Oliver Townend notched an exciting first for Irish sport horses today when he brought home Cooley Master Class to take out the Land Rover Kentucky Three Day Event in the United States.

It is the first CCI4* win by one of the Cooley horses and his efforts now keep alive his efforts to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing.

Michael Jung (GER) and FischerRocana FST led the field coming into the showjumping but a single rail proved costly and his dreams of a fourth consecutive victory at Kentucky were dashed.

Townend (GBR) and Cooley Master Class took the win on their dressage score of 28.7 penalty points, with Jung second on 31.5 and Marilyn Little (USA) and RF Scandalous third on 32.8.

Kiwi Joe Meyer and Clip Clop retired during the cross country of the CCI4*. The US-based Clip Clop lost a shoe at the beginning of the course and Meyer says the horse just “wasn’t feeling 100%”. He said the horse was “quite sore” but will be fine. They were one of four combinations to retire on course, with three others eliminated.

Meyer and Clip Clop scored were on 40.3 penalty points after the dressage. Meyer withdrew his other horse Johnny Royale after an old wound flared up during the 13 hours of travel. Meyer will now take the horse to Bromont CCI3* in June.

 

Click here for Full Results

 

The horse details:

Clip Clop – owned by Theresa and Madison Foote

Johnny Royale – owned by the Team Johnny Syndicate

 

By Diana Dobson – HP Media Liaison