Hard to believe, but German superstar Michael Jung fell just short of perfection on the cross-country course at the Defender Kentucky 5-star three-day event Saturday afternoon.
The Olympic multi-gold medalist and the superlative fischerChipmunk FRH finished 2.4 seconds over the 11-minute, 20-second optimum time along the marvelous route that Derek di Grazia designed at the Kentucky Horse Park. They stand on a mere 21 penalties going into Sunday’s show jumping finale.
“It was a bit of hard work,” Michi reported matter-of-factly about his trip, but then, there was no reason for him to rush.
Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk. (Amy Dragoo photo)
The comfortable 7.4 penalty lead he held over the USA’s Boyd Martin on Commando 3 after day two of dressage Friday had expanded to 11.8 penalties, giving him breathing room to knock down two rails and collect a few time penalties, if necessary, in Sunday’s show jumping finale. Under that scenario, he would still win his record fifth Kentucky 5-star, no matter how Boyd fared.
Michi was effusive in praising fisherChipmunk, calling the 17-year-old Hanoverian “an amazing horse,” and who could argue with that?
“He’s super to ride in the dressage, super calm. If you go to the cross-country, he’s full of energy,” said Michi about the son of Contendro I.
“He has very big strides, he’s very honest, he’s very well with me, I really can trust him.”
Michi conceded the horse “felt a bit tired some places” on cross-country, “so I give him a bit of time.”
It wasn’t a big break, but Michi was aware of exactly where he could offer some breathing room.
“I know I was behind the (optimum) time, but he was really, really good galloping to the end of the course,” he commented.
One would be tempted to think that if Michi couldn’t make the time, no one could. But Great Britain’s Harry Meade managed to do it – twice! Harry is third on Et Hop du Matz “who gave me a peach of a ride” that kept him on 34.2 penalties, moving up from seventeenth place after dressage. He is also fourth on Graffenacht, William Fox-Pitt’s former mount, who was eighteenth after dressage but added nothing to her 35.2 penalties as she traveled around the scenic course.
Harry Meade and Graffenacht.
Harry conceded he “doesn’t know her at all” and didn’t have a proper cross-country school on the mare before crossing the Atlantic ocean “so I was coming in here a bit blind. I was actually questioning as to whether I’d run her as of 11:30 this morning. Then I thought I’d just start out and see how she was.”
So how was she?
“She was magic,” he enthused.
He basked in the glow of the day and the way his horses went. The rider offered them an opportunity to slice a few instants here and a few there off their time, even though he wisely made a last-minute decision to take the long way out of the Head of the Lake with Graffenacht. But he couldn’t have asked more from either mount.
“I love these two,” said Harry. He’s the son of the late legendary British team eventer, Richard Meade, who won three Olympic gold medals.
Boyd, whose energy never seems to flag, rode three horses. He is seventh on Federman B (40.2 penalties) and ninth on Luke 140 (44.7) in addition to being second on 32.38 penalties with the 12-year-old Commando 3 (known around the barn as Connor).
Riding three horses on a challenging course is “tiring and nerve wracking,” he said, but he is uplifted by his horses’ efforts.
“I have so much admiration for their heart and desire,” he said.
Boyd and Commando 3 on cross-country.
“I thought it was a tough course, and the ground with all the rain we got yesterday was quite holding and tiring. My first horse, Bruno (Fedeman B) got tired early and I was a bit too cautious on Luke. And then I thought, `I’ve got the young horse last, he’s young and naïve, let’s go for it.’ Connor was fantastic.”
The pressure is ” bloody nerve-wracking, especially when you go in the afternoon. I don’t sleep that well the night before, trying to go through the course and trying to make sure I understand how I want to jump each jump. As you get closer and closer, for me, you’ve sort of got to make a deal with yourself that you’re going to have a crack at it because it’s very easy to talk yourself out of not going for it.
“Leading up to the cross-country, I’m always saying, `What the hell am I doing this for?’ When you’re finished with it, you’re like `Okay, where’s the next one?’ It’s a real feel of satisfaction that you’ve trained your horse to get to this place.”
Boyd Martin with his toddler son, Koa, who wanted to be part of the press conference. (Where did he get his love of attention?)
Boyd has a huge cheering section wherever he goes. His charm and sense of humor have won him lots of fans.
“I love eventing in America,” said Boyd, citing “the best crowds in the world.”
Looking ahead to the final test in the Rolex Arena on Sunday, he cited his luck in having Olympic show jumping team gold medalist Peter Wylde to coach him.
And as far as his trio of equine stars goes, he observed, that they are “all good show jumping horses. I just have got to give them a good ride. Hopfeully, they recover well, get a good night’s sleep and come prancing out of the stall tomorrow.”
Tom McEwan of Great Britain, ranked world number one, was 0.02 penalties behind Boyd after dressage with Brookfield Quality. But 10.4 time penalties have put him fifth with a 36.6 total to this point.
“It his first proper, proper 5-star,” said Tom about his Irishbred horse, explaining an outing to the Pau, France, 5-star last fall was difficult because of the mud and wind that meant the cross-country had to be cut to eight minutes optimum time.
In Kentucky, the horse nicknamed Nervous Norris “tried his heart out; he’s straight as a die. He’s been pretty amazing and for the amount of riding I was doing, I felt like I was a jockey for Willie Mullins,” Tom joked, referring to a top British steeplechase trainer.
Click here for 5-star results
In the 4-star Short that runs concurrently with the 5-star, U.S. team veteran Will Coleman and the very experienced 16-year-old Off the Record kept their lead from dressage with the fastest clocking, just 7.2 time penalties. No horse made the time, but everyone in the top 20 was free of course faults, such as refusals and frangible pin problems.t
When Will walked the course, like the 5-star a Derek di Grazia creation, he knew it would be tough to finish without time faults.
“It was not surprising to me that no one got that close to it,” said Will,
Speaking of his horse, “He gave me everything he could today. He stands on 29 penalties.
Phillip Dutton, who led after day one dressage with Denim, is second with Possante, who also was second after dressage was copleted. He has 33.5 penalties, which gives Will a rail’s worth of breathing room in Sunday’s show jumping. Denim is on 37.2 penalties, keeping his third place ranking.
The second-fastest time belonged to Canada’s Jessica Phoenix, who had just 8 penalties on Freedom G.S. to be fourth.
Click here for 4-star results
In Saturday night’s $400,000 Split Rock Jumping Tour Kentucky International grand prix, first-to-go Kent Farrington issued a challenge none of the others in the nine-horse jump-off could match. The world number two-ranked rider and his ever-improving Greya set an unmatchable mark of 42.930 seconds that forced a few of his rivals to make risky turns that paid off in refusals. Second place went to Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam on James Kann Cruz in 45 seconds, followed by whiz kid Mimi Gochman in 46.060 on Inclen BH.
Kent, a U.S. Olympic medalist who also was the alternate in Paris last year, said of his mare, “She’s incredibly fast, super careful and a fighter. She’s a real winner in her heart and an incredible horse.” He believes that her assets make her “the quintessential modern show jumper.”
The grand prix was a 5-star for the first time at the park.
Click here for grand prix results
