3…2…1…GO! It’s The Kentucky CCI4*-S Live Updates Thread, Baby

Chinch for scale.

Welcome back to the 2022 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, and it’s not just the #BestWeekendAllYear, it’s the best day of the best weekend. It’s cross-country time, baby! First up to bat are the competitors in the second running of the CCI4*-S here, which has been referred to as a five-star short — it’s a seriously intense course, and we’ve got some incredible partnerships tackling it today. Here’s how the top twenty looks after dressage:

Take a look at the course via CrossCountryApp here. Here’s how the course breaks down:

Length: 3960m

Numbered fences: 21

Optimum time: 6:57

Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event (KY): Website, CCI5* Ride Times, CC4*-S Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream (North America), Live Stream (Outside of North America) Tickets, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Ultimate Guide, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram

9.47: Oh no — another rider gets caught out at the coffin. This time it’s Meaghan Marinovich-Burdick, who goes for the right-handed brush with Riviera Lu but runs past.

9.46: Dana and Mississippi are looking pretty tidy on time here as they jump the trakehner to wedge at 19AB. They won’t catch the time, but they won’t be far out — it’s 7.15 as they cross the line, for a provisional 6.8 time penalties.

9.44: FE Golden Eye isn’t as naturally speedy as some horses, but he really does hunt the flags. They cross the finish at 7.30 — 33 seconds over the time. Now we’re looking at another FE horse, this time FE Mississippi and Dana Cooke, who won the four-star at Chattahoochee Hills recently.

9.42: Next out on course is Colleen Loach and FE Golden Eye, who bring forward a dressage score of 31.7.

9.40: WOW! Proven wrong — Dan Kreitl crosses the line on a provision 6:55, two whole seconds inside the time. Incredible. He made up for a sticky middle section by really finding the rhythm in the first and final thirds of the course. Both of them looked more and more confident as they came to the end. Really impressive!

9.37: Hmm, a couple of sticky jumps for Carmango, which will slow them down a bit.

9.34: Dan Kreitl heads out in 11th place on Carmango. We’re still waiting for our first pair to catch the time — could they do it?

9.31: Mr Candyman adds in the Walnut Bank combo but finds his way over C. They’re about 30 seconds down on the clock — and now they opt to retire after that.

9.29: Mr Candyman is a really good boy — he pops neatly into the coffin but the stride isn’t quite there to the C element. He grows a pair of wings and carries Alex through to the other side without an issue. Big pats!

9.28: Next out on course is Alex Baugh and Mr Candyman. Jennie and Twilightslastgleam are still motoring after that early sat-nav error.

9.26: Oof. Kyle walks home with Reddy or Not after a heartstopping moment at 14A, the rails into the Walnut Bank. It looks like she just got a bit surprised by the sight of the drop down after the rails and put down a bit too early, hooking her front end over the fence and activating the safety device. She’d started to look a bit tired so Kyle makes the right call, dismounts, and gives her a pat before they head back to the stables.

9.25: AARRRGHHH! Jennie does a Coleman and goes the wrong way at the start of the course. It’s so tough for these riders who have to ride both courses today — it’s a pretty easy mistake to make in the heat of the moment.

9.24: Jennie Brannigan heads out with the first of her spicy ginger rides today. Twilightslastgleam is like an arrow out of that start box.

9.22: Canada’s Kyle Carter starts his round with Reddy or Not, who sits 20th at the moment. One minute into the course, we see Kyle really picking his horse up and making some deliberate, attacking decisions. Clayton gets a sticky, tricky jump into MARS Sustainability Bay as Ophelia hangs a leg, but he gets away with it and they style out the rest of the question.

9.20: Ellen Doughty-Hume and Breakin’ All The Rules pull up after some issues at the coffin, which reminds me of the one at the CCI4*-L at Bicton last year, which was influential there, too. Ellen opted to go left at the C element, had her runout, and then tried again over the right-hand brush option, picking up another refusal. It’s not going to be an easy day out there.

9.18: We’re seeing some issues that weren’t shown or mentioned on the livestream for Will and Tamie. Will picked up 40 penalties on course, at 6C, the angled hedge out of the coffin, and 9b, the wedge in the water, while Tamie had a 20 at 6a, the rails at the coffin. That explains the time.

9.16: A super, super ride through the final water for Tamie and Elliott after a slightly sticky ride at the Cosequin Cove water. Tamie crosses the finish at 7:45 – nearly a minute over the time allowed despite what looked like a pretty committed trip there. This could be a very interesting day indeed! We catch up with the course at the coffin, where Clayton Fredericks and FE Ophelia are circling after an issue there.

9.15: Some interesting insights being relayed from Tamie, who had such a tricky week here last year when a MIM stopped her from fighting for the win in the CCI5*. She’s now determined to ‘answer those questions better’ and we see that in action as she sets up a really careful, clean effort over a clipped fence.

Quasi Cool tackles the tough coffin.

9.13: Doug Payne and Camarillo head out. They’re in 39th at the moment. A great ride through the trakehner to wedge question at 19AB from Phillip and Quasi Cool, who have looked seriously attacking and committed miles away from each fence. Similarly, Tamie is out there hunting down those fences. Elliott looks really great today.

9.12: A much better ride through the final water for Will and Chin Tonic, who finishes looking classy but stops the clock at 8:29. That early navigational error was so expensive, and Will was wise to then use the round to educate the gelding, rather than try to rag him around and catch up. It’s no doubt disappointing, though, because Will knows he’s got one of the best up-and-coming horses in the country underneath him.

9.10: Chin Tonic adds in the penultimate water at the Cosequin Cove which he gets away with but it won’t help that time. Tamie Smith and Elliott V head out in 30th place.

9.09: Will has upped his cruising speed since that early sat-nav error, but we’re seeing them around 40 seconds down as they tackle the Walnut Bank complex at 14ABC.

9.07: A bit of a sticky jump over the HUGE brush corner at the MARS Sustainability Bay at 18ABC for Liz and Monster, after they just get in a touch deep. They cross the finish line on a provision time of 7:08, which would give them 4.4 time penalties and put them on 30.1. Phillip Dutton and Quasi Cool are now on course, sitting 15th currently.

9.06: Liz is about ten seconds up on the clock as she hits the five-minute marker. Her early speed now gives her the wiggle room to play with if she needs it, but Monster is looking really, really good and I don’t suspect she’s going to need the buffer.

9.05: Oh dear. Second out of the box is Will Coleman and Chin Tonic HS, who sit 10th after dressage. They lose time pretty quickly by…accidentally going down the five-star track and having to turn back on themselves. Look, Will, we’re ready for this horse to win the big one too, but it’s not this year!

9.04: Whoops, the website ate my updates. Liz and Monster are motoring, despite a bit of a miss and a prayer at the coffin. They stay super focused and straight and get it done sans penalties. We’ve really seen him step up from a boy to a man over the last year.

9.00: And we’re off! First out of the box is Liz Halliday-Sharp and her excellent Cooley Quicksilver. They sit third after dressage and in this tightly packed bunch, they’ll want to try to beat the optimum time of 6:57. Liz has her game face ON.

Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event (KY): Website, CCI5* Ride Times, CC4*-S Ride Times, Live Scoring, Live Stream (North America), Live Stream (Outside of North America) Tickets, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Ultimate Guide, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram