Zara Phillips to make her Rolex Kentucky debut
Zara Phillips and High Kingdom are among the British entries for the Rolex Kentucky CCI4* this year (23-26 April).
Zara will be making her debut at the American classic with Trevor Hemmings’ horse on whom she was a vital part of the British team’s silver medal at last year’s World Equestrian Games.
So far nine British-ridden horses have been entered for Kentucky.
William Fox-Pitt, who has won the event three times, currently has three horses in the mix. They include two previous Kentucky victors, both owned by Catherine Witt: last year’s winner Bay My Hero and 2012 winner Parklane Hawk. His third entry is Lady Best and Jane Keir’s four-star debutant Freddie Mac, who was second at Blenheim and third at Bramham CCI3*s last year.
Francis Whittington will start at his first Kentucky on another horse belonging to Catherine Witt, the grey British national champion Easy Target.
Nicola Wilson, who has had a slightly delayed start to her season due to a broken collarbone, is looking to be back in action in time for Kentucky. Her rides at Kentucky will be her parents Mary and Barry Tweddle’s Annie Clover, plus James and Jo Lambert’s Watermill Vision.
Nicola was part of the gold medal-winning British team at the 2010 WEG at Kentucky on Opposition Buzz and also finished 11th at the regular four-star here the previous year on the same horse. This is her first visit to the site since the 2010 championship.
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One other Britain-based rider is currently on the entries list — Australia’s Bill Levett with Ali Butler, Elisabeth Murdoch and his wife Jenny’s Improvise. And US-based Briton James Alliston has Parker and Tivoli entered.
Entries do not close until 24 March, so more names will be added to the list in due course, although this is likely to be the full British contingent. So far, 23 horses are entered, all from the USA apart from those detailed above. Last year 60 horses started at Kentucky.
View full Rolex Kentucky entry list
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.