LEXINGTON, Ky.--Boyd Martin on Commando 3 leads the four star competition at the Kentucky Three-Day Event, the division that may be more important than the five star this year, as the four star is a selection site for the Paris Olympics Eventing team, and given that many of its competitors are aiming for a spot on that team

Boyd Martin on Commando 3 (Photo by Allen Maxmillan)Three-time U.S. Olympian Martin of Cochranville, Pa., leads after the first day of dressage on a score of 28.9.

Martin has only had the horse for about a year, and he was previously owned and campaigned through the 4* level by Louise Romeike from Sweden, who’d owned him since he was 2.

“It’s not very easy buying someone else’s horse,” Martin said. “But I knew I wanted him as a potential Olympic horse so had to go quick [with competing him and moving him up]. It’s not really your horse until about a year in, but this horse is such a class animal that even as we were figuring each other out and ticking the boxes, he jumped a lot of big courses. But it wasn’t until this year that I felt we have a real partnership, we understand each other, and I know how to ride him.

“Buying a mega horse doesn’t often work out,” Martin said. “It’s huge pressure and scary because they are expensive as hell, but I feel like these days in the sport of eventing, the top 10 or 15 riders are about as good as each other and it comes down to who has the best horse. You have to have a mega horse if you want to be a winner.”

 

HOT ON Martin’s heels is Will Coleman with not one but two mounts; he stands second on Diabolo and third on his veteran campaigner Off The Record.

Yasmine Ingham on Banzai du Loir (Photo by Allen Macmillan)Diabolo is a 12-year-old bay Holsteiner gelding previously campaigned to the 4* level by Gemma Tinney of Australia and currently stands only a point behind Martin on a 29.2.

Off The Record is only another point back on 30.1.

Coleman also has his top horse Chin Tonic HS in Friday’s dressage.

All three of these mounts are up for potential Olympic berths, but Coleman is clear that he needs to focus on the horses rather than the selection.

“Given it’s an Olympic year, everybody has a different approach, how to put forward for selection, the 4* versus the 5*," he said. "But for me it’s about focusing on the horse. In the case of my situation, Off The Record is an older horse and if asked to go to Paris, doing the 5* here and then a championship in July would be a lot. Same with Chin Tonic. But Diabolo is working towards his first 5*, so they are all on the 4*-short track. You have to listen to your horse and make the best decision for them. The selection is out of our hands and not worth worrying about.”

“The Horse Park has a real championship atmosphere," said Coleman. "Diabolo is a new horse for us, so that experience can’t be duplicated in many places. It’s nice to get it under our belt and help me know how to better prepare him, and it gives a sense of where we’re at in terms of big championship events.”

Friday is another day of dressage before the cross-country on Saturday, and Martin said he had taken a quick tour of di Grazia’s course, and he isn’t taking anything for granted.

“It looks to me like a 5* over six-and-a-half minutes,” he said. “The coffin looks pretty massive, and it’s early in the course when the horses are still sharp and spooky. It’s one of those courses where you could have a mistake anywhere. It’s a pretty tricky design of Derek’s, and there’s a few combinations at the end when you’re pressing for time and the horse is tired where you could have a mistake.”

In the five star, reigning world champion Yasmin Ingham of Great Britain on  Banzai du Loir leads after the first day of dressage.

Ingham leads the CCI5*-L with a penalty score of 26 over Kirsty Chabert, also of Great Britain, on Classic VIon a score of 31 and Germany’s Malin Hansen-Hotopp on Carlitos Quidditch K, who scored  31.1.

“I think his test overall had some brilliant highlights,” Ingham said of Banzai du Loir. “We’ve been working really hard to get a bit more expression in the trot. He carries himself so beautifully in the ring now, and holds so much presence when he’s in there, and he definitely showed that today.

“My first center line could have been a little bit straighter, but I think he was really on my aids in all the movements and he really excelled today,” she said.

Ingham finished second in Kentucky in 2022 and later that year took top honors in the FEI Eventing World Championship, but she had a stop in Kentucky last year, and also had a stop at the European Championships in September.

“I take snippets away from every event, and I’ve had a lot of those in the last year,” she said. “We’ve done lots of training to perfect each phase, and I’m coming into this having learned a lot of things from lots of learning experiences. I always try to make a positive out of a not-ideal situation and channel into the next event. We definitely learned a lot in the last year.”

With the first phase behind them, Ingham is already eyeing the cross-country course.

“He’s run well here the past two years,” she said. “I really enjoy riding around here; the ground is obviously just brilliant. The way Derek di Grazia produces the cross-country course and designs it is spectacular, and it’s always dressed beautifully. There’s lots of questions throughout from beginning to end, but I’m really excited to get out there on Saturday.”