Kristen Bachman, of The Plains, Va., riding for the second time at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day event, presented by Farnam, took over the lead with a completely clear cross-country round today. Her score on Gryffindor, 48.2 penalties, has put her just ahead of Heidi White Carty on Northern Spy (52.0), and Clayton Fredericks of Australia on Ben Along Time (53.0).

Bachman’s perfect performance was one of eight faultless rounds today. The others were Carty on Northern Spy, Will Faudree on Antigua (fourth place), Phillip Dutton on Truluck (sixth place), Wendy Schaeffer of Australia on Koyuna Sun magic (eighth place), Sara Mittleider on El Primero (10th place), Mary King on Apache Sauce (11th place), and Jonathan Holling on Direct Merger (12th place).

Bachman, 35, moved from Washington State to Virginia in April 2006 to prepare for last year’s Rolex Kentucky, which they completed. “It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m in first place, but I till have another day,” she said.

Bachmann bought Gryffindor, a Thoroughbred, from friend Meike Decher just after his racing career ended, and she has brought him up the levels of eventing. “It just makes for such a fantastic relationship. I have the ultimate trust in him. I don’t know that I’d be doing this level on any other horse,” she said.

For Carty and Northern Spy, this is their fourth start at Rolex Kentucky and their second consecutive perfect cross-country round. “Every year, you think, OK, I’ve done Rolex, but then the next year it’s twice as big and hard,” said Carty, adding, “He’s a superstar—I’ll never have a horse like this again.”

Fredericks retained the third place he’d earned in dressage, even though he finished with 5.6 time penalties. “I went a little steady at the start and hoped to make it up at the end,” he said. “but he slipped on a couple of corners.”

Faudree climbed from 12th to fourth with his faultless round on Antigua, 17. “I’m the luckiest person in the world to have a horse like this in my life. This is just another chapter in the fairy tale I have with him,” said Faudree, of Southern Pines, N.C.

Dressage leader Le Samurai pulled up lame just after finishing. Dr. Catherine Kohn, the official veterinarian, said that he had suffered ligament damage to his left front leg and was resting comfortably after being splinted and immediately transported to a nearby veterinary clinic. Second-placed Tangleman (Polly Stockton) ran out at fence 25C, a mistake that also befell fifth-placed Critical Decision (Missy Ransehousen), the dressage leader on Thursday.

Mittleider, of Kuna, Idaho, was the only one of the four young riders to complete Michael Etherington-Smith’s course with no jumping penalties, putting her comfortably in the lead to win her third consecutive Rolex Kentucky young riders’ trophy. Emilee Libby and Hannah Sue Burnett each had one refusal, and Tiana Coudray retired after falling.

Some 21 of the 42 starters jumped faultlessly today. Three horses retired on course, and three were eliminated.

Show jumping begins on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.