Canadian athletes secured strong results at the CCI 4* Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, held April 26-29, 2018, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.
Olympian Colleen Loach of Dunham, QC finished as the highest placed Canadian athlete with Peter and Susan Barry’s Qorry Blue d’Argouges, a 14-year-old Selle Français gelding sired by Mr. Blue that was her mount for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Loach and Qorry Blue d’Argouges added 6.8 time penalties on cross-country and had one rail down in show jumping to finish 17th on a final score of 49.1, moving up 15 places on the leaderboard after the dressage phase.
Lisa Marie Fergusson of Langley, BC and her own Honor Me, a 12-year-old Welsh Sport Horse gelding sired by Brynarian Brenin, delivered Canada’s fastest cross-country round on Derek di Grazia’s course, crossing the finish with 6.0 time penalties. Four rails down and one time penalty added on Richard Jeffery’s challenging show jumping track saw Fergusson and Honor Me finish in 25th place on a final score of 66.5, moving up 18 places after dressage.
2007 Rio Pan American Games silver medalist, Waylon Roberts of West Grove, PA, also completed for Canada, finishing in 32nd place overall. Partnered with Anthony Connolly and Skye Levely’s 15-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Kelecyn Cognac, Roberts’ highlight came in the dressage phase, where he was Canada’s highest-placed finisher in 17th on a score of 34.2 penalties.
Olympic gold medalist David O’Connor supported the Canadian athletes in an advisory role during the CCI 4* Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event.
“We are grateful for David’s guidance at major events like Kentucky CCI 4*, and ahead of the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games this September,” said Dr. Rob Stevenson, Chair of the Equestrian Canada Eventing High Performance Advisory Group.
Speaking to the overall event and the Canadian performances, Dr. Stevenson said, “The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event was a great weekend for the sport. We have a small and capable group of riders representing Canada.”
Dr. Stevenson continued, “We were so pleased to see Colleen Loach and Qorry Blue d’Argouges have such a great weekend. Lisa Marie Fergusson and Honor Me also had an amazing cross-country day on Saturday. The morale within the group is very positive, and we’ll build on that as we continue our preparations for Tryon.”
The Canadian Eventing Team will next have athletes competing at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in Gloucestershire, GBR on May 3-6, 2018; the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event in Allentown, NJ on May 10-13, 2018; and the MARS Incorporated Bromont CCI Three-Day Event in Bromont, QC on June 7-10, 2018.
For more information and complete results from the CCI 4* Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, visit kentuckythreedayevent.com.
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