Lexington, KY—April 27, 2003—In her first visit to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented by Bayer, Great Britain’s Pippa Funnell enjoyed a victory she will never forget.

Riding last in the order in stadium jumping, the third and final phase of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Funnell jumped all of the obstacles cleanly, but incurred six time faults to post the same score, 44.6 penalty points, as fellow Brit Polly Stockton.

In the case of a tie at an International Equestrian Federation (FEI) sanctioned Three-Day Event, the rider whose time on the cross-country portion is the closest to the optimum time is awarded the win. A clear cross-country round for Funnell tipped the scales in her favor over Stockton, who incurred 1.2 time penalties during the cross-country phase.

“Thank goodness I had a good day yesterday because I have never been so embarrassed by a show jumping ride in my life,” said Funnell after realizing she had exceeded the time allowed for the stadium jumping phase by such a large margin. “I was trying to do everything to leave the jumps up that I forgot to think about the clock! Somehow, the gods were with me!”

Over the three phases of competition, Funnell, a two-time European Champion, led the 56-horse starting field from start to finish riding Primmore’s Pride, a 10-year-old English thoroughbred gelding owned by Roger and Denise Lincoln. The victory earned her $60,000 in prize money in addition to a Rolex timepiece.

Stockton, 29, had one of only three clear stadium rounds to move into the runner-up position with Tangleman, a 10-year-old English-bred gelding.

“My horse went clear and put the pressure on - it was a miracle, really,” said Stockton. “I just wanted Pippa to do the best that she could do, we are all in it together and we all help each other.”

Countryman William Fox-Pitt, 34, ended his second visit to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, by finishing in third position with the Irish-bred Moon Man, one better than his fourth place finish in 2002 with Stunning. One knocked rail in stadium dropped him out of contention, bringing his three-day total to 46.6 penalty points.

The British had a stranglehold on the event from the beginning, never relinquishing the top two spots throughout the competition.

“I would like to say how grateful the British riders are for coming here and being made to feel so welcome,” said Funnell.

With the win, Funnell took the first step towards being the first rider to claim 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.

The CCI**** Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, the only three-day event in America to be held at the Olympic level, serves as the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Four-Star Championship. As the top American, fourth-placed Bruce ‘Buck’ Davidson, Jr., won his first Championship title aboard Mystic Mike, a 10-year-old American thoroughbred gelding bred by owner Janis Smith.

“It’s an exciting time,” said Davidson, Jr. “Every time I go into the start box with ‘Mikey’, I think about breaking him as a two-year-old. To have him do this well is a dream come true.”

With a penalty-free stadium jumping round, Davidson, Jr. catapulted from eleventh position into fourth to win the USET Four-Star Championship. A true competitor, Davidson, Jr. commented, “Did I think that one day this would happen? Of course I did. Did I think that it would happen today? Last night, it didn’t occur to me to even think about it! I just hope that I will not only have my name on this trophy a few times, but on the big one at the end of the day, too!”

Davidson’s father, Bruce, who has the distinction of winning the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event on six occasions, including the 1978 World Championships, finished in eighth position with Little Tricky.

Over the four days of competition at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented by Bayer, 72,892 spectators enjoyed ideal conditions at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, as well as 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.

Complete results and other interactive features are available on the official Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event web site, www.rk3de.org. For additional information, please contact Equestrian Events, Inc. at (859) 254-8123 or by faxing (859) 254-5116.