul and Diana Ridgeon, after show jumping. “I thought, ‘Well girl, whatever happens, we’re going to be all right in the future.’ Hopefully today’s the day, and if not, we’ve still got a superstar on our hands.”
While Bruce Davidson still holds the record for the winningest rider in Kentucky Three-Day history, this victory ties Townend with Michael Jung for second place, with four wins each.
Townend was particularly thrilled for Paul Ridgeon, a longtime supporter of his who recently celebrated his 92nd birthday.
“Paul Ridgeon wasn’t that enthused about paying for her to come to Kentucky, but we’ve managed to twist his arm, and I’m so proud for him,” Townend said. “I imagine that he’ll be having a serious drink right now. He’s 92 years old and has supported myself and Andrew Nicholson for so many years, and for him to finally get a five-star win under his belt … is as special for him as it is for me.
“It means a lot for me because Andrew and I have tried quite hard, not always with the easiest horses in the world that Paul’s owned, and for us to get the result makes me incredibly happy for an old man,” he added.
Townend and “Rosie” went into show jumping in third place on a score of 31.8 and produced one of only two double-clear rounds in the division to put pressure on leaders Tom McEwen and JL Dublin and Yasmin Ingham and Banzai Du Loir, both of whom were within one rail of his score.
Ingham, entering the ring after Townend, had a rail down at the oxer at Fence 8, dropping her to third place. McEwen then produced a beautiful round that looked to be a winner until a rail at the second-to-last fence moved them to second place and gave Townend the win.
Reversal Of Fortune
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It was a reversal of fortune for Townend, who on Friday was disappointed in his dressage mark of 31.4, which left him in eighth place.
“I was fairly upset with myself after the dressage, and thought, the last three times [in Kentucky] up until this we’ve always gone home with a win,” he said. “I kind of thought to myself that it’s going to be a bit depressing going home on that plane and having not won.”
An attacking cross-country ride with one of the fastest times of the day—just two riders made the time, and Townend was next best at 1 second over—moved him up the rankings into third place. But he still had to deal with the formidable competition in the form of his compatriots placed ahead of him: Ingham, riding her world champion “Banzai,” 0.2 points ahead of him in second place after cross-country and McEwen, mounted on JL Dublin, who previously won double gold at the 2021 European Championships with his former rider Nicola Wilson, 3.2 points ahead in first.
“I was lucky that it didn’t go the other two guys’ ways,” he said. “They are on very established and famously good-jumping horses. The pressure was kind of off me in a way—which I quite enjoy, because often it’s me going in there in Tom’s position and having a fence down.”
That happened just last fall at the Mars Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, where she led after cross-country but had two rails on Sunday to finish third. Today, the tables turned.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the horse,” he said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the team behind this horse. They’ve been with me for 15 years, most of the staff, and Karyn Shuter and myself have had very good days and very bad days, and today we’ll definitely celebrate this one.”
Watch their winning round, courtesy of USEF Network:
When Rosie gets home to England, “there’s a lot of grass to eat,” and then they’ll be waiting for news about selection to the highly competitive British Olympic eventing squad.
“We’ll wrap her in cotton wool and hope that we get a phone call,” Townend said with a laugh. “She’s going to go home; her field’s outside my bedroom, and we’ll just give her a break and see how she comes out of it.”
And while Rosie relaxes, Townend will turn his attention to the making a bid for a potential Rolex Grand Slam. He is entered in the Badminton CCI5*-L (England), coming up May 8-12, with his 2021 Kentucky winner Ballaghmor Class.
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Behind Townend in the final standings, Ingham and McEwen are two other British riders who opted to go the five-star route in making their cases for Paris selection.
“That’s out of our hands for now,” Ingham said. “We’ve done our job this weekend, and I believe that he is a fantastic horse and proved that he can win on the world stage. Again, here’s the five-star and he’s on the podium, so it’s a very exciting year. But our first job is to get him back home and happy and on holiday.”
The Best Of The Rest
Along with Townend, the only other double-clear on show jumping day belonged to Malin Hansen-Hotopp, a farmer and part-time rider from Germany, moving her from seventh place to fourth on a score of 37.9 with Carlitos Quidditch K, a horse bred by a friend whom she bought as a 5-year-old.
The top placed U.S rider, and winner of the Defender/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship, was Lauren Nicholson with Jacqueline Mars’ Vermiculus, on a score of 39.0 after dropping a rail in show jumping. While the pair were on the U.S. team at the 2022 FEI Eventing World Championships (Italy), “Bug” hasn’t done a serious competition since then. That meant 17-year-old Anglo-Arabian needed a long-format competition this year to qualify him for Olympic consideration.
“We could’ve played it safe and gone to Tryon [International CCI4*-L (North Carolina), coming up May 11-14], but even if he didn’t need it, I would prefer to do a long just to be sharp and prepped and ready,” Nicholson said. “I think there’s just that more pressure when you’re doing the long, so I would’ve chosen it either way. But, despite his long career, he needs a long since he didn’t do it last year.”
Watch their show jumping round, courtesy of USEF Network:
See complete results here.
The Chronicle is on-site at the Kentucky Horse Park with two reporters to bring you everything you need to know at coth.com, so you don’t have to miss a minute of the action. You can find all of our coverage from the week here. You can also follow along on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to read our May 20 issue for more in-depth coverage and analysis of the event.
