Michael Jung (GER), who in 2012 became the first Eventing athlete to hold the European, world and Olympic titles simultaneously after scoring individual and team gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, has jumped to the top of the FEI World Eventing Rankings for the first time in his career.
William Fox-Pitt (GBR), the multiple Olympic, World and European medallist who has held the world number one slot for the past 12 months, has now dropped to second.
Jung (32), who was third in last month’s rankings, now has a 58-point lead over Fox-Pitt, with Jonelle Price (NZL) dropping down one place to third but holding on as highest placed female athlete in the world Eventing rankings.
Jung started riding aged six and came to prominence after making his international début in 2009 when he won the Luhmühlen CCI4* on home-turf in Germany, the FEI World Cup™ Eventing final in Strzegom (POL) and an individual European bronze medal in Fontainebleau (FRA).
Michael Jung (GER), pictured at the London 2012 Olympic Games where he became the first Eventing athlete to hold the European, world and Olympic titles simultaneously after scoring individual and team gold, has jumped to the top of the FEI World Eventing Rankings. (Pierre Costabadie/FEI)
These successes all came with La Biosthetique Sam FBW, the horse that Jung rode to individual gold at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky (USA) in 2010 and double gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Jung was also part of Germany’s golden team at last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Normandy (FRA), where he finished second behind his compatriot Sandra Auffarth in the individual rankings.
Last weekend, Jung won leg three of the FEI Classics™ series at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day event (USA) with the mare FisherRocana FST and also finished third on La Biosthetique Sam FBW. He now leads the standings of this prestigious series which links the world’s four-star events.
European Championships in sight
Jung has also claimed team and individual gold at the last two FEI European Championships (2011 and 2013) and will be looking to defend his title at the Longines FEI European Eventing Championships 2015 at Blair Castle in the Scottish Highlands on 10-13 September
The phenomenal Michael Jung (GER) can now add victory at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (USA), third leg of the FEI Classics™ 2014/2015, to his ever growing list of major accolades. Riding the courageous little mare FisherRocana FST, he was the only rider to finish on his Dressage score.
The competition went right to the wire in front of a packed crowd enjoying some welcome sunshine in the Kentucky Horse Park. Although Jung hit two fences on La Biosthetique Sam FBW, his Cross Country runner-up, his earlier clear round on Rocana, third at that stage, left overnight leader Tim Price (NZL) on Wesko no leeway for error.
Wesko, a horse Price found in a Jumping yard, looked superb, but the Dutch-bred gelding just caught the upright at fence 10 and so Price had to settle for second place behind Jung and Rocana in a reversal of their placings at Luhmühlen (GER) last year.
Olympic, World and European champion Michael Jung riding La Biosthetique Sam for Team Germany, winners of the FEI Nations Cup™ Eventing 2012 and 2014. The combination is pictured here at Strzegom (POL) in 2014. (Leszek Wójcik/FEI)
Jung also finished third on Sam, ahead of last year’s winners William Fox-Pitt (GBR) and Bay My Hero, fourth, who jumped clear to rousing applause.
Phillip Dutton (USA) had to withdraw Mighty Nice, seventh after Cross Country, but a clear on Fernhill Cubalawn elevated him four places to fifth. Dutton was also ninth on Fernhill Fugitive.
His former pupil Boyd Martin (USA) was seventh on Master Frisky, having dropped a place with eight faults, and Britain’s Nicola Wilson on the Irish-bred mare Annie Clover moved up three places to eighth with a penalty-free round.
The sole Australian in the field, Bill Levett, slipped five places to 10th on Improvise with an unfortunate 12 faults. There were nine clear rounds from the 40 finishers.
Jung received a great reception from the American audience who clearly realised they had seen a great horseman at work. “I have nice memories of Kentucky from 2010 [when he won the world title]. The people are very friendly and I’m happy that there are so many spectators. Thank you for everything!”
Michael Jung (GER) and FisherRocana FST finish on their Dressage score to win the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (USA), third leg of the FEI Classics™ 2014/2015. (Anthony Trollope/FEI)
About the winner
Michael Jung (GER), 32, was the first rider in history to hold Olympic, World and European titles simultaneously and the first to win four championship titles consecutively. He first came to prominence in 2009, when he won the Luhmühlen CCI4*, the FEI World Cup™ Eventing final in Strzegom (POL) and an individual European bronze medal in Fontainebleau (FRA), all on La Biosthetique Sam FBW. The pair went on to win the world title in Kentucky (USA) in 2010, double European gold in Luhmühlen in 2011 and double Olympic gold in London (GBR) in 2012 and, in 2013, they were second at Badminton CCI4*. Jung won a second European title, at Malmö (SWE) in 2013 on Halunke, and last year finished second at Luhmühlen and won world team gold and individual silver medals on FisherRocana FST, a 10-year-old mare by Ituango XX owned by Jung’s parents, Joachim and Bridgitte. He lives at Horb, Germany, where his family owns a riding establishment.
The scene is set for a gripping finale to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (USA), third leg of the FEI Classics™ 2014/2015, after New Zealander Tim Price just managed to hold off the challenge of his joint Dressage leader Michael Jung (GER) by a mere 0.4 of a penalty after a challenging day of Cross Country.
Price’s round on Wesko was a masterpiece of accuracy and fluency, but he was held on course for about nine minutes while a fence was repaired. Although he had to stand around getting soaked in the pouring rain, the delay ultimately played to his advantage as he finished four seconds inside the optimum time of 11 minutes 6 seconds with a fresh horse that is known to shine in the Jumping stadium.
Jung’s Cross Country riding on his old friend La Biosthetique Sam FBW, the horse that gave him European, World and Olympic titles, was breath-taking for its boldness and commitment. He finished just one second over time, but, so harmonious is this partnership, it’s hard to see where he could have saved it.
The 32-year-old German is also in third place, within a Jumping fence of the leader, on his first horse, FisherRocana FST, having finished free of time penalties when the ground was at its best at the start of the day.
Ali Wolff and Casall produced the only double-clear of the competition to help clinch victory, and a qualifying spot at the Furusiyya 2015 Final, for Team USA at the third leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2015 series at Coapexpan, Mexico. (FEI/Anwar Esquivel)
“I think the hold was a benefit because with a horse like mine you can just pick up and go. He jumped really well and dug deep when required,” said a delighted Price. “I couldn’t be happier with the horse. After last year in Normandy [at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™] when we didn’t finish the course, it’s nice to come here and get this one under our belt.”
Jung, returning to Kentucky for the first time since winning the world title in 2010, was visibly elated to have the 15-year-old Sam back in action after a layoff in the second half of last season. “I feel so safe on him,” he said.
“He was wonderful and gave me such a good feeling, still galloping very well at the end. The ground was wet but not too deep because the course had been prepared so well.”
With major thunderstorms expected, Cross Country was brought forward and horses run at three-minute intervals in an attempt to beat the weather. It still rained very heavily, though, and four of the six riders to achieve the optimum time went in the earlier part of the day.
William Fox-Pitt (GBR) predicted that his 2014 winner Bay My Hero, which is not full Thoroughbred, might struggle with the time if the ground became wet. They had a beautiful round, with Fox-Pitt masterfully finding the best going for his horse, but their 8.4 penalties has dropped them a place to fourth.
A determined Bill Levett (AUS) bucked the trend when he ran near the end of the day on Improvise and, despite a couple of erratic moments early on, managed to finish within the time to rise 14 places to fifth.
Old friends Boyd Martin (USA), on CCI4* first-timer Master Frisky, and Phillip Dutton (USA), riding Mighty Nice, brought the day to a stirring finish with two fantastic rounds and they are now in sixth and seventh places. Dutton is also ninth on Fernhill Cubalawn.
Will Coleman (USA), riding Obos O’Reilly, leapt from 31st to eighth with a clean sheet and earned himself the use of a Land Rover for a year as the American rider finishing nearest the optimum time.
Colleen Rutledge (USA) gave a brilliant display of pathfinding on her experienced horse Shiraz, rising from equal 49th after Dressage to 14th. Later on, she rode an equally proficient round on her home-bred Covert Rights, dropping from fifth to 10th place with 12 time penalties.
There were 46 finishers from the 71 Cross Country starters; they produced 33 clear rounds and some brave displays of riding in the testing conditions.
Tim Price (NZL) and Wesko, who just hold the advantage after a thrilling Cross Country day at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (USA), third leg of FEI Classics™ 2014/2015. (Anthony Trollope/FEI)
Kentucky first-timer Elisa Wallace, who has risen 10 places to 12th on Simply Priceless, was particularly impressive. “I knew I would have to ride my butt off at my first four-star, but I felt my horse and I were a good team and attacking the course,” she said. “We eventers don’t melt! We have to ride in the rain and suck it up.”
Five of the top 10 after Dressage departed from the scoreboard. Mackenna Shea (USA), sixth, had a fall with Landioso at the double of corners (fence 21) and Laine Ashker (USA), seventh, had a refusal with Anthony Patch at the angled brush at Fence 9b.
Lauren Kieffer (USA), eighth, retired Veronica after a glance-off in the Head of the Lake and Marilyn Little (USA), ninth, retired after an early stop at fence 5 on RF Demeter. Jessica Pheonix (CAN) withdrew LLC Pavarotti.
Will Faudree (USA), who is in 20th place on Andromaque, hit the open corners at fence 21 and became the first CCI4* rider to incur 11 penalties for breaking a frangible pin under the new rule.
Britain’s Francis Whittington (GBR), currently 16th, was lucky to avoid the same fate when Easy Target slid across the corner at the Land Rover Hollow and comprehensively demolished it. Fortunately for his score, it was not a pinned fence; the pair continued quite unscathed and the fence-repair team did an admirable job to rebuild it so quickly.
Course Designer Derek di Grazia should be pleased with his day’s work; his track earned plenty of plaudits, exerted the right influence and produced a great day for the sport, despite the awful weather. Now, though, all thoughts turn to the final Jumping phase and the intriguing question of whether Tim Price can continue to hold off the phenomenal Michael Jung.
Michael Jung (GER) is returning to the scene of his first championship victory when he contests the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (USA) this weekend (23-26 April), third leg of the FEI Classics™ 2014/2015.
In 2010, Jung, the reigning Olympic and European champion, began a record four-year run of individual gold medals when he took the world title at Kentucky on La Biosthetique Sam FBW.
Five years later and firmly established in the world’s eyes as the consummate horseman, Jung will again be thrilling American and global Eventing fans, as he is tackling the CCI4* for the first time with Sam, now a 15-year-old, plus FisherRocana FST, the game 10-year-old on which he won world team gold and individual silver medals last year.
Another former world champion is making an eagerly anticipated Kentucky debut. Zara Phillips (GBR), who won the world title in 2006 at Aachen (GER), is bringing High Kingdom, her Olympic and world team silver medallist, for a first crack at the USA’s premier event.
One rider who knows every inch of the Kentucky Horse Park is Phillips’s team mate, William Fox-Pitt (GBR). The world number one has been victorious here three times, in 2010 (on Cool Mountain), in 2012 (on Parkland Hawk) and in 2014 on Bay My Hero, his ride this year.
The 12-year-old by Cult Hero is a lovely stamp of horse; the gelding was also fourth at Burghley (GBR) last year, a result that helped Fox-Pitt secure his third FEI Classics™ win.
World Eventing number one William Fox-Pitt (GBR), who won the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event 2014 on My Bay Hero, is now ready to challenge the field of almost 80 riders on the same ride at this third leg of FEI Classics™ 2014/2015. (StockImageServices.com/FEI)
Kentucky is a popular destination for New Zealand riders as well, but the country’s representative this time is a new face, Tim Price, who scored his first CCI4* win last year, at Luhmühlen CCI4* on the Dutch-bred Wesko.
Phillip Dutton (USA), the last American rider to win Kentucky, in 2008 on Connaught, heads a particularly strong home side. He and his compatriot Buck Davidson (USA) have three rides apiece; Dutton’s trio is Mighty Nice, Fernhill Cubalawn and Fernhill Fugitive and Davidson has The Apprentice, Petite Flower and Ballynoe Castle RM.
The 2015 running sees one of the strongest line-up for years – nearly 80 riders representing nine nations – and a thrilling competition should be assured from the moment the first combination, Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz, steps into the Dressage arena on Thursday morning.
New Zealander Jock Paget is top of a closely bunched group of riders after the Dressage phase at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR), the climax of the FEI Classics™ 2013/2014.
Paget and Clifton Promise earned the excellent score of 38.8 for a fluent, well-executed performance but only two penalties covers the top six riders, four of whom are Antipodeans, and the atmosphere is one of excited anticipation ahead of tomorrow’s Cross Country test.
“He was sensational,” said Paget appreciatively of the 16-year-old New Zealand thoroughbred Clifton Promise. “He is so professional, this horse, and he knows his job so well. He gave me everything, like he always does.”
The pair were third after Dressage at last week’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2014 in Normandy, but after they had an early run-out on the Cross Country, Paget made the swift decision to pull up and re-route to Burghley because his team had already been eliminated.
FEI Classics™ leader William Fox-Pitt, a team silver and individual bronze medallist last week, was the only other rider to break the 40-penalty barrier and is in second place on 39.5 on his Kentucky winner, Bay My Hero.
Fox-Pitt’s main worry had been how to contain the exuberant bay gelding who stood on his hind legs at the first horse inspection and is, according to his rider, “good at getting loose”.
Fox-Pitt was quick to credit the team at home – where his wife, Alice, is due to give birth to their fourth child at any moment – and also British team trainer Tracie Robinson. “He’s gone from a score of 44 in Kentucky into the 30s – it’s great to break the 40 barrier. He hasn’t met an atmosphere like this too many times, but he’s a bit of a show-off.”
Badminton winner Sam Griffiths (AUS), the first-day Dressage leader, was pleasantly surprised to be still so near the head of affairs. He is in third place with a score of 40.2 on Happy Times, a horse he has ridden since a five-year-old and one of the most consistent CCI4* horses of all time.
Griffiths’ compatriot Andrew Hoy (AUS), a former dual winner of Burghley (in 1979 and 2004), is fifth on Burghley debutant Rutherglen, just 0.3 behind the defending champions Andrew Nicholson (NZL) and Avebury.
The crowd-pleasing grey, the only horse ever to win Burghley back-to-back, was awarded 40.5 from judges Angela Tucker (GBR, President), Christian Landolt (SUI) and Ernst Topp (GER). He looked in perfect balance and outline, gaining a nine from Landolt for the extended canter and only losing marks for the final flying changes.
“He is a special horse, part of the family,” said a delighted Nicholson. “He knows where he is and that he’s not just here for a look around. It’s a lovely arena here; the crowd are far away enough not to be cramped but near enough to create atmosphere.”
A field of 64 will tackle Capt. Mark Phillips’s Cross Country tomorrow, after one horse – Shane Rose’s (AUS) CP Qualified –failed the first horse inspection.
At first glance, the track appears to look very like last year’s but, says Nicholson, the changes are subtle. “There are enough new lines to make a difference. The going is superb but you will need more finesse than last year. You’ve got to ride positively, but remember that some of the lines are tighter.”
Fox-Pitt agreed that the Course Designer has been clever. “I’m very happy not to have to come off that horrible step at the Leaf Pit this time, but the middle part of the course – the Trout Hatchery, Maltings and Dairy Mound – are intense and will take some riding.”
Riders predict that the optimum time will be achievable because the footing is superb although, said Paget: “You can never respect Burghley cross-country enough. The time is tight, there are plenty of hills and the jumps are big, so there is plenty to deal with. You just have to get your head in the right place and focus on every fence as you jump it, and then hopefully you have a good day.”
Jock Paget (NZL) and Clifton Promise produce a superb test to take the lead after Dressage at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials. (Trevor Holt/FEI)
Results after Dressage
1. Jock Paget/Clifton Promise (NZL) 38.8
2. William Fox-Pitt/Bay My Hero (GBR) 39.5
3. Sam Griffiths/Happy Times (AUS) 40.2
4. Andrew Nicholson/Avebury (NZL) 40.5
5. Andrew Hoy/Rutherglen (AUS) 40.8
6. Alison Springer/Arthur (USA) 41.2
7. Aoife Clarke/Vaguely North (IRL) 44.7
8. Piggy French/Westwood Mariner (GBR) 45.8
9. Karin Donckers/Lamicell Unique (BEL) 46.3
10. Marilyn Little/RF Demeter (USA) 47.5
FEI Classics™ 2013/2014 Leaderboard (after 5 of 6 events)
1. William Fox-Pitt (GBR) 30 points
2. Oliver Townend (GBR) 20
3. Tim Price (NZL) 19
4. Sam Griffiths (AUS) 15
5. Christopher Burton (AUS) 15
6. Phillip Dutton (USA) 15
7. Maxime Livio (FRA) 12
8. Lauren Kieffer (USA) 12
9. Michael Jung (GER) 12
10. Sonja Johnson (AUS) 12
FEI Classics™ 2013/2014 calendar
1 Les Etoiles de Pau CCI 4* (FRA) – 23-27 October 2013
2 Australian International 3 Day Event (AUS) – 14-17 November 2013
3 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (USA) – 23-27 April 2014
4 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR) – 8-11 May 2014
5 Luhmühlen CCI 4* presented by DHL Paket (GER) – 12-15 June 2014
6 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR) – 4-7 September 2014
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