Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented By Bayer Announces Schedule Of Television Coverage

Lexington, KY—February 25, 2002—The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bayer, April 25-28, 2002, has announced an extensive schedule of television coverage for this year.

Outdoor Life Network (OLN) will broadcast the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event—America’s only four star event—Friday, April 26 from 6:30 - 7:00 p.m. EDT, Saturday, April 27 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. EDT and Sunday, April 28 from 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. EDT. All three telecasts will originate live with taped competition footage.

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event also will be broadcast in Europe on EuroSport at 20:00-21:00 CET (2:00-3:00 p.m. EDT time). EuroSport is the world’s largest sports cable network reaching more than 90 million homes in 56 countries. The primetime telecast will feature live coverage of the culminating stadium jumping phase as well as taped highlights of the cross-country.

As has been the case for the past four years, the Rolex Kentucky telecast will be produced by Hughes Sports Television (HSTV) of Wilmington, NY. The company’s principal, Robert Hughes, will serve as producer and Emmy Award winner Jim Carr will return as director. Tim Singer, fresh from hosting the luge, bobsled and skeleton coverage on NBC’s telecasts of the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, will return as host announcer.

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event takes place at the scenic Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, and hosts the Rolex/U.S. Equestrian Team Four Star Championship for the Pinnacle Trophy. It is also one of five events held in 2002 that will help determine the Eventing short list of riders for the 2002 World Equestrian Games to be held in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain in September.

The sport of Eventing evolved from cavalry competitions around the world used to test the training and fitness of cavalry mounts. The competition consists of three distinct elements: dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. The horse-and-rider combination with the lowest combined score from the three tests is the winner.

Stars are used by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the world's governing body of equestrian sports, to denote the level of Eventing competitions. Four star events are open only to experienced horses and riders at the international level. Four star events, the most challenging level of the sport, are held at just four venues each year, plus the Olympic Games and World Championships held every four years. Of the four annual four star events, only one, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, takes place in the U.S. The other annual events are at the Badminton Horse Trials and the Burghley Horse Trials in Great Britain, and at Adelaide in Australia.

As an added bonus for the riders, the $250,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing will be awarded to any rider who wins the Rolex Kentucky, Badminton and Burghley four star events in succession. Blyth Tait, winner at Burghley last fall, is expected to be on hand at the 2002 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event to try to add a second victory to his attempt to become the first Rolex Grand Slam winner.

Along with the exciting equestrian action, there is an International Trade Fair with more than 125 merchants, dog agility competition, and a variety of other fun family activities and entertaining attractions.

For further information about the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, please call Equestrian Events, Inc. at (859) 233-2362. For ticket information please call (859) 254-8123, or visit: www.rk3de.org