Thoroughbreds Invade Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event
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Inmidair was the top placed Thoroughbred at Rolex with Jan Jyyny aboard last year. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
Every spring, racing fans in the Bluegrass State are abuzz with chatter about the Kentucky Derby. But for eventing fans, spring is all about the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. during the last weekend in April.
The only four-star (highest level of competition in eventing) event in the western hemisphere, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event attracts some of the best riders in the world to Kentucky. The event has a royal presence in 2015 with Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Zara Phillips making her first appearance at Rolex Kentucky on her horse High Kingdom.
But this year, the real stars of the show are the Thoroughbreds who will be at the event. Twenty-one former racehorses will be competing in the event with four other unraced Thoroughbreds also competing. The 26 Thoroughbreds represent the largest number of any purebred breed at the event.
While many of the off-the-track Thoroughbreds competing at Rolex weren’t superstars on the track, combined they earned $157,508 and won 18 times. The 19-year-old Relentless Pursuit is the oldest Thoroughbred in the field but he isn’t the only older Thoroughbred competing, as eight of the Thoroughbreds were born in the 1990s.
The youngest Thoroughbred in the field is the Florida-bred Never Outfoxed, a 9-year-old gelding who will be making his four-star debut at Rolex.
On a disappointing note for Thoroughbreds at Rolex, a notable Thoroughbred withdrawal from the Rolex Kentucky entry list is 2012 Rolex Kentucky winner Parklane Hawk, who is pointing to the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton four-star event two weeks after Rolex.
For a spreadsheet of the Thoroughbreds competing at Rolex (courtesy of Retired Racehorse Project), look below.
Name
Rider
Racing Name
Race Record
Earnings
Anthony Patch
Lainey Ashker
Alex’s Castledream
10-0-0-0
$815
AP Prime
Leah Lang-Gluscic
A.P. Prime
31-2-4-5
$20,175
Coal Creek
Elizabeth Snow
Frank J
7-1-0-1
$3,628
Collection Pass
Kate Chadderton
Collection Pass
6-0-0-0
$0
Donner
Lynn Symansky
Smart Gorky
6-0-0-0
$2,870
F.I.S. Prince Charming
Lisa Barry
Waitui Jo
2-0-0-0
$0
Fly Me Courageous
Sara Kozumplik Murphy
Truly Improper
10-0-1-0
$3,630
Gleaming Road
Anna Collier
Pistol Pakin Pete
22-3-3-3
$19,383
Houdini
Katie Frei
Rocky Times
5-0-0-1
$1,180
Imperial Melody
Cody Sturgess
Imperial Melody
1-0-0-0
$550
Irish Rhythm
Rachel McDonough
Daniel Alexander
43-1-3-4
$25,923
Madison Park
Kyle Carter
Magic Retribution
11-1-0-0
$2,744
Parker
James Alliston
Eastside Park
15-0-0-3
$8,145
Pirate
Meghan O’Donoghue
Pirate’s Gold Star
10-1-0-2
$3,840
Relentless Pursuit
Dana Widstrand
Super Rover
11-3-0-0
$13,201
Rise Again
Bunnie Sexton
Trabuco Kid
4-0-0-0
$0
Shiraz
Colleen Rutledge
Bold and Burley
14-2-0-1
$10,862
Simply Priceless
Elisa Wallace
Kalinga Damo
10-0-0-0
$711
Sound Prospect
Alexandra Knowles
Sound Prospect
13-0-2-1
$2,546
Tsunami
Sally Cousins
Tsu Tsu Ro
24-3-2-4
$35,170
Vilas County
Werner Geven
Vilas County
9-1-0-0
$5,763
Andromaque
Will Faudree
unnamed
unraced
n/a
Never Outfoxed
Holly Payne
Never Outfoxed
unraced
n/a
Novelle
Angela Grzywinski
Cupid’s Tart
unraced
n/a
Petite Flower
Buck Davidson
unregistered
unraced
n/a