Rolex Kentucky CCI***, Presented by Farnam, Points The Way To The Olympics

Lexington, KY - A total of 43 horses will start the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, presented by Farnam, when it gets underway with the first day of dressage tomorrow. Rolex Kentucky is the U.S. Equestrian Federation's eventing selection trial for this summer's Olympics in Hong Kong.

    The Ground Jury held three of the 44 horses presented to them during this afternoon's first horse inspection at the Kentucky Horse Park. The jury accepted two of them-Neville Bardos, ridden by Boyd Martin of Australia, and Dun To A T, ridden by Jonathan Holling of Ocala, Fla.-when re-presented. But Will Faudree, of Southern Pines, N.C., decided to withdraw his veteran Antigua instead of presenting him again.

The Ground Jury members are Martin Plewa of Germany as president, Nick Burton of Great Britain and Jo Young of Canada. Plewa will be the president of the Ground Jury for eventing at the Olympics.

The starting field for this year's Rolex Kentucky CCI**** contains three riders who've won the top prize before, but Karen O'Connor, Stephen Bradley and Kim Severson aren't riding the same horses they've previously guided to victory. Still, they're leading contenders for the Rolex watch and to make the Olympic team. 

O'Connor, 50, was the individual gold medalist at the 2007 Pan Am Games on Theodore O'Connor (one of her two mounts here), and was a member of the 1988, 1996 and 2000 Olympic teams.  Severson, 34, was the individual silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics. And Bradley was a member of the 1992 Olympic team.  O'Connor will also ride Hugh Knows, Severson is riding Tipperary Liadhnan, and Bradley is riding From and Brandenburg's Joshua.

Another strong favorite to win and to make the Olympic team is Phillip Dutton, who won two team gold medals for his native Australia before gaining U.S. citizenship in early 2007. Dutton, who's finished second at Rolex Kentucky several times, won the individual silver medal at the Pan Am Games. He's riding Connaught and Woodburn here.

Riders from Canada, Australia and Great Britain are also riding at Rolex Kentucky in the hope of being selected for their nation's Olympic teams.

Dressage begins on Thursday morning with the test ride at 9:30. Competition will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on both days. The exciting cross-country competition will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, and the final show jumping phase will take place on Sunday.