Lexington, KY—April 23, 2003—Competition at the 2003 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, will officially begin on Thursday, April 24, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.

Following the presentation of fifty-six horses at Wednesday’s horse inspection, the stage is set for the sixth edition of the CCI**** Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, the only three-day event in America to be held at the Olympic level. The Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event serves as the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Four-Star Championship.

Dressage competition, the opening phase of the three-day event, will begin on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and continue at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Saturday will mark the challenging cross-country phase of competition while the 2003 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, concludes on Sunday with the third and final phase of stadium jumping.

With entries from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, and the United States, there is no shortage of star power as the world’s best compete for $190,000 in prize money with the winner taking home $60,000 and a Rolex timepiece. In addition, the winner also has a shot at the $250,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, awarded to any rider who wins the Rolex Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley Four Star events in succession.

America’s only Four Star Event, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is the premier competition for the sport’s top horses and riders. In addition to the Olympics and World Championships, held every four years, the only annual Four Star Events in the world are Badminton and Burghley in Great Britain, Adelaide in Australia, and the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. The Three-Day Event is a complete test of horse and rider, evolving from the training and use of the military horse. The consecutive days of tests consist of three distinct elements: dressage, cross-country and show jumping. The horse-and-rider combination with the lowest overall penalty score from the three tests is the winner.

Along with the exciting equestrian action, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event features an International Trade Fair with more than 125 merchants, the Priefert Six-Horse Percheron Hitch, the USPC Prince Philip Cup and a variety of other fun family activities and entertaining attractions.

The 2003 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, will be broadcast on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) on Friday, April 25 (from 6:00 – 6:30 p.m. EDT), Saturday, April 26 (from 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. EDT), and Sunday, April 27 (from 3:30- 5:00 p.m. EDT). All three telecasts will originate as live studio programs with taped competition footage. The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event will also be broadcast in Europe on April 27 on EuroSport, the world’s largest sports cable network reaching more than 90 million homes in 56 countries, at 8:00-9:00 p.m. CET (2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT time). This broadcast will offer a re-cap of the cross-country phase as well as live coverage of the show jumping finals.

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, is organized by Equestrian Events, Inc., a non-profit Kentucky corporation formed in 1975 to stage the 1978 World Three-Day Event Championships. Since that time, the Kentucky Three-Day Event has grown to become America’s first and only Four Star event.

Current results will be available on the official Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event web site, www.rk3de.org. For more information, please contact Equestrian Events, Inc. at (859) 254-8123, or by faxing (859) 254-5116.