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Officials of the 2006 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Farnam, are pleased to announce an exciting worldwide television schedule that will bring the thrill and excitement of America’s only Four-Star Three-Day Event to television sets around the world. This year’s Rolex Kentucky CCI**** returns to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, April 27-30.

Anchoring the worldwide television schedule will be a domestic broadcast on NBC that will air as a one-hour special on Sunday, May 7, from 5:00-6:00 p.m. EDT.

Extensive television coverage in Europe will include primetime broadcasts on each of EuroSport’s two networks, as well as a third broadcast on CNBC Europe. A "live" broadcast featuring the final rounds of show jumping, in addition to highlights of dressage and cross-country, will air on EuroSport2 Sunday, April 30, 8:00-9:00 p.m. Paris time. A follow-up broadcast that will include an extended highlights package for cross-country and dressage will air on the main EuroSport network Wednesday, May 10, in the evening. The broadcast on CNBC Europe will air at a later date. Broadcasts in Asia will include one-hour programs on CNBC Asia and ESPN Star Sports Asia.

Supplementing these telecasts is a groundbreaking live webcast of cross-country action at this year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Farnam. Eventing fans around the world will have an unprecedented opportunity to watch live action from one of the world’s most prestigious equestrian events on the webcast, which will be available free of charge on the event’s official website, www.rk3de.org. Entitled, “Live at The Lake,” the webcast will show the action from the four-obstacle complex (Fences 20abc and 21) well-known to Rolex Kentucky fans as “The Head of the Lake.”

“This is clearly the most far-reaching television schedule we have ever had,” said Event Director Jane Atkinson. “Interest in Rolex Kentucky continues to grow, not only in this country, but internationally as well. And with the FEI World Equestrian Games coming here in four years, this is a great opportunity to show equestrian sport fans around the world what makes our event and the Kentucky Horse Park so unique.”

The Kentucky Horse Park was chosen as the site for the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games. This will mark the first time the Games, which feature world championships in seven equestrian disciplines, are being held outside of Europe. This will undoubtedly make the opportunity to see the Rolex action from the Kentucky Horse Park that much more exciting for the many thousands of fans around the world who are thinking of traveling to Kentucky for the 2010 Games.

This year’s event, a United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Selection Trial for the Eventing World Championships at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aächen, Germany, will be run under the “without Steeplechase” (short) format for the first time, consistent with requirements for FEI championships.

As always, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event will host many of the world’s best horses and riders as they compete for one of the most coveted purses in the sport of eventing and one of the most celebrated championships in equestrian sports. Heading the list of regular competitors at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event are Olympic and World Championship veterans, Pan American Games medalists and seasoned veterans of international equestrian competition.

The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is one of only five annual competitions in the world with the CCI**** classification and the only CCI**** in the United States. There are four levels of competition in eventing, designated by stars (one star through four stars). As the number of stars increases, the degree of difficulty increases progressively. A four-star event presents the most challenging competition existing for horses and riders.

The $250,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing is awarded to any rider who wins the Rolex Kentucky, Mitsubishi Motor Badminton and Land Rover Burghley Four-Star Events in succession. In 2003, Pippa Funnell of Great Britain became the first rider to win the Rolex Grand Slam. William Fox-Pitt, of Great Britain won the Land Rover Burghley CCI**** in England last September, which began the Rolex Grand Slam series anew. He will be seeking the second leg with a victory at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in April. (William and Tamarillo are pictured above at the skinny after the water at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI****, last May.)

Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event organizer, Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI), is a non-profit charitable corporation created in 1975 to stage the 1978 World Three-Day Event Championships, the first time those championships had been held outside of Europe. Following the success of those World Championships, the U.S. Equestrian Federation asked EEI to organize an annual three-day event in the spring and the Kentucky Three-Day Event was born.

For more information on the 2006 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Farnam, please visit www.rk3de.org. Advance ticket sales are now closed, but General Admission tickets will be available at the Rolex Kentucky Ticket Booths at the Kentucky Horse Park beginning Thursday, April 27. Reserved grandstand seats and a limited number of Patron Club, Patron Plus and Equestrian Club subscriptions may be purchased at the Event Ticket Tent upon entry into the Horse Park. To receive the ticket brochure for the 2007 event, send your name and address to Equestrian Events, Inc., PO Box 12110, Lexington, KY 40580-2110, (859) 254-8123 (9:00 am – 4:00 pm, M-F), (859) 254-5116 (fax), or rktickets@alltel.net.

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