Kentucky Three-Day Event

Kentucky Three-Day Event 2026

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• How to watch
• XC times
• Schedule
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• Winners

The 2026 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event (23-26 April) marked a first five-star win for US eventer Will Coleman riding Diabolo. Will became the first US winner of Kentucky since Tamie Smith in 2023. Fellow US rider Caroline Pamukcu finished second on Blake, with Britain’s David Doel third with Galileo Nieuwmoed.

Our expert eventing reporter Pippa Roome was on the ground to bring you all the headlines, big name interviews and analysis of the action, accompanied by beautiful photography throughout each day of competition.

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Latest Kentucky Three-Day Event news

Kentucky Three-Day Event dates

The Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event will be held from 23 to 26 April 2026. The event is running both five-star and four-star-short competitions.

Visit the Kentucky Three-Day Event official website

Kentucky Three-Day Event provisional schedule

Wednesday 22 April

2pm CCI5* first horse inspection (7pm in Britain)

Thursday 23 April

8am-12.15pm CCI4*-S dressage (1-5.15pm in Britain)

1.20-4.10pm CCI5* dressage (6.20-9.10pm in Britain)

Friday 24 April

8am-12.10pm CCI4*-S dressage (1-5.10pm in Britain)

1pm-3.50pm CCI5* dressage (6-8.50pm in Britain)

Saturday 25 April

9am-12.30pm CCI4*-S cross-country (2-5.30pm in Britain)

1.30-4.30pm CCI5* cross-country (6.30-9.30pm in Britain)

Sunday 26 April

7.30am CCI4*-S and CCI5* horse inspection (12.30pm in Britain)

10.45am-12.45pm CCI4*-S showjumping (3.45-5.45pm in Britain)

2.15-4pm CCI5* showjumping, followed by prize-giving (7.15-9pm in Britain)

Who is the Kentucky Three-Day Event course designer?

After 18 years in the role, Mike Etherington-Smith handed over Kentucky cross-country course-designer duties to Derek di Grazia ahead of the 2011 running of the event and Derek is still the course-designer now.

Kentucky Three-Day Event history

Horse trials have been held at the Kentucky Horse Park since 1976 and the venue became the first US host of the eventing World Championships in 1978.

Individual world champion Bruce Davidson retained his world title riding Might Tango, while Canada were the winners of the team gold medal on that occasion. Since then Kentucky has frequently been used as the selection trial for the US eventing team for major championships.

In 1998 Rolex Kentucky became the only CCI4* event held outside Europe (all the world’s four-stars were upgraded to five-star when the FEI changed the classification of eventing levels in 2019).

The Kentucky Horse Park also hosted the World Equestrian Games (WEG) – encompassing the World Championships for eight equestrian disciplines – in 2010. Britain won the team gold on that occasion, with Michael Jung taking his first senior championship individual gold on La Biosthetique-Sam FBW.

Long-time title sponsor Rolex stepped down in 2017, and the title sponsorship of the event was taken up by Land Rover ahead of the 2018 running. The name of the event was changed to Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Mars Equestrian, for 2024.

The 2020 running of Kentucky Three-Day Event was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the following February it was announced that the 2021 five-star was cancelled too. However, a grassroots fundraising effort brought in more than $550,000 (approx £400,000) in less than a week, which persuaded organisers to change their minds and go ahead with the five-star, which was won by Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class.

Michael Jung achieved his fourth Kentucky win when he landed the title in 2022 on FischerChipmunk FRH. In 2023, Tamie Smith scored a huge victory for the home side when she piloted Mai Baum to become the event’s first US winner since Phillip Dutton won in 2008.

In 2024, Oliver Townend headed an all-British podium when he took his fourth Kentucky title, this time on the young grey mare Cooley Rosalent. Michael Jung won his second Kentucky title with FischerChipmunk FRH in 2025 and his fifth in all.

What is Kentucky Three-Day Event?

Kentucky Three-Day Event is one of just seven five-star events in the world and one of only two held in the US. Five-star is the highest level of eventing competition, where the very best horses and riders in the sport compete against each other in three phases: dressage, cross-country and show jumping. The same horse and rider combinations take part in all three phases and their penalty scores are added up. The horse and rider with the lowest penalties is the winner.