Lexington, Ky.—April 25

As Boyd Martin cantered on Commando 3 around the warm-up ring before heading into the Rolex Arena as the last to go of the day in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L, he looked up at the dark clouds in the sky and thought, “This isn’t good.” Sure enough, two horses before he headed in, the rain started in earnest, and by the time he and “Conner” cantered up centerline, it had intensified significantly.

But he wasn’t too bothered.

“You know, it’s a sport,” he said. “There’s some things you’ve got no control over, and it was like a Louisiana typhoon, [so I was] just trying to stay in the moment. And Commando 3, so he’s a champion horse, and he stayed focused. [He] can be spooky, and I don’t know, maybe it distracted him. He went in and did a good job in there. And [I’m] very, very pleased with that.”

The pair put in the best test of the day to earn a mark of 26.0 and slot into second place, but they are nearly 8 points behind Michael Jung and FischerChipmunk FRH, who went Thursday. Commando 3’s trot work was a highlight, though Martin joked that his favorite part of the test was the end—so he could “go put some dry underwear on.”

Watch Jung’s record-setting test, which earned 18.6 penalties, courtesy of USEF Network, powered by ClipMyHorse.tv:

Martin also sits sixth with Luke 140, who competed today, and 11^th with Fedarman B, who went Thursday.

“To have three horses in the 20s—it’s been a huge amount of work, not just for me, but my wife [Grand Prix dressage trainer Silva Martin], who rides when I’m away a lot, and [I feel] relieved to have delivered,” he said. “You know, you always stay up late at night wondering if something’s going to go wrong. I mean, they all had parts that could have been better, but generally speaking, I was just relieved.”

Martin, 45, and Conner, a 12-year-old Holsteiner (Connor 48—R-Adelgunde, Amigo XX) prepared for Kentucky by winning the Stable View CCI4*-S (South Carolina) in early April. They have mostly focused on dressage since then, putting in three gallops and a couple of jump schools coming to Kentucky from Cochranville, Pennsylvania.

Slotting into third place today was British rider Tom McEwen with Brookfield Quality (26.2).

“He’s an absolute legend of a horse, and he was fantastic,” he said. “I was so pleased with him, and I really felt like we got the most out of the test. Obviously a couple little mistakes, but yeah, just absolutely delighted that he dealt with it in there like a trouper. He can be a bit spooky—I still can’t get him past the tent outside [the ring], so I was just absolutely delighted.”

McEwen and “Norris” had an unconventional preparation for Kentucky, having not run around a Fédération Equestre Internationale event since the Pau CCI5*-L (France) last year. They competed in a few novice-level events in Great Britain (the equivalent of preliminary in the U.S.) and one intermediate before coming here.

“For him, he always produces it when he gets there,” said McEwen. “And it’s just completely going on confidence and actually just allowing him to be nice, running around smoothly, relaxed. And for him, the more relaxed he is, the more chance you’re going to have of producing a test like today.”

German Libussa Lübbeke is fourth on Caramia 34 (27.1). She took over the ride on her homebred from her brother, Fritz Ludwig Lübbeke, in 2019.

“I was really happy with the horse,” she said. “She was focused, and she was listening to me, and it was just fun to ride in there.”

Having run around the Luhmühlen CCI5*-L (Germany) last year, Libussa decided to try something new and come to Kentucky for the five-star.

“It’s really special to be here, and we’re just enjoying our time and making the best out of it,” she said.

Looking Ahead

Derek di Grazia has been designing the cross-country track at Kentucky since 2011, and riders expect Saturday to be a challenge, as usual.

“It’s a good course,” said Martin. “It’s big; it’s challenging. It’s a real test of endurance and the rider sort of pacing their horse to make sure you’ve got plenty of juice left, especially at the Cosequin Cove [Fence 22ABC]. I think that’s the last real challenge to make sure that you’ve got plenty of horse left there. It’s not going to be a dressage test. It’s going to be a very, very exciting contest tomorrow.”

Saturday starts with four-star cross-country, with the first horse heading out at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The five-star is currently scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. Get more information here.

Full results here

The Chronicle is on-site at the Kentucky Horse Park with two reporters to bring you everything you need to know at coth.com, so you don’t have to miss a minute of the action. You can find all of our coverage from the week here. You can also follow along on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to read our May 23 issue for more in-depth coverage and analysis of the event.