Lexington, KY-April 30, 1998

Hometown favorite Dorothy Trapp Crowell of Lexington, KY and her horse, Molokai, won the inaugural United States Equestrian Team Four Star Championship as the highest placed American at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by Bayer.

Crowell jumped from eleventh place after the dressage phase to second place after the only penalty-free cross-country ride of the competition. She entered the final show jumping phase tied for second with 1996 Olympic team Gold Medalist Phillip Dutton of Australia, trailing five-time U.S. Olympian and fifteen-time USCTA Rider of the Year, Bruce Davidson of Unionville, PA. Davidson entered Sunday's concluding stadium jumping phase in first place on Squelch with a score of 55.6. However, 15 jumping penalties dropped him to seventh place, just behind his son Buck who finished sixth on Trans Amaflirt who scored 68.2.

Eventual winner of the four-star event Nick Larkin of New Zealand and his mount, Red, jumped into the final show jumping phase in fourth place with 59.8 points. Their clear show jumping round ensured them of a victory lap. Crowell's Molokai had one rail down for five penalties and a final score of 61.4 to award her the USET Championship and second place overall in the event. Finishing third were Dutton and his horse True Blue Girdwood with a score of 61.4. Although he held the same score as Crowell, her penalty-free ride in Saturday's cross-country phase gave her the edge. Olympian Ian Stark of Great Britain was fourth on Saucy Brown with 61.6 penalties.

USET veteran and 1996 Olympic team Silver Medalist Karen O'Connor of The Plains, VA was fifth with her horse, Biko, with 66.2 penalty points. O'Connor accomplished this feat despite a fall in the cross-country phase of the event which left her with a cracked sternum, broken ribs, and a bruised thigh.

Crowell announced during the event that this would be Molokai's last international competition prior to entering semi-retirement. "I wanted to prove to everyone what a great horse he is one last time," Crowell explained. "I knew if I didn't mess up that Mo could win it." Molokai is now fifteen years old and Crowell intends to "let him make his own decisions about where he wants to live and what he wants to do. He has earned it!"

The long journey to Crowell's capturing the USET Championship began in 1978, the year of the historic Three-Day World Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park. "It all began here for me in 1978. I came as a spectator and just fell in love with the sport. After such a long history of riding at this park, it means a lot for Mo and me to win the USET Championship in my hometown." In the three-star competition, Tiffani Loudon, 22, of Columbia, SC won the Rolex/USET Three-Day Event Spring Championship, Presented by Bayer, on her horse Makabi with a score of 63.4. Loudon had one rail down in the show jumping phase of the competition to narrowly edge 1991 Pan American Games Bronze Medalist Abigail Lufkin of Middleburg, VA and Jacob Two Two who finished second with 64.0.

Beale Morris of Middleburg, VA and Pathfinder led going into the final show jumping phase, but had three rails down to finish in third with 70.0. The USET's Markham Trophy for the highest placed Young Rider was awarded to Jodi Platto of Middleburg, VA and her horse Unkown Legend. Platto won the Markham Trophy last fall at the Cosequin/USET Fall Championship at the Fair Hill International.