1st – William Fox-Pitt and Bay My Hero.
(USA, 27 April 2014) William Fox-Pitt (GBR) riding Bay My Hero, today Sunday 27 April 2014, wins the 2014 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, with Lauren Kieffer (USA) riding Veronica in 2nd place and Bruce (Buck) Davidson Jr. (USA) riding Ballynoe Castle RM in 3rd place, in Lexington.
William Fox-Pitt won the 2014 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event after a dramatic day’s show jumping in the Rolex Stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park. Having earlier completed another superb clear round on his first ride of the day aboard Seacookie, Fox-Pitt kept his nerve riding the beautiful Bay My Hero to complete a perfect clear round of show jumping in front of the packed stadium. Lauren Kieffer (USA) finished in second place after a superb clear round finishing on her dressage score and the leading USA rider. Bruce (Buck) Davidson Jr. finished in third place after fellow Americans Michael Pollard and Marilyn Little dropped down the leaderboard after hitting rails.
Sinead Halpin (USA) riding Manoir De Carneville, finished on the same score as Buck Davidson, but as Buck was nearest to the optimum time on the Cross Country phase, he took third place. Marilyn Little (USA) finished with two in the top 10, and William Fox-Pitt also finished on Seacookie in ninth place too, to complete another great Rolex Kentucky Three-Day event for the Fox-Pitt Eventing team.
Final Results after the Show Jumping Phase:
1. William Fox-Pitt/Bay My Hero (GBR) 44.0
2. Lauren Kieffer/Veronica (USA) 46.7
3. Bruce (Buck) Davidson Jr/Ballynoe Castle RM (USA) 51.7
4. Sinead Halpin/Manoir De Carneville (USA) 51.7
5. Marilyn Little/RF Smoke on the Water (USA) 52.5
6. Marilyn Little/RF Demeter (USA) 55.3
7. Jan Byyny/Inmidair (USA) 56.7
8. Phillip Dutton/Trading Aces (USA) 52.5
9. William Fox-Pitt/Seacookie (GBR) 59.1
10. Selena O’Hanlon/Foxwood High (CAN) 59.4
New Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing Contender
As the winner of the 2014 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, William Fox-Pitt now becomes the new live contender of the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing prize and will go to the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in two weeks in search of victory and the second leg of the Rolex Grand Slam events.
Quote from William Fox-Pitt (GBR) (link to audio of full press conference below):
Q. William – Bay May Hero – that was a nail-biting finish – but your horse was brilliant.
He was superb. Lauren really put the pressure on so I was going in there thinking I am so pleased that even if it’s not me then it’s going to be an American because the support is so amazing over here. The atmosphere in there was crazy – he jumped so well – he was magic! It’s very, very exciting and so good to have an American second as well is great for the sport and USA is looking in great shape for WEG, but I am so pleased with my chap. I’ve had some huge fun here and this is another bit of it.
Quote from Lauren Kieffer (USA) (link to audio of full press conference below):
Q. Lauren – were you as cool as you looked?
It took a lot of mental focus to stay cool, but I really tried to go in there and ride it like anything else – I think my coach will be pleased with me!
Quote from Bruce (Buck) Davidson Jr. (USA) (link to audio of full press conference below):
Q. Buck – great horse and great ride.
Reg (Ballynoe Castle RM) has been a consistent horse his whole career. It was only a couple of months ago that he was in hospital with pneumonia – the heart that that horse has is unbelievable – basically if you tell him it’s Kentucky and he’ll go!
Copyright Free Audio
Please click on the following links for copyright free audio of the post-event Press Conference after the final Show Jumping Day with the top three placed riders:
http://po.st/R0cu6p
For more information on the 2014 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and full Results/Leaderboard, please visit www.rk3de.org.
Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing
In 2001, Rolex created the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. This trophy is awarded to the rider who manages to win the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials event in any consecutive order. Until now, only British rider Pippa Funnell has managed this staggering achievement, winning the title in 2003.
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