Sun, 01 May 2022
Yasmin Ingham (24) from the Isle of Man has scored a second place finish in the 5* Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event.
Ingham’s campaign, riding Banzai Du Loir, culminated in a flawless show jumping phase with obstacles towering at 1.3m. In front of the 22,000 strong crowd, she was one of only ten riders to jump a clear round.
The event started with a Dressage Score of 28.1 putting her in fourth place at the end of the first day of competition.
Day two drew almost 36,000 visitors to the Kentucky Horse Park for the most demanding part of the competition – the Cross Country.
This year the 6308 metre course was particularly testing with eleven riders failing to complete the 45 jumping efforts. Ingham however put in a solid performance from start to finish, coming home just 7 seconds over the optimum time. This cemented her a third place in the overnight standings.
But the campaign was by no means over, as before the pairing could tackle the show jumping course, Banzai would have to pass the veterinary inspection known in the US as “the jog”.
With Banzai passed fit at 7.30am, it was a tense wait for the Manx 24 year old as her start time was not until 3.45pm.
With two hours to go, the riders had their first look at the obstacles when they were allowed to walk the course. Ingham and her mentor, British Team Performance Coach Chris Bartle, studied the fences and watched the first few riders through. Of the first ten riders, only two went clear, making this appear a tricky course.
Yasmin Ingham performed what she described as “the round of my life” as she treated the crowds to a clear round and finished just 2 seconds over the optimum time. Her finishing score was 31.7, 6.7 penalties clear of third place Doug Payne (USA). Payne was crowned United States National Champion.
The event was won by Germany’s Michael Jung who racked up his fourth Kentucky win and eleventh 5* victory.