Wow – it all came down to the last six rides at Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event – Mary King went early with the second-placed Fernhill Urco, putting in a double clear to maintain their score of 49.7 – the only question was whether her top-placed Kings Temptress would leave up all the rails. Before that happened, however, Oliver Townend and ODT Sonas Rovatio put in their double clear, William Fox-Pitt hunted Neuf des Coeurs around for a double clear, then Hannah Sue Burnett and Exponential took out two rails to drop a bit. Next it was Manoir de Carneville and Sinead Halpin who put in a double clear. The tension amped up as 3rd-placed Clayton Fredericks and Be My Guest pulled one for four faults, which dropped them one place, because Mary King and Kings Temptress came in and showed the world how a first class rider rides double clear rounds under pressure. They left all all the pretty painted fences untouched and we had our Rolex Champion and Reserve Champion – making history and scoring a first. Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville (“Tate”) earned the four-star championship as highest placed American, along with third place, a rosette above William Fox-Pitt and Neuf des Coeurs with Fredericks and Be My Guest in fifth.

Mary King (GBR) and her second ride, Fernhill Urco, scored 41.7, good enough for second place behind Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister who are still in the lead. Allison Springer and Arthur are in third, followed by King’s other hope, Kings Temptress. Twizzel and Will Coleman round out the top five

Three horses from the morning session moved into the top 10 for minor changes in the leaderboard. Tiana Coudray (USA) and Ringwood Magister put in a test that had Beth Harpham calling us with the announcement that she had just photographed the new leader – even before Tiana’s score of 40.8 was announced. Allison Springer and Arthur slipped into second on 42.3, which dropped each of the following down one spot: Mary King and Kings Temptress, Will Coleman and Twizzle, Kim Severson and Tipperary Liadhnan, Boyd Martin and Remington XXV. Dubarry Style Award winner Clayton Fredericks (AUS) and Be My Guest scored 50.5 for seventh, which shifted south one place Michael Pollard and Icarus, Heather Morris and Slate River. R Star and Kristi Nunnink took over 10th place

Well, the jog started shortly before 11 on Wednesday with riders presenting a total of 45 horses: six from Great Britain, seven from Canada, two New Zealand, two from Australia, and 28 from the United States. Two were held for re-presentation – Gryffindor (Kristin Bachman) and Hollywood (Kelly Sult), both American entries

Looking at the Doppler (mid-morning 4/27) is a startling experience as huge storm systems, very very colorful storm systems, make their way up from Nashville – well, they aren’t starting there, but we don’t feel like tracking the storms to their source – bad, Mother Nature, bad bad bad!!! Already the Rolex schedule has been adjusted. Yesterday evening while we were on the road (more about that in a minute), the first vet inspection was moved from 3 pm today to 10 am this morning because of the predicted really big bad storms with winds (60-some mph!), hail, and maybe a tornado. OMG. So we get here this morning to TCB, check into the Media Center, and get some work done. We wanted to drop the May Sidelines at the show office – Phillip Dutton is on the cover – for the riders and some for the Outriders – the foxhunting 5Q is about the enthusiasts from Bridlespur Hunt, and muscle others to hospitality… Just as we got to the Trade Fair arena, security personnel were directing vehicles of all kinds to hurry up and park in the large enclosed warm-up area. Someone from Frain Security (what a great group of people, always pleasant no matter what) flagged us down

Leaving mid- to late morning for Kentucky Horse Park and the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Lots to do still, but will have to wait till we get there.