When: The first horse inspection, or jog, is on Wednesday, April 26. Two days of dressage competition follow on Thursday and Friday, April 27-28, with the first ride on Thursday at 9:08 a.m. and on Friday at 9:00 a.m. The last ride on Thursday is at 3:28 p.m. and on Friday it’s 3:38 p.m. You can find all the dressage ride times here. 

Keep in mind, seven of Jimmy Wofford’s top-10 picks in the Chronicle’s Rolex Preview issue do dressage on Friday morning. From 9:00 a.m. to noon on Friday will be quite the competition, with Michael Jung, Zara Tindall, Clark Montgomery, Kim Severson, Buck Davidson, Hannah Sue Burnett and Sharon White all riding.

Cross-country day, Saturday, April 29, starts at 10:04 a.m., when James Alliston gallops onto the course with Parker. Riders go out of the start box every 4 minutes until 2:20 p.m., when the last rider of the day, Buck Davidson on Petite Flower, goes. You can find all the cross-country start times here. 

Elisa Wallace celebrated after her 2016 Rolex Kentucky CCI**** clear round. Photo by Ann Glavan

On Sunday, April 30, the action starts early with the horse inspection at 8:00 a.m. Then the riders show jump in reverse order of standing, starting at 1 p.m. By about 3 p.m. there should be a winner, with an awards ceremony to follow.

You can find a full schedule of the weekend, complete with the entertainment events, here. 

Need someone to cheer for? Check out COTH’s Lisa Slade’s hilarious Finding Your 2017 Rolex Kentucky Favorite.

Where you can watch: If you’re within North America, you can watch the action on the USEFNetwork live feed; if you’re outside North America, FEI TV is your spot for streaming. USEFNetwork stream is free; FEI TV requires a paid subscription.

After the event, NBC will air a wrap-up:
NBC – Sunday, May 7, 1:30 p.m. ET

How to follow along: The Chronicle is on site at the Kentucky Horse Park with three reporters to bring you everything you need to know at www.coth.com, so you don’t have to miss a minute of the action. You can also follow along on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Who’s here: You can keep up with withdrawals here, but the German master Michael Jung has returned to the Kentucky Bluegrass with his 2015 and 2016 Rolex Kentucky winner, Fischerrocana FST, and he’ll be hard to beat again. But there’s a horse/rider combination in the field that has beaten Jung—France’s Maxime Livio on Qalao Des Mers. Livio won the Pau CCI**** (France) last year over Jung, and he’s in Kentucky for the first time this year with the same horse. 

Maxime Livio on Qalao Des Mers at the 2016 Pau CCI****. Photo by Libby Law

New Zealand’s Tim Price placed second in 2015 on Wesko, but last year was eliminated with a younger horse, Bango. This year, however, he’s back in Lexington with his 2016 Rio Olympic Games mount Ringwood Sky Boy.

Other non-North American-based foreign contenders who flew in for the weekend include: Zara Tindall of Great Britain on High Kingdom and Aidan Keogh of Ireland on Master Tredstep, 

Phillip Dutton’s in full force this weekend with three horses entered—Fernhill Fugitive, Mr. Medicott and I’m Sew Ready. Boyd Martin also has two ready to go—Steady Eddie and Cracker Jack. Another busy rider will be Buck Davidson, who has Park Trader, Petite Flower and Copper Beech. 

Then there’s the COTH Rolex Preview cover girl, Courtney Cooper, who’s ready to start her second Rolex Kentucky with her quirky homebred Who’s A Star. There’s Bunnie Sexton, who is in her 50s and riding a horse of a lifetime to heights she never dreamed of. Young stars like Caroline Martin, Lillian Heard, Jenny Caras and more will be looking to make a big splash (a virtual one—not in the Head of the Lake!).

Remember, stay with the Chronicle at www.coth.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up with all the action!