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2017 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event to Premiere "Champions Live!" Event
New Sunday Morning Discussion Panel Features U.S. Champions from Each Olympic Discipline
 
 
Lexington, KY - April 21, 2017 - The 2017 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented by Land Rover, will premiere " Champions Live! " a new Sunday morning discussion panel featuring U.S. equestrian champions from each Olympic discipline. America's only Four Star Event, known as the "Best Weekend All Year," will host a star-studded list of competitors when it r eturns to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, April 27-30.
 
Champions Live! will take place after the final horse inspection on Sunday, April 30 in the Kentucky Club from approximately 9:30-11:00 AM. Three-time Olympic veteran Jimmy Wofford will moderate the session, which is co-hosted by Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI), producer of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, as well as the U. S. Eventing Association (USEA), U.S. Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) and U.S. Dressage Federation (USDF).
 
Champions Live! is free to attend for those with a Sunday RK3DE grounds admission ticket.   For those who cannot attend in person, the USEF Network will live stream the session online.
 
The Champions Live! panelists are:

Eventing: Phillip Dutton - Six-time Olympic veteran with two Team Gold medals (2000, 1996), Team bronze (2004) and Individual Bronze (2016) and the 2008 Rolex Kentucky Champion.

 

Dressage: Silva Martin - Successful Grand Prix Dressage competitor and sought-after trainer and coach.

 

Show Jumping: Melanie Smith Taylor - 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist, Show Jumping Hall of Fame inductee and NBC television analyst. 

 

2016 Olympic individual Bronze Medalist
Phillip Dutton (c)Jenni Autry 
" We are delighted to have top names in our sport be part of our first Champions Live! event," said
 Lee Carter, Executive Director of Equestrian Events, Inc. "It will be a fun and educational opportunity to hear the valuable insight that our expert panelists will share with us."
 
Known as the "Best Weekend All Year," this year's "Rolex Kentucky" will host a star-studded list of 62 riders representing nine countries - including Olympic, World, European, and Pan Am Champions - that will vie for the coveted title and the lion's share of $400,000 in prize money. They will also compete for a shot at the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, which is awarded to any rider who wins the Rolex Kentucky, Mitsubishi Motors Badminton and Land Rover Burghley 'Four Star' Events in succession. Olympic Gold and Silver medalist Michael Jung of Germany, the two-time defending Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event champion and winner of the 2016 Rolex Grand Slam, heads the list of top riders that include many of the sport's leading riders from the U.S. and abroad. Visit www.rk3de.org/entry-list/ for the complete list of entries.
 
Spectators can enjoy a world-class three-day event competition and shop at the Sponsor Village and International Trade Fair with almost 200 booths and tents. Rolex Kentucky also features tailgating, Land Rover test drives, a fund-raising farm-to-table dinner Thursday evening, on-site beer garden, 5K race on Friday evening, and Champions Live! on Sunday morning. Ticket buyers also receive general admission to the Kentucky Horse Park, America's only theme park dedicated to horses.
 
Equestrian Events, Inc.
is a non-profit charitable Kentucky corporation that was established initially to produce the 1978 World Three-Day Event Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park. Following the success of those championships, EEI established an annual event that evolved into the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by Land Rover.
 
For more information on the 2017 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, please visit the Rolex Kentucky website at   www.RK3DE.org  or call (859) 233-2362. Tickets may be ordered on line or by calling (859) 254-8123.