Lexington, Kentucky --- New Zealand's Andrew Nicholson still leads the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented by Bayer, following the challenging second phase of cross-country.

Jumping clear with no time penalties, Nicholson, 40, and Mallards Treat maintained the lead they took following the first phase of dressage on a penalty score of 34.4.

"The prize money is getting bigger, the competition is getting better and you have to travel if want to keep up," said two-time Olympian Nicholson explaining his first trip to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event where $150,000 US in prize money is up for grabs with $50,000 going to the winner.

With a clear round, fellow Kiwi Bryce Newman moved into second position with a score of 37.8 penalties riding Dunstan Inishturk, a ten-year-old New Zealand thoroughbred gelding. Newman was one of eleven competitors to cleanly jump the track set by Sydney Olympic course designer, Michael Etherington-Smith of Great Britain.

Sydney Olympic champion David O'Connor of The Plains, VA, was the sixth rider out on course with Jacqueline Mars' 15-year-old Giltedge. Despite a clean jumping effort, O'Connor was two seconds over the time allowed to add 1.6 time penalties to his total, dropping him to third position with a penalty score of 38.6. However, he moved up into sixth position with Custom Made, the 16-year-old Irish thoroughbred that carried him to the individual gold medal, with a clear cross-country effort.

Australia's Phillip Dutton moved up into fourth position with Simply Red on a two-day score of 41.2 penalty points.

In addition to leading the now 41-horse field, Nicholson is also holding down fifth position with Lord Killinghurst after adding only .8 time penalties, incurred on the steeplechase portion of cross-country, to his dressage score for a two-day penalty total of 41.4.

A win would put Nicholson one step closer to winning the sport of eventing's biggest prize, the $250,000 Grand Slam, awarded to any rider who can win Burghley, a feat Nicholson accomplished last fall, Rolex Kentucky and Burghley (in place of cancelled Badminton) Three Day Events consecutively.

Sunday will bring an exciting climax to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, Presented by Bayer, which serves as the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Four Star Eventing Championship. Heading into the third and final phase of stadium jumping, less than one rail separates the top three riders.

Full results are available on the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day event website, www.rk3de.org.

Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented by Bayer
Results Following Dressage

Rider / Home / Horse / Penalties
1. Andrew Nicholson - New Zealand - Mallards Treat - 34.4
2. Bryce Newman - New Zealand - Dunstan Inishturk - 37.8
3. David O'Connor - The Plains, VA - Giltedge - 38.6
4. Phillip Dutton - Australia - Simply Red - 41.2
5. Andrew Nicholson - New Zealand - Lord Killinghurst - 41.4