
THE ONLY FOUR STAR THREE-DAY EVENT IN THE AMERICAS Because
horse and rider combinations compete in World Championships and Olympic
Games at the Four Star level, the ability to train and test themselves
at this level on an annual basis is critical to developing strong
individuals and teams for those contests. While
not every combination that competes at the Four Star level will be
chosen to represent the U.S. or, in the case of foreign riders, their
own country, the Rolex Four Star Championship, $200,000 in prize money
and a Rolex Watch make the competition important in its own right.
Additionally for U.S. riders, the USET Foundation CCI**** Championship
for the Pinnacle Cup marks the high point of any U.S. rider's
career. To win Rolex Kentucky sets a horse and
rider apart and they become members of that upper echelon who are
winners of a CCI****. Simply to finish also puts them in select
company. ONE OF THREE EVENTS IN THE ROLEX GRAND SLAM OF EVENTING The
Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing awards $250,000 to the Rider who can win
the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton
Horse Trials in England the first weekend in May and the Burghley Land
Rover Horse Trials in England the first of September in
succession. In its 5th year in 2003, Pippa Funnell of Great Britain
became the first Grand Slam winner with wins at Kentucky on Primmore's
Pride, Badminton on Supreme Rock, and Burghley on Primmore's Pride,
taking the $250,000 prize that most had thought impossible to win. When
the next Grand Slam winner will burst onto the Eventing scene is
anyone's guess. |