Kentucky cross-country juggles scoreboard – but Michael Jung increases his leading margin

Michael Jung holds a commanding lead after the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event cross-country, sitting 11.8 penalties ahead of his nearest challenger.

The German rider put in the third fastest round of the day, with 2.4 time-faults, on FischerChipmunk FRH. Home side rider Boyd Martin (Commando 3) retains second place, with Britain’s Harry Meade in third and fourth after the only two clears inside the time over Derek di Grazia’s track.

“It was a great feeling. It’s a long time since I rode such a tough course, but I really believe in and trust my horse,” said Michael, who hasn’t competed at five-star since he and Chipmunk – who belongs to Michael’s father Joachim, the German Olympic committee for equestrian sport and Klaus and Sabine Fischer – won here in 2022.

“I know he’s a good runner, and he has so much scope. He’s 17 now, he’s very experienced, so I’m very, very lucky to have him.

“The ground was a bit softer that I expected, but still good at the jumps, it wasn’t bad. A few distances were longer than I thought, which might be partly to do with the ground.”

Michael Jung took one planned long route on the Kentucky Three-Day Event cross-country course, through the triple bar arrowheads out of at Pete’s Hollow at fence 14abc

“I thought there maybe the horses needed a breather after the big hill – that’s the highest point of the cross- country and I want to give him a more simple jump there,” he said.

Boyd Martin: ‘He’s a gutsy horse’

Boyd Martin added 6.8 time-faults on Yankee Creek Ranch, LLC’s Commando 3, which allowed him to keep his second place, but means Michael has an increased margin for error in the showjumping.

“He’s young and green and you just don’t know if they are true five-star horses until you arrive,” said Boyd. “I fell off him early at Maryland last year, but I was a bit rickety after falling off earlier that day, so I didn’t really worry about that too much.

“He felt very, very strong in his last run at Stable View four-star short, and I just thought we’d give it a crack.

“He really worked hard to get inside every every flag for me, even though he’s green and a bit unorganised sometimes, but he’s a gutsy horse.”

Boyd rode three horses and said the ground was a little more chopped up on the turns and heavier by the time he went on out on Commando 3.

Boyd’s 10.4 time-faults on the Annie Goodwin Syndicate’s Fedarman B mean he has moved up from 11th to seventh, while his 16.8 time-penalties on the syndicate-owned Luke 140 slipped him from sixth to ninth.

Britain’s Tom McEwen now holds fifth, after 10.4 time-faults on Brookfield Quality – owned by John and Chloe Perry and Alison Swinburn – who was third after dressage.

Jarillo best of Price’s three

New Zealand’s Tim Price had a slightly disappointing day after having three horses in the top 10 after dressage. He has moved up from equal seventh to sixth on Lucy Allison, Frances Stead, James and Rachel Good’s Jarillo, but didn’t manage jumping clears on either of his other rides.

“Jarillo was really good – he’s a wee, honest little horse with so much ability to dig himself out of a few green moments and that’s exactly what he did. And I thought he actually stayed in terms of stamina better than Pau. It’ll set him up for the future,” said Tim.

Happy Boy – owned by Susan Lamb, Therese Miller and Tim – broke a frangible at fence three and then had a couple of run-outs in what Tim described as an “educational round”. The pair were also stopped on course – in the middle of the Cosequin Cove water – because officials thought the horse had blood in his mouth, but were allowed to continue once the horse had been checked and it was clear there was no blood.

Tim had the opportunity to make a real impact on the leaderboard on final ride Falco, owned by his rider and Sue Benson, but the pair ended up bit far off the first arrowhead out of the Cosequin Cove (fence 22abc) and so the two strides before the final element became long, the horse chipped in a third, ran out of space and refused.

The rider said: “Falco was just superb everywhere and was up on the time, and everything was a joy. But unfortunately, at the Cosequin Cove, he just went a bit lower with his belly over the first and he’s such a deliberate jumper, such a careful horse. He’s not like an old-fashioned eventer that would just step over no matter what. It just put us on a bit of a half distance, and he just put in a little stop.”

Derek di Grazia’s course rode very well and proved influential – there were 16 jumping clears from 33 starters and no serious injuries to horses or riders.

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