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At 3:00 PM on Wednesday 58 horses were presented at the First Veterinary Inspection. Riders ranged in age from Bruce Davidson, Sr. and Ralph L. Hill, both of whom competed at the World Championship which was held at the Horse Park in 1978, to one Young Rider Sara Mittleider, who presented El Primero. Bruce trotted up Little Tricky and Jam while Ralph presented Bad Boy Billy.

55 horses passed on their first pass. Three were held.

Talk about nervous moments! - the first horse to be held was Kai Ruder's (GER) Edward 16. Imagine flying a horse all the way from Germany and being spun at the first trot up! Talk about bad dreams! Fortunately Edward 16 was noticably better after returning from the Holding Area and passed with ease.

Cathy Weischoff's Ocotillo was unlevel the first time and good enough to get by (- after a heart stopping discussion among the vets and the Ground Jury - ) the second time.

No such luck followed Penny Rowland (CAN) and Roundabout who was spun upon re-inspection.

Among those in with a good chance,William Fox-Pitt's (GBR) pair of Coup de Coeur, who was ridden to third place at Kentucky last year by Leslie Law, and Mr Dumbledore looked smashing! (William and Mr. Dunbledore are pictured above at the right.) William has won the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton CCI**** once, in 2004, and was second there last year with both with Tamarillo who is entered in England for this years renewal.

William won the Land Rover Burghley CCI**** last September and is hoping to win a second leg on the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing, a $250,000 purse for winning Burghley, Kentucky and Badminton consecutively, in any order.

Looking every bit the part of contenders, Andrew Hoy's (AUS) pair of Yeoman's Point, eighth here last year, and Master Monarch, who was third at Badminton, in 2005, both made an excellent showing. (Andrew and Master Monarch are pictured at the left above.)

Leslie Law, the reigning Olympic Individual Champion (Athens, 2004) and his Olympic ride, Shear L'Eau looked wonderfully well. Perhaps his move to the United States has suited Shear L'Eau. (Leslie and Shear L'Eau are pictured at the right. Note the Ground Jury to the right of the picture.)

Darren Chiacchia and Windfall II, members of the US Bronze Medal Team at Athens in 2004, as well as Individual Gold Medalists at the Pan American Games, in 2003, were in fine fettle and will do their Dressage after lunch on Friday.

Phillip Dutton (AUS) has been the Leading Foreign three times at Rolex, in the eight years thet the CCI**** has been run, as well as twice a member of the Australian Olympic Gold Medal Team. Connaught and the speedy, good jumping Amazing Odyssey both trotted up with great presence.

In this reporter's opinion Mara Dean, who presented Nicki Henley (Mara and Nicki Henley are pictured at the left.). and Nathalie B. Pollard (Nathalie and West Farthing are pictured at the right below.) are tied on a score of ten for the trot up fashion prize. Both have won their permanent places in the rotogravure!

The Test Ride will be at 9:00 AM on Thursday. The first ride in competition will be at 9:30 AM, on Thursday.

For readers who have already purchased a 2010 calendar, it was official today - the dates of the 2010 World Equestrian Games (The FEI Games) at the Kentucky Horse Park will be September 20th to October 3rd.