Lexington, Ky.—April 29

Whether it’s a rider’s first five-star completion, like Sunday was for Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp, or their 100^th start, like it was for winner Oliver Townend, no one is immune to the joy—or maybe it’s relief—of finishing a five-star. We asked riders what moment from the past week at the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L would stick with them the most. Their answers might surprise you.

Oliver Townend: “The Finish Line Of The Cross-Country”

Oliver Townend purchased Cooley Rosalent as a promising 4-year-old, and has long said he expected great things of the Irish Sport Horse mare (Valent—Bellaney Jewel, Roselier), owned by Paul and Diana Ridgeon. After just missing out on a win last autumn at Maryland, where they led after cross-country but had two rails down in stadium to finish third, they returned to Kentucky with a score to settle. While it was their double-clear show jumping round that sealed their victory, it was the feeling he had at the finish of cross-country that he said he’ll remember most.

“I just thought, ‘Yeah, you are the real deal that we’ve always thought you were,’ ” he said.

Yasmin Ingham: “Definitely The Cross-Country”

Yasmin Ingham, in her third consecutive year competing at Kentucky, has made it clear all weekend how much she enjoys the Kentucky Horse Park and the cross-country tracks designer Derek di Grazia creates there. 

“The highlight was the cross-country on Saturday,” she said. “It was just so much fun to ride around that cross-country track that Derek had built. He’d done such a good job.”

Malin Hansen-Hotopp: “OK, Now Everything Is Possible”

Malin Hansen-Hotopp turned the only other double-clear show-jumping round Sunday. That, combined with a clean, fast cross-country round and a dressage test that put her in seventh place to start the week, saw the German farmer and rider rise to fourth place in the final rankings. She could hardly believe she was inside the top 10 and climbing, as the riders to follow her into the show jumping ring struggled with rails and time penalties. For her, that show jumping round was equal to a moment on cross-country when she was held on course after negotiating the difficult Park Question coffin near the end of the course. In the lull of that hold, she realized the hard fences were all behind her.

“After the coffin, when I was stopped on the cross-country, I was like, ‘OK, now everything is possible. We will just do that, and we will come to the finish,’ ” she said. “It was one single, perfect moment.”

Lauren Nicholson: “Everyone Screaming ‘Bug!’ ”

Lauren Nicholson brought 17-year-old Vermiculus, a crowd favorite with his distinctive Anglo-Arabian traits, back to Kentucky after a year away, and his fans were thrilled. While the whole weekend was emotional for Nicholson, who said she’s savoring every run she has with “Bug” in the twilight of his long career, Saturday’s cross-country stood out to her for the people she could hear cheering for him and shouting his name as they made their way around the track.

Buck Davidson: “There’s Nothing Better Than Jumping Clear On Sunday At Kentucky”

Buck Davidson has been riding off-the-track Thoroughbred Sorocaima since the horse was competing at training level. While the cross-country has usually been their happy place, the same can’t be said for show jumping. Two years ago, they entered the Rolex Stadium on Sunday and had a heartbreaking seven rails down. So this year, when the horse was among the handful of horses to jump clean, no one was more surprised than Davidson himself, who admitted he walked the course almost certain they’d have rails. When the Thoroughbred was clear through the triple and found a good distance to the final fence, Davidson landed and pumped his fist in elation.

“I think this is my 30^th straight year of being here—that means I’m old—but I’ve been fortunate here,” he added, “and there’s nothing better than jumping clear on Sunday here.”

Sharon White: “I Really Enjoyed Being Here”

Sharon White has been to Kentucky many times before, and certainly on more experienced mounts than her first-timer Claus 63, but she said this was the first Kentucky she was able to relax mentally and truly enjoy.

She credited the work she’s been doing with equestrian sports psychology coach Natalie Hummel for helping her mental game and allowing her to come to Kentucky with a new horse and a new attitude toward the inevitable pressures of five-star competition. 

“I really enjoyed being here,” White said. “I was really grateful to be here, really grateful to my horse, and that’s a first for me at Kentucky. Usually I’m just too over-nervous and anxious about what is going to happen.”

Ema Klugman: “She Just Took Off”

Ema Klugman had all the faith in the world in her five-star first-timer Bronte Beach when she signed the mare up for the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L. She knew for sure that faith was justified out on cross-country, in the moment when the going got tough and she felt her mare rise to the challenge. 

“Seven or eight minutes into the cross-country, I felt the course kind of taking its toll and little, and I said to my horse, ‘Come on, there’s a bit longer to go. Let’s do it’—and she just took off,” Klugman recalled. “So that’s a good feeling.”

Susie Berry: “She’s Just So Genuine”

Irish rider Susie Berry didn’t have quite the weekend she’d hoped for in her first visit to Kentucky after getting unseated from Clever Trick dropping into the Defender Head of the Lake, and then picking up 20 penalties for crossing her tracks as she righted herself before continuing on. But she was thrilled with the heart the mare showed, both out on course and in Sunday’s show jumping, where they were one of the handful of riders to leave all the rails up.

“She’s just so genuine,” Berry said. 

Phillip Dutton: “She Put In A Great Performance In A Star-Studded Field’

Phillip Dutton didn’t have the week he’d hoped for with his own rides—Azure finished mid-pack in the five-star, Quasi Cool hit the final fence on cross-country and fell, and he was nearly unseated coming out of a water in the four-star, picking up 20 penalties on Jewelent—but he nonetheless had an excellent reason to go home smiling: His daughter Olivia Dutton turned in one of the standout cross-country performances of the weekend in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S riding his former five-star mount Sea Of Clouds.

“She’s been coming here since she was 10 years of age, just to be a part of it and to support and enjoy it, so for her to be able to ride here and put in a great performance in a star-studded field, I couldn’t be more proud,” Dutton said. 

“She’s wanted to do this all her life,” he added. “[My wife Evie and I] sort of know the struggles, having lived this life. We didn’t discourage her, but we also said, ‘Have a broader outlook [and] make sure that you really want to do it,’ and she’s proved that she does really want to do this.”

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.