10 Things you May Not Know about the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event
January 8, 2019
The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event happens every April in Lexington, Ky., bringing tens of thousands of visitors from North America and around the globe to the Kentucky Horse Park over four days.
Known by its fans as “The Best Weekend All Year,” the longstanding Kentucky Three-Day Event offers something for everyone: the highest-level of equestrian competitors, the thrills of the sport’s three phases of competition (dressage, cross-country and show-jumping), tailgating, course walks with Olympic veterans, shopping, breed demonstrations, even glamping.
Want to know more? Here’s a quick primer on LRK3DE:
- The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event (LRK3DE) has received the new Five Star status from the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international governing body of equestrian sport.
- There’s no other event like the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event in the United States or this side of the globe. A qualifier for the Olympic Games, World Championships, and the World Equestrian Games, Land Rover Kentucky is an Eventing competition of the highest level on the international stage. Since 1998, the event has been a Four Star event – the pinnacle of the FEI’s system and on par with the Olympics. The new Five-Star designation took effect Jan. 1, 2019, and makes Land Rover Kentucky one of only six annual Five Star three-day events in the world, and the only one in the Western Hemisphere.
- 2018 was the event’s 40th anniversary! In 1978, the then brand-new Kentucky Horse Park hosted the World Three-Day Event Championships (being held in the United States for the first time) which has evolved into the annual Kentucky Three-Day Event. The Kentucky Horse Park’s official opening was a week after the Championships. (The winner of the 1978 Eventing World Championships was a 28-year-old Bruce Davidson on Might Tango.)
- The world’s top Eventing riders head to Kentucky each spring to compete. LRK3DE fans get to experience the riding of incredible athletes like Oliver Townend (GBR), currently the No. 1-ranked Eventer in the world, who won the 2018 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. And Germany’s Michael Jung, now ranked No. 4 in the world and is the first Eventing rider to hold the Olympic, World and European titles simultaneously. Jung is Three-Day Eventing’s most decorated rider … ever. He competed – and won – the Kentucky event a record three years in a row (2015, 2016, 2017) all on the same horse, Fischerrocana FST. Jung is also one of only two riders to win the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, which is awarded to any rider who wins the Land Rover Kentucky, Mitsubishi Motors Badminton and Land Rover Burghley Four-Star Events in succession.
- The world-renowned event has seen nearly 100% growth in spectators since 2013. In 2018, 80,000-plus spectators representing all 50 states and more than a dozen countries headed to the Bluegrass State specifically for the Kentucky Three-Day Event. More than 80% of those who attended were from outside Kentucky and 35% were recurring visitors who had attended the event for more than six years.
A 2013 study conducted by the University of Kentucky, the annual economic impact of a Kentucky Three-Day Event was estimated to be $14.2 million. - The organizer of the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event is Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI), a non-profit charitable Kentucky corporation initially established to produce the 1978 World Three-Day Event Championships. Headquartered on the Kentucky Horse Park grounds, EEI’s formal mission is to create competition opportunities to help prepare the U.S. equestrian team to compete worldwide.In addition to the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, EEI produces the Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Grand Prix and the 2018 and 2019 USEA American Eventing Championships, all to be held a the Kentucky Horse Park.
- Over the years EEI has also made financial contributions to charities that support local human and equine organizations and serve Lexington and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Since 2011 the organization has donated over $900,000 to local charities. The Kentucky Horse Park and Kentucky Horse Park Foundation alone have received more than $1 million in gifts and contributions from EEI over the last 40 years.
- Each year Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event names an official charity and incorporates special fundraising activities into the event schedule. This year’s official charity is Bluegrass Land Conservancy, the largest accredited land trust in the Commonwealth of Kentucky formed to protect the land in Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region through permanent conservation easements. Since 1998, Bluegrass Land Conservancy has protected 95 miles of rivers and streams, 21,600 acres of prime farmland soils and soils of statewide importance, 63 farms that contain historic sites, 10.29 miles of scenic byway frontage and over 27,000 acres of 126 farms in 24 counties across the Greater Bluegrass Region. There will be a special fundraising dinner Thursday evening, April 25, to benefit Bluegrass Land Conservancy.
- In 2018, the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event added the now annual Kentucky CSI3* $225,000 Invitational Grand Prix to the Saturday event schedule, after the completion of the Cross-Country phase of the competition. In addition to the Grand Prix, there will be a $36,000 1.45m FEI ranking class on Friday, following the completion of the CCI’s Dressage competition. Stadium seat tickets for Grand Prix on Saturday are required. Tickets are $5 (with $1 going to the 2019 official charity), plus tax and fees.
- LRK3DE grounds admission tickets also give ticketholders access that weekend to all Kentucky Horse Park attractions.
- It takes 2,000 volunteers working rain or shine to put this world-class event on!
The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event returns to the Kentucky Horse Park April 25-28. Tickets to and more information about the event are available at www.KentuckyThreeDayEvent.com/tickets.
New Music Programming to Debut on Friday and Saturday in Partnership with The Hound 96.1; Stage Located in Sponsor Village Near John Deere, the Event’s Official Equipment Provider
Sydney Solomon’s journey to the top levels of eventing is a story of determination, resilience, and belief in steady progress. Raised in Maryland, Sydney did not grow up in a horse family. What began as a once-a-week hobby quickly became twice a week, and before long, the barn became home. Her first horse, a green Thoroughbred x Percheron cross, presented a true learning curve from day one. During her initial time with "Bella", Sydney wasn’t even aware that eventing existed as a sport. She was riding in 4-H and local hunter shows, building her horsemanship from the ground up alongside a horse who was learning, too. Everything shifted after a visit to Fair Hill International, where she saw eventing at the international level for the first time. She returned inspired and certain that this was the path she wanted to pursue. Eager to move forward, Sydney began searching for a horse that could match her growing ambitions in the sport. That journey brought her to True Prospect Farm, owned by Phillip Dutton, where she discovered Lillian Pink, who was for sale at the time through Boyd Martin. After several successful seasons eventing with Lillian Pink, Sydney stepped into a new phase of development, training under the guidance of Lillian Heard and eventually becoming a working student for her. The experience sharpened her skills, strengthened her foundation, and propelled her confidently up the levels. The working student years were demanding and formative. They offered a clear view into what it truly takes to build a career at the highest level of the sport. After the heartbreaking loss of Lillian Pink, Sydney made a defining choice to continue pursuing her dream, leaning into the challenges rather than stepping away from them. With Heard's support, Sydney was connected with a working student position under Phillip Dutton at True Prospect Farm, immersing herself fully in a high-performance program and the daily rhythm of top-level eventing. Soon after, she was offered the ride on Early Review CBF, a Hanoverian mare who would go on to become a defining partner in her upper-level career. Together, Sydney and “Coco” have worked their way up the FEI levels one step at a time, building experience and confidence all the way to CCI5*. In 2023, they made their 5* debut at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, marking a career-defining milestone — one that stirred emotions Sydney rarely allows herself to show and underscored just how far the partnership had come. As “Early Review, accepted” echoed over the speakers during the first horse inspection, Sydney found herself tearing up, caught off guard by the magnitude of the moment. Even walking into the dressage ring, she admitted she felt the weight of it all — the years of work and the grit it takes to get there. They returned to Kentucky in 2024 to contest the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S, continuing to build their résumé at the upper levels of the sport and adding another chapter to a partnership forged through resilience and experience. Today, Sydney continues to compete at the highest levels of the sport while dedicating much of her time to teaching and producing horses within her own program. Having trained within some of eventing’s most respected systems, she has drawn on that mentorship to shape a competitive and training business grounded in intention, patience, and strong fundamentals. Her journey — from learning on a green first horse to stepping onto the five-star stage — reflects a career built thoughtfully and earned step by step. With each season, she continues to add depth to her experience at the upper levels, carrying forward the resilience, perspective, and work ethic that have defined her path from the very beginning.
