Joe Meyer shows off his legs in a Kiwi kilt while Clip Clop kicks up his heels at the first horse inspection
All 73 horses presented to the three-member ground jury will start on Thursday in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Land Rover. President Ernst Topp of Germany, Sandy Phillips of Great Britain and Andrew Bennie of New Zealand evaluated the fitness of horses from the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Germany, Australia and Mexico before a keen crowd of about 1,000 fans.
Prominent among the starting field are four former Rolex Kentucky champions Phillip Dutton, who won in 2008 on Connaught; Michael Jung of Germany, who won in 2015 on Fischerrocana FST; Blyth Tait of New Zealand, who won in 2000 on Welton Envoy; and Kim Severson, who won in 2002, 2004 and 2005 on Winsome Adante.
Michael Jung superstar and super mover with Fischerrocana FST
This year, Dutton will ride Fernhill Fugitive, Fernhill Cubalawn and Mighty Nice; Tait, the 1996 Olympic Gold medalist and 1998 World Champion, will ride Xanthus III; Severson will ride Fernhill Fearless and Jung will aim to defend his title once again on Fischerrocana FST. If successful, Jung, who also won the world title here in 2010, would be the first rider to achieve this since Kim Severson (USA) on Winsome Adante in 2004 and 2005
As always, the riders will be aiming for the top prizes that will be awarded on Sunday, including the coveted Rolex watch. The total prize money is $300,000, of which $100,000 will go to the winner. In addition, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is an Olympic selection event for the United States and gives Michael Jung the chance to win a second leg of Rolex Grand Slam - can he do it?
For the fourth year, The Dubarry of Ireland Team Challenge will award $20,000 in prize money. Teams of three or four riders will be selected based on their FEI World Ranking. Mixed nation teams will be permitted, but a nation cannot be represented on more than one team. Competitors who qualify to represent their nation and enter more than one horse in Rolex Kentucky can select which of their horses to be on the team. Teams will be announced after the first horse inspection.
Dressage competition gets underway on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and resumes Friday at 8:30 a.m. Saturday features the cross-country phase, the heart of the competition, with the show jumping phase concluding the event on Sunday. Follow along with our photo gallery coverage from Libby Law and updates throughout the event ..... in the meantime, enjoy a few of the stylish runway models below
Ryan Wood, the only Australian competitor this year, is US based and will be competing on Frankie, McLovin and Fernhill Classic (pictured)
100 days to Rio and Brazil's Nilson Moreira da Silva is looking good with Muggle
Tim Price was the runner-up last year on Wesko, who has just been withdrawn from Olympic contention due to injury, so the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse Bango has stepped up to the mark.
Ex-Aussie Boyd Martin will hop on a plane to Badminton once Kentucky is over - he's competing here on Blackfoot Mystery
Cool cream was favoured by the USA's Katherine Coleman presenting Courage Under Fire (above) and Sinead Halpin with Manoir De Carneville (below)
Pointy toes for the ladies - USA's Mackenna Shea and Landioso (above) and Lauren Kieffer US team gold medallist at the 2015 Pan American Games and winner of the Pinnacle Trophy (USEF Four Star Championship) at 2014 Rolex Kentucky (below)
