It’s been 15 years since an American has taken home the top prize in the CCI5*-L at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian™, but after a shake-up on cross-country day, the USA’s Tamie Smith and Mai Baum are poised to do just that. The 17-year-old Rheinlander gelding owned by the Ahearn family jumped double-clear on Saturday to take over the top spot with a score of 24.2 in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 34,298.

“It was definitely a fight to make that time,” Smith said after her ride, which also maintains her lead in the Land Rover/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship presented by MARS Equestrian. “It was a big effort out of the last water — that got a little hairy for me. I talked to him and said, ‘Come on, buddy, you can do it.’ Right when I thought he was tired, he pushed and kept fighting. I think I was more tired than him. There’s not a lot of Thoroughbred in there, but he’s got a heart the size of Kentucky, that’s for sure.”

Great Britain’s Tom McEwen added 5.2 time penalties to his score aboard JL Dublin, but at the end of the day, he remained in second place on 27.8. Liz Halliday-Sharp (USA) is third on Miks Master C with 28.5, after adding 1.6 time penalties to her dressage score.

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