This year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event which was touted as the best opportunity of Oliver Townend’s career to win a Grand Slam, turned into a nightmare when an accident led to his being air lifted off the Kentucky Horse Park grounds.  Oliver Townend’s chances of winning the trophy this year were marred and the prize money of $350,000 continues to remain a distant possibility. Townend had marked his victory in the other two events namely Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials and the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials earlier in the year and was geared up to prove his worth in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in succession. The victory in the event would not only have resulted in him taking over the title of the Rolex Grand Slam along with the hefty prize money, it would also have made him the second rider in the history of eventing to have won the coveted title after Pippa Funnel.

Oliver Townend had chosen less experienced horses for the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event which is being viewed as the prime reason for him having lost his chances. The less fortunate rider was very sure and confident about the new horses- Ashley Cruise Master and ODT Master Rose that he had planned to ride for the race. Townend went on record saying that he did not regret not having chosen Carousel Quest for the event, whom he had saved for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games which is slated to take place during the fall this year. This decision of the rider had come as a shock to many of his fans since Carousel Quest had enough experience of three day events and had also participated in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event last year. Oliver Townend was riding Carousel Quest when he registered his victory in the 2009 CCI**** Badminton and Burghley CCI****.

Following the long ordeal caused by the Icelandic volcano ash, Oliver Towend’s presence at the event had remained unsure. The determined rider had to make his way to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event through train route, a long cab ride together with an airplane ride. However, his efforts did not meet the end.

Riding on the ODT Master Rose, Oliver Townend had maintained the seventh position with a total of 51 penalties. The talented British rider was 10 fences away from the home with a 30-obstacle and about 4 miles route when Ashley Cruise Master witnessed a fall at the rail jump of 3 foot, 11 inches height which was one of the elements from the three-part Hollow. This led to Oliver Towend’s fall from the back of the horse, leaving him injured. Oliver Townend was then taken to a nearby hospital wherein he was evaluated by the doctors. The mishap also put a question mark over his participation in the upcoming Badminton tournament.

The prestigious title of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event was bagged by fellow British rider, William Fox Pitt who registered his victory with a score of 42.8 penalties. The rider was upset by Oliver Townend’s accident, which consequently lessens the chances of Britain lifting the glory at the races.

Oliver Townend, is one troubled man these days. The man who till a few days back was all geared up for the 2010 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event, is now facing a lot of trouble in order to make his way into the grand event. The Icelandic volcanic ash cloud which has led to the cancellation of all the flights to and from Europe including the UK, has proved to be highly detrimental to anyone but Oliver Townend’s dream to swipe the coveted title of the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. The twenty seven year old rider is keeping all hopes intact for making it to the event in time. Reportedly, the man is leaving no stone unturned to hit the field.

With his consecutive two victories in the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials and the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, Oliver Townend has all eyes on him. With two major titles already in his kitty, he has to win only the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event to be the winner of the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing Title. The spirited rider from the United Kingdom is not ready to have it lying down and is highly determined that he would not only make it on time but would also be victorious in the event. The 2010 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event would mark the defining moment of his eventing career which in case of victory would earn him about £230,000, together with a Rolex marvel and not to mention admiration and respect from eventing lovers across the world.

Oliver Townend considers his whole eventing career to be a build up for an opportunity like this one and there is no way he is going to let go of this. The volcanic eruption in Iceland which left dangerous ash particles floating in the atmosphere, and let to all flights being stranded left Oliver Townend to take a decision to do a strenuous train and car journey. He started on Sunday from Shropshire base from where he took a London bound train from where he then boarded a plane for Paris. This was followed by a fourteen hour long cab journey from Paris to Madrid. So far the man has already spent a sum total of £1,600 and now hopes to catch a flight from Spain to the United States.

Even after so much travelling, Oliver Townend does not seem to show even a slight sign of fatigue. Rather, the champion is running high on spirits and is more than sure that his efforts will pay off and that he would make it. In his own words, he considers the whole experience more like an adventure and calls it a Yorkshire thing to take on any challenge. He said that he is not the only one who is troubled by the ash. Oliver Townend said that it is his duty to make sure that he participates in the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event.

He went on to add that he was more than excited by the whole experience and calls it a part of the game. Right now Oliver Townend’s attention is on getting a flight to Lexington where his fate will be written this week.

The champion quadriplegic yachtswoman, Hillary Lister who with her immense courage and an urge to achieve something in the world of sports has inspired a million hearts is once again all set to earn yet another accolade to her name.  The legendary paraplegic sportswoman has both her eyes fixed on the upcoming fundraising event ‘Sail Bahrain’ wherein Hillary Lister will be seen sailing a solo journey of about 100 mile spanning along the coastline of Bahrain.  Hillary Lister has been nominated for the ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year Award. Apparently, she will take on the challenge while sailing in her specially designed 20ft yacht ‘Arty’ which requires a technique of sipping and puffing on three straws.

Hillary Lister is a record breaking quadriplegic sailing champion who belongs to Kent, England. She endures a progressive condition of reflex sympathetic dystrophy.  Controlling her sailing boat by sucking in air through straws and blowing it off in order to steer and sail along in the waters, Hillary Lister has set many records and has earned a number of accolades for her stupendous performances.

The ISAF Rolex Sailor Award is regarded as one with the highest prestige and respect in the domain of sailing. Even to make it to the nominations of this award is a big achievement for any sailor. The award was earned by Anna Tunnicliffe in 2009, however, Hillary Lister was given a standing ovation for the longest duration in the history of Rolex awards for her contribution to the sailing world and for her unbound strength. She has been scaling heights and has set unparallel benchmarks in the world of sailing. She has also been nominated for the Rolex Women’s World Sailor of the Year award.

Hillary Lister’s latest fund raising attempt ‘Sail Bahrain’ challenge will see her going on a solo sailing spree. The challenge which is slated to begin from April 20th will now coincide with the Bahrain Boat Show International which is also beginning the same day. Britain’s yet another sailing champion, Shirley Robertson who is an Olympic sailor and a television presenter will be seen supporting Hillary Lister.

Talking about the challenge that Hillary Lister is all set to take up, Shirley Robertson expressed her delight at lending her support to the woman champion. She called Hillary Lister an incredible sailor and a highly talented sportsperson. Shirley Robertson went on to add that Hillary Lister had given inspiration to a huge number of people.

Hillary Lister considers the happiness at being supported and encouraged by UK and said that she was grateful to Shirley Robertson for her time that she had devoted and had come to Bahrain to support Hillary’s project ‘Sail Bahrain’. Hillary Lister went on to add that her team was working real hard in order to get things right for her fund raising challenge slated to take place in a few days time. She hopes that more and more people join in and make this grand event even more exciting on and off the waters.

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is yet again ready to feature some of the top class riders and world’s best horses in the event which is slated to take place at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY between April 22 to April 25. The event is presented by Bridgestone and forms a part of HSBC FEI Classics TM Series. The winner of the championship is rewarded with prize money of $250,000 together with a Rolex timeless marvel.

This year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event will attract huge fan following from far and wide. The fans can look forward to some exciting horse and rider combinations from across the globe. Reportedly, riders from about eight nations will be seen competing in the event this year together with their horses. The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event incorporates basically three competing events- Dressage, Eventing and Jumping.

This year’s main attraction will be Oliver Townend who has a million hopes mounted on his shoulders from all corners of Britain for winning the last leg of the championship Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. As per the rules, any champion who wishes to win the priced championship of the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, needs to be victorious in the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. With the former two events already in his kitty, Oliver Townend is now all geared up to win over the title by winning the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. So far in the history of the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing Championship only one rider has been able to win all the three events and therefore has got the coveted title to his name. The champion is Pippa Funnell who was also from Great Britain and achieved the unthinkable in the year 2003.

Another great eventing champion from Great Britain who will be seen participating in this year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is William Fox-Pitt. He has been one of the members of the 2004 Olympic Silver Medal Team and has also been a part of 2008 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials CCI****. In addition, the rider has also played a member of the HSBC FEI Classic TM Series. William Fox Pitt has remained the world Number One twice and has also bagged the British Number One title for about seven times. Together all of these achievements have made him the most successful rider when it comes to Britain’s Three Day Event Riders. The rider has also remained the bronze medallist at the Olympic Games, Beijing and silver medallist at the Olympic Games, Athens. Apart from this, William Fox-Pitt has twice remained silver medallist at the Europeans and has a collection of about seven European Team Golds.

The top riders together with the best horses from eight nations will be competing in the championship to lay a claim on the humongous amount of priced money of $ 250,000. However, if Oliver Townend who already has the other two events to his credit wins the last leg Kentucky Three-Day Event too, he will be rewarded with a prize money of $350,000.

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Bridgestone has signed up StarBox Online Scoring System as its official management and event scoring software.  The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event marks for the only four star equestrian event held in America. The premier eventing championship accounts for one-in-six four star events which are held across the world. The 2010 Rolex Kentucky event will be witness to participation by more than 65 horses, which will be representing about nine different nations. The rider and the horse that become victorious in the event automatically conquer the top-most slot.

The highly prestigious event rewards the winner with prize money of about $250,000, which leaves no scope for the riders to make any mistakes and lose out on the money. The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event attracts fan following from across the world. This makes it essential for the organizers of the event to have proper software which can deal with all the entries and manage all the data from the beginning till the end of the event. As such, StarBox Online Scoring fits the bill perfectly for the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. The scoring software system has been contributing to the management of data in more than 150 events. In a span of three years, StarBox Online Scoring has earned a decent place for itself. Its ultra simple data entry system combined with complex management work set in the web-base solution which does not need installation of the software by the end user.

Speaking about the new association between the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event presented by Bridgestone and StarBox Online Scoring, Event Director, Jane Atkinson said that he was mighty pleased and excited about the fact that Equestrian Events. Inc. will be using the technology of StarBox Online Scoring to deal with the entries and manage all the data throughout the event. He also spoke about the additional service which the event will provide this year to its followers as per which they will be able to know the scores of the event instantaneously through their website. He went on to say that he was thrilled with the association and considered the software a state-of-the-art marvel.

The Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event accounts for one of the events in the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. The other two being the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials and the Burghley Land Rover Horse Trials which take place in May and September, prior to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. A champion who remains victorious in all the three events is awarded prize money of $350,000. The entire events of the Rolex Grand Slam have been won only once in history by Great Britain’s champion Pippa Funnell in the year 2003. Oliver Townend who also belongs to Great Britain has already proved his worth in the other two events of the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. Now, the man has set his eyes on the final event of the Rolex Kentucky Three Day which if it falls in his kitty will make him the second in history to win the entire Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, following Pippa Funnell. Oliver Townend has been the winner of the Burghley and the 2009 Badminton Championship.