AFTER four days of thrilling world-class action, Britain's Oliver Townend and the Irish Sport Horse Cooley Master Class made history at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event with back-to-back victories. Townend became the first British rider to successfully defend his title. Townend's win not only secured a healthy share of the $400,000 prize money, but also the keys to a 12-month lease of a Land Rover Discovery vehicle.

Cooley Master Class (ISH) was bred in Co Wicklow by John Hagan. The bay gelding is by the late Belgian Warmblood stallion Ramiro B, which Townend stood at Harthill Stud in Cheshire, out of a mare by Slyguff Stud's great thoroughbred stallion Master Imp.

With just one pole separating the top three riders on the final day, the electric atmosphere turned into tension when Tim Price (NZL), lying in third place, produced a stunning clear round to put the pressure on the final two athletes. All eyes were then on home hero, Boyd Martin (USA) and Tsetserleg, with the patriotic crowd eager for an American victory for the first time in 11 years. An eruption of applause echoed through the stadium as Martin cleared the final fence and was just one horse away from victory.

Silence fell as Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class entered the arena, hungry to defend their 2018 title. With nerves of steel, Townend delivered a faultless round, denying the home victory for Boyd Martin, and making history to become the first ever British equestrian to win back-to-back Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event titles.

With tears glistening in his eyes, an emotional Oliver Townend commented, “I am so proud, I can’t say what this means. It’s a huge team effort, it hasn’t been an easy journey but we always believed in him and the horse is pure class - it was just my job to press the buttons at the right time and he delivered again.

“This is one of the biggest events in the world and it’s an eventing childhood dream to win at the highest level. The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event is second-to-none, the infrastructure is out of this world and the whole week has been so phenomenal,” said Townend.

BIG CHEQUE

For his victory, Townend takes home a cheque for $130,000, and a one-year lease on a Land Rover Discovery. After a rather wild drive around the ring in his new car last year, this year he was relegated to a passenger until the paperwork was signed. He also took home a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust watch.

In the Dubarry of Ireland Nations Team Challenge, the lion's share of the $20,000 purse went to Team Great Britain/Switzerland (Oliver Townend/Cooley Master Class, Piggy French/Quarrycrest Echo, Felix Vogg/Calero, Leslie Law/Voltaire De Tre') for finishing first with a score of 98.0. Team USA (Boyd Martin/Tsetserleg, Phillip Dutton/Z, Lauren Keiffer/Vermiculus and Caroline Martin/Islandwood Captain Jack) were second (114.2) and Team Australia/New Zealand (Tim Price/Xavier Faer, Hazel Shannon/Willingapark Clifford, Joe Meyer Johnny Royale and Dominic Schramm/Bolytair B) were third (181.5).