The final three stages of the Kentucky Cup are less than 3 month away and will run during the 2010 Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event. Sure to be an huge equestrian competition in preparation for this falls 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, the Kentucky Cup will feature the best in Dressage, Eventing and Jumping.

Endurance riders from around the world will be coming to the Kentucky Horse Park on Wednesday, October 14th for the 4th Kentucky Cup Test Event. As the official test event for next year's Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the Kentucky Cup Endurance race will feature competitors from the United States, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Germany, India, Japan, United Arab Emirates and many more.

Two races will be held on Wednesday, each winding throughout the Kentucky Horse Park and the surrounding properties while stopping for veterinary inspections. The 75 mile race will begin at 7:30am and the 100 mile race will begin at 7:45. Awards for the 100 mile race will be awarded the following day (Thursday October 15th) at 10:00am in the new indoor stadium.

Admission to this event is FREE to the public while parking at the Kentucky Horse Park is $3.

Today concluded the final phase of the Kentucky Cup Driving Event, the official test event for next years 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. It was a beautiful day at the Kentucky Horse Park to enjoy the "Cones" portion of the 4 day competition that included Dressage and Cross Country on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Here are some photos from Sunday.

And the Winners of the FEI Horse Teams were...... 
1. Chester Weber - United States
2. Boyd Exell - Australia
3. Tucker Johnson - United States

Today saw round two of the Kentucky Cup, the official test events for the World Equestrian Games, arrive at the Kentucky Horse Park. With the success of the Kentucky Cup Reining and Vaulting during the first round of competitions over the summer, it is now time for Driving and Endurance to take center stage.

The Kentucky Cup Endurance is still two week away on October 14, while the first of three phases of the Driving competition got underway today with the FEI Dressage phase. Kentucky Cup Driving is a 4 day competition consisting of Dressage, Marathon and Obstacle. The Dressage phase of the competition will conclude with the Prelim and Intermediate Dressage tomorrow (Friday, October 2nd), starting at 8am and finishing around 5:30pm. Saturday with feature the Marathon phase from 8:30pm to 5:00pm and the Obstacle phase will conclude the Driving competition on Sunday from 8:30 to 5:00pm.

The Kentucky Cup Driving is being held on the Secretariat Polo Field at the Kentucky Horse Park. The competition is free to the public while parking is $3 at the entrance to the park.

Check out the official Dressage results of todays Driving competition.

Coming to Lexington? Do you need a great place to stay? We have just listed some great accommodations in the Lexington area available anytime throughout the years. These rental homes are perfect for the Kentucky Cup Test Trials or the Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park. For more information on these properties or to view our full list of home rentals, please visit our search page.

ID: 1180
Bedrooms: 2
Baths: 2.5
SqFt: 1659
Price: $600 per day

Canewood Golf Course Townhouse overlooks the 5th tee. First floor master suite features a double trey ceiling, bath with whirlpool tub, double vanity, separate shower and walk-in closet. First floor laundry and formal dining room. Large great room, kitchen and pantry. Second floor has another large bedroom, closet and full bath. Loft area overlooks great room and can sleep one person on sofa that makes a bed. A covered patio with swing, table and chairs and gas gill overlooks the golf course and offers a great relax.

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ID: 1125
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 2.5
SqFt: 2600
Price: $700 per day

Large 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath well appointed home in quiet cul-de-sac. Restraunts shopping, banking & nitely entertainment just five minutes in the beautiful Hamburg Shopping district. Open floor plan, great for entertaining with fireplace & adjacent barbque deck. Computer / study @ high speed internet/ TV service, cable, movie channel (paid preview), fax machine. Master suite and jacuzzi & sit down shower. Cleaning service available at request.

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ID: 1122
Bedrooms: 4
Baths: 3
SqFt: 3000
Price: $1000 per day

Located in the beautiful West Wind Development adjacent to Hamburg Pavilion, this 3,000 sq/ft brick ranch offers 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms all on one floor. Huge Master suite, Executive King bed with luxurious bath with his/her vanity, jacuzzi tub & separate shower. A front located guest suite with bull bath. Two additional large bedrooms sharing a Jack - n- Jill bathroom. Expansive kitchen with stainless appliances, breakfast nook. Elegant formal dinning with glass table featuring 16 ft coiffured ceiling. Beautiful great room with surround sound built in TV Over sized leather furnishings. Beautifully decorated yet supremely comfortable. Some of Lexington's best dining shopping within walking distance. 1 mile from I-75 & I-64. Minutes to Lexington Airport and Kentucky Horse Park

Photos of Today's Kentucky Cup Vaulting competition at the Kentucky Horse Park. The final day of competition starts tomorrow at 10am. Admission is Free and Parking is $3. Don't miss this sampling of what to expect during the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

This past week saw the opening of the new indoor arena at the Kentucky Horse Park with the first of seven test trials leading up to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. These test trials, known as the Kentucky Cup, kicked off with two days of Reining in which the United States won the team competition on Tuesday morning and Tom McCutcheon (USA) won the individual finals on Thursday Night.

After the success of the Reining test trial last week where the arena drew a crowd of roughly 2500 and received amazing praise from the riders, the new arena now turns to Vaulting. Known as "gymnastics on horseback", Vaulting will take to the arena later this week with a 4 day competition starting on Thursday July 30th. Admission to the Kentucky Cup Vaulting is FREE to the public and parking is $3. Competition starts at 8am with afternoon sessions starting at 1pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday competition starts at 10am.

We spent the morning enjoying the Kentucky Cup Reining team competition at the Kentucky Horse Park's new indoor arena. This was the first test event in preparation for next years 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The Reining competition concludes Thursday night at 7:30pm with the individual finals.

Kentucky Horse Park's New Indoor Arena

The Team Competition

3rd Place.......MEXICO

2nd Place.....CANADA

and the winner is.......UNITED STATES

Congratulations to All

OK, I know the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games are still over a year away, but this past week saw the opening of the world class $45 million dollar indoor arena and in only a couple of days, that new area will be put to the test as roughly 75 competitors will compete in a two day reining event.

On Wednesday (July 15th), the doors to the new arena officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony that included Governor Steve Beshear, First Lady Jane Beshear and Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry. The indoor arena will be the site of the Reining and Vaulting competitions during next year’s World Equestrian Games as well as host many other events that have already been booked at the arena. Features of the new complex include nearly 6,000 seats, 200 suite seating, a football size event area with special equine surface, exhibitor space, warm-up barn and outdoor ring, concession areas, top of the line sound system and over 500 parking spaces.

The first event at the new indoor arena will begin this Tuesday. On July 21, the Kentucky Cup Reining competitors will be the first to test the arena in a two day event that will conclude with on Thursday night. The Kentucky Cup is a series of test trials for the new facilities at the Kentucky Horse Park in preparation for the 2010 Games. Each of the eight disciplines have test trial between now and next year Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event.

The Reining test trials start Tuesday morning with the team competition. Doors open at 8:30am and the competition starts at 10:00am. The individual competition on Thursday starts at 7:30pm with doors opening at 6:30pm. Admission for both days is FREE to the public while the parking is $3-$5. 

While the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) is still more than a year away, we are now closing in on the first test events leading up to the largest equestrian competition ever to be held in the United States. These test events, a 4-star FEI event called The Kentucky Cup, will help test the brand new facilities built especially for the WEG at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The first event will begin next month on July 21-23 when reining competitors take to the new $36 million dollar indoor arena. The spectacular climate controlled venue will be able to hold 6,000 spectators once the completion is finished next month.

All eight disciplines are scheduled to hold test event at the Kentucky Horse Park, finishing next spring during the 2010 Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event. The Kentucky Cup will not only test the facilities but they will also serve as a test run for the management team to prepare for the large volume of visitors expected to attend the games. Many of the worlds top teams are expected to attend this event including Canada, Brazil, Germany, Great Britian and Italy just to name a few.

Reining was first introduced as a discipline during the 2002 FEI World Equestrian Games in Jerez Spain. It is also the only western-themed discipline during the WEG and will feature expanding coverage in the way of a new schedule format. This was due to the excitement Reining generated in Aachen, Germany during the FEI World Equestrian Games in 2006.

For more information, please visit...
National Reining Horse Association
Kentucky Horse Park
Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games