For the first time since 2019, spectators will be on hand. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event’s cancelation in 2020 and its being held without spectators in 2021, there is an unprecedented air of excitement for this year’s event. Ticket sales are at record levels and an attendance of about 80,000 is expected! In addition to its traditional CCI5*-L, which serves as the Land Rover/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship presented by MARS Equestrian™ for U.S. athletes, the event hosts a CCI4*-S, initiated last year. The event also hosts an FEI-recognized show jumping competition, the $225,000 Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Grand Prix presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. With interest at an all-time high, tickets for the 2023 event will be on sale during this year’s event.
For the first time, two winners of the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing will be competing – Michael Jung, the three-time Olympic gold medalist from Germany who was the first rider to win the Kentucky Three-Day Event three consecutive years (2015-17) and was Grand Slam winner in 2016, and Pippa Funnell of Great Britain, a three-time Olympic medalist who was the Kentucky winner and Grand Slam winner in 2003.
This year’s demonstrations will include the emerging sport of Para Jumping. Working with EEI in organizing the demonstrations is Wren Blae Zimmerman, a blind Jumping rider based in Lexington who competes in USEF-recognized competitions and has the ultimate goal of helping Jumping become a Paralympic sport. “I’m both thrilled and appreciative for the opportunity to introduce Para Jumping to the United States,” said Zimmerman. “The short-term goal is for Para Jumping to become an officially recognized discipline which will help establish greatly needed resources, pathways and competition opportunities for riders with disabilities.”
One of this year’s competitors, McKenzie Cumbea of Aberdeen, NC, will be riding Regiment (“Reggie”), a plain bay Thoroughbred adopted from the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center (MMSC) in Lexington which prepares off-track Thoroughbreds for happy, healthy, and successful post-track careers. Cumbea and Reggie are entered in the CCI4*-S. “We’ve come from where there was a 30-70 chance of catching him in the paddock to competing in 4 Star events,” Cumbea said. “He loves his job so much and I’m really excited to be going to Kentucky. He’s a warrior and he wants to succeed as badly as his rider.”
The event is hosting its inaugural Scavenger Hunt sponsored by The Foundation for the Horse. Open to everyone in attendance via the GooseChase mobile app, the Scavenger Hunt will feature over 100 individual tasks, each with an assigned point value listed in the GooseChase app. The ten participants collecting the most points will receive an assortment of prizes, including a brand new 2023 4-Star Trailers two-horse trailer for the grand prize winner.
The event’s organizer, Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable Kentucky corporation that supports several local and equine charities. Since 2011, EEI has donated more than $725,000 to various charities. This year’s Official Charity is the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, traditionally the nation’s leading source of private funding for equine medical research that benefits all breeds of horses. The Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation has provided more than $27.5 million to fund 366 projects at 44 universities in North America and overseas. Through the years, research funded by Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and its predecessor (the Grayson Foundation) has uncovered solutions to critical problems affecting horse health as well as clues to numerous other solutions to equine health issues.
Sponsor interest is also at an all-time high and several new sponsorships are in place:
- In appreciation of the event’s 2,500 volunteers, Hilltop Bio is sponsoring a volunteer lounge.
- In addition to the Vet Center, Zoetis is sponsoring the Zoetis Schooling Complex where spectators will be able to preview their favorite riders.
- Cosequin is sponsoring a 4* and 5* series of jumps – Cosequin Cove.
- Schneiders is providing the Official Apparel for event staff, board, officials, stewards and arena crew.
More information here.
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