Lexington, Ky.—April 27

Great Britain’s Tom McEwen retained his lead in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L this afternoon, managing to slightly extend his margin over compatriot Yasmin Ingham despite taking two long routes on cross-country.

“It was a proper course. I actually think riders underestimated the track, if I’m fairly honest,” McEwen said, noting Derek di Grazia’s course took a cumulative toll on horses and riders.

“I just tried to make the best decisions I can. It was very fair for the horses, but it was very much a riders track,” McEwen added.

The pair added 4 time penalties to sit on 28.6 penalties heading into show jumping.

“We were up on time, and it was my fault,” McEwen said of the two long routes. “We were having such a good round that I just came—I thought I was in a good balance, but he was a bit free off the step [15A], which then means if you come off a bit quick, you end up a bit dead, which is exactly what happened. Then we came a bit on the half-stride to the brush [15B], and he was great there. But with that long two [strides to 15C], I just thought, ‘I have plenty of time, so I’ll just go long there.’

“He picked up the rest of the round brilliantly, and then, yeah, when I went to balance at the coffin, I thought, ‘It’s probably not the best decision to keep going straight, however much I want to,’ so I just popped to the long route there.”

Ingham, running earlier in the day, jumped clean with Banzai Du Loir but had 5.6 time penalties to keep her in second place and carry a score of 31.6 penalties into Sunday’s show jumping. She was thrilled with her partner.

“He was 10 out of 10, literally,” Ingham said. “Every combination, even when I could’ve been better myself in my position or the way I was holding the line, he just picked everything up… It was all down to him today. I was just delighted.

“Obviously we had our blips last year,” added Ingham, who lost her dressage lead here in 2023 after a glance-off at the Park Question coffin. “And of course we’ve done a lot of training throughout the winter, with Chris Bartle and my dressage trainers as well, and it’s definitely shown out there today, I think.”

Ingham was frank about the stakes involved in making her third Kentucky appearance, and her desire to make the effort and expense of the trip worth it.

“After our disappointment last year, I felt pressure to deliver here this year,” she said. “My focus was at absolute full capacity all the way around the course. There’s no such thing as a let-up at five-star. The let-ups are the big, ginormous tables that are the size of me lying down.”

Making it an all-British top three, Oliver Townend turned in one of the day’s fastest rounds—just 1 second over time—with Cooley Rosalent to move up the standings from eighth to third place. He’s sitting just 0.2 points behind Ingham on a score of 31.8.

He was thrilled with the young mare’s performance.

“She’s a different world, isn’t she?” he said. “She’s only 10 this time, and it’s a big gamble that whatever happens from this time paid off, because whatever she’ll have learned out there is incredible. Every distance that I wanted, I just about got: At the second pond, she’d have done five there, and I said, ‘No, we’re going to make four happen. One day you’re going to be a Burghley horse, so you’re going to have to learn now.’ She’s just incredibly honest. I’ve had her from 4 years old, and she’s just as good as we’ve always hoped.”

Like McEwen, Townend opted to go the long route at the Park Question near the end of the course.

“I just thought she’d had a bit of a huff and a puff and not jumped the fox fence before amazingly well, and I thought, time-wise, I’m going to be about there, and I just thought it’d be a nice breather for her, rather than flinging her at one more angle that might’ve been too much for a 10-year-old,” he said. “I’m still very conscious when I’m riding around; although I’m trying to be competitive, I’m also trying to half produce and half save her, hopefully, for another seven years, like we’ve had Ballaghmor Class.”

Phelps And Farley Extend Their Record

The five-star saw just two double-clear cross-country rounds, one coming from the top-placed U.S. pair, Mia Farley and Phelps, who now sit in fifth place to lead the Defender/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship on a score of 33.8. The other was from Germany’s Christoph Wahler, on five-star rookie D’Accord FRH, who is right behind Farley and Phelps in sixth place on 34 penalties.

Farley nearly fell down the rankings when she was initially awarded a 15-point flag penalty at Fence 5C, the corner coming out of the Mars Sustainability Bay. However, those penalties were reversed upon review.

Kentucky is the second five-star for Farley and the U.S.-bred Thoroughbred owned by David O’Connor. It’s also their second time completing a five-star cross-country with no jumping and no time penalties, putting them in an exclusive club: Well over 1,000 horses have done a five-star in the past 15 years, and of those only 37 have gone double-clear in their first two events, according to EquiRatings.

“I told myself that I was going to have fun, and I did it,” she said after her ride. “And I think the same with Phelps.”

She said the gelding tends to start strong and improve as the course goes on.

“Before I went out, I told David, ‘I think the beginning of the course isn’t going to be too much fun’ because he just rolls,” she said. “But once you put him up a hill, he has some rideability, and he’s amazing. … He’s such a professional now; he’s getting really fun to ride.”

Once they were on the same page, she was impressed with how he tuned in and helped her out through the biggest water on course.

“At the Head of the Lake, I didn’t put him on the best line, and he did the chevrons fine, and he looked at the corner from before he even landed in the water,” she said. “It’s special to have something that does a lot for you like that.”

Liz Halliday’s Excellent Adventure

Liz Halliday rode four horses around cross-country today, and all four delivered clear rounds. Though she spent most of her day riding three horses around the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S, which she currently leads with Miks Master C, she ended it with a run around the big jumps aboard five-star first-timer Cooley Nutcracker.

The pair accumulated 6.4 time penalties to sit on a score of 37 going into show jumping for eighth-place overall, just behind Lauren Nicholson and Vermiculus, who had 4.4-time penalties for a two-day total of 35.

After her round, Halliday was fighting back tears of pride over the Irish Sport Horse’s performance.

“I don’t know how it’s possible that a 10-year-old in his first five-star can make it feel easy, but he did,” Halliday said. “I was a little slow because I did look after him; he’s never been this long. … But honestly, to sacrifice a bit of time for a super, super round for a horse in his first five-star, he’s unbelievable.”

She said she let him set his own pace at first, prioritizing him feeling comfortable within himself over a distance he hasn’t run before. And in doing that, she learned more about the horse.

“I learned that he is even better than I thought he was, which I didn’t think was possible,” she said. “I thought, if I can just get him home really confident and having an amazing day out here, then that’s going to make him for the future, because I think he’s all the things.”

That round put a cap on a day that started with clear round in the four-star from not only her division leader, but Shanroe Cooley and Cooley Quicksilver as well.

“To finish up like this with four clear rounds—I think my slowest one was 6.4 time—that’s a pretty good day at the office, and we don’t always have good days at the office, so I’ll take it,” she said. “I’m just happy all my horses are fit and well and feeling good in themselves.”

Fast Facts

• Two horses were eliminated after falls: Phillip Dutton’s Quasi Cool hung a leg at the final fence, and the pair tumbled to the ground just shy of the finish flags. The course was put on hold, and tarps briefly went up to allow veterinarians to assess the horse, but he quickly stood up and was led away. Dutton later said the horse was fine and getting fluids back in the barn.

“Quasi Cool got quite tired, and I went for a longer distance,” he explained. “It was rider error.”

Lisa Marie Fergusson and Honor Me also were eliminated after a fall at the water. Both walked away.

• Four horses retired on course: Rock Phantom (Sara Kozumplik), Lumumba (Bobby Meyerhoff), Camarillo (Doug Payne) and On Cue (Boyd Martin). Martin said the mare didn’t feel like herself and “hated the hard ground.” “I’ve ridden her for a long time, and her gallop stride just felt wrong to me,” he said.

• Two horses retired before the start of cross-country: Mama’s Magic Way (Will Faudree) and Capitol H I M (Hannah Sue Hollberg, who fell off Carsonstown near the end of the CCI4*-S division while still feeling the effects of a fall several weeks ago, opted not to start).

• The biggest move of the day went to Andrew McConnon and first-timer Wakita 54, who improved their placing from 33rd after dressage to equal 15th after adding 8 time penalties to their score on cross-country.

• Zach Brandt completed the course with Direct Advance, adding 25.2 time penalties to their score, but were later eliminated.

“I am so immensely proud of Rosco for his incredible effort today jumping a clear round around a hard track,” Brandt said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the ground jury chose to eliminate him this evening after the cross country was over, due to him being so tired coming home. While we completely respect their decision, we are ultimately gutted as Rosco recovered very well & trotted up looking absolutely amazing and sound this evening. The most important thing about this sport is the horses, so Rosco’s well-being and overall health is paramount and we are of course so happy that he looks so great. We are so proud of his effort having never lost his jump and we will be back in the fall with some very exciting plans.”

See full scores 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.