Lexington, Ky.—April 24
The last time Michael Jung went down centerline at Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L in 2022, he set a record low finishing score of 20.1 with his superstar FischerChipmunk FRH. As he’s been known to do, he’s raised the bar once again—by lowering his score to 18.6 to take the lead on Day 1. While it’s not the lowest he’s ever done in a five-star test—that was at last year’s Paris Olympics (17.8) when the German won gold—the Olympic test is condensed for time, so this was his lowest score in the full-length test.
“He is so nice to ride in the dressage,” said Jung, 42. “He’s also [that way] at home. He’s very uncomplicated.
“He looks more calm than he is,” he continued. “He is quite sensitive inside… [it took] a while when I got him to get a good partnership. But if you know him, he’s so, so easy, so relaxed. And on Saturday, you can see how much fun he has to run and to jump. He has a lot of scope. He’s just a super, super talent.”
FischerChipmunk had an unconventional preparation for Kentucky. This is the horse’s first Fédération Equestre Internationale event since winning at the Olympics last year, as Jung opted to do some one-star show jumping in Italy with “Chip” this spring.
“There was nothing really good for me around my place, and we had a really dry spring,” said Jung. “So I just try to prepare him on a few training places, do the gallops at home. And I really trust my horse, so I believe in him, and I think he don’t really need special competitions to prepare. I think he’s ready.”
Two British-based New Zealand riders, Tim Price (Jarillo) and Clarke Johnstone (Menlo Park), are tied on 28.4 for second. Price is also in fourth on his second ride, Happy Boy, on a 29.1, with a third, Falco, to ride tomorrow.
Johnstone was mostly thrilled with “Jacko’s” performance, describing his half-passes and flying changes as highlights. He blamed himself for a mistake in the halt and rein-back.
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“There was a couple of little things that could have been improved, but on the whole Jacko was really rideable and focused,” said Johnstone. “As I always say, the bigger the stadium, the better he goes, and this is about as big as the stadiums get. So yeah, I’m really proud of him. He was a good boy.
“I got a 25 in the Olympics,” he said. “I was sort of hoping to be more like that, but 28 is not too bad—only 10 points behind Michael.”
Johnstone said that the horse is bred to be a jumper and that the dressage doesn’t come naturally to him. He’s been working on getting him in a more uphill frame.
“So that’s been just gradually chipping away at that,” said Johnstone. ”And then with that, you get a bit more expression with the front legs and things like that. He’s always been very reliable in the dressage, but just to get the shape better, to pull in the bigger marks has really been the main focus.”
Jacko may be the most well-traveled horse here in Kentucky. He was born in England, then went to Australia where he was under Tim Bolan’s saddle. He and Johnstone paired up four years ago when Johnstone was based in New Zealand. When Johnstone moved to England, Jacko came along, and now he’s made the trek to the U.S. While it’s his horse’s first time here, Johnstone came to the Kentucky Horse Park once before for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.
Price was thrilled with Jarillo’s performance. He’s had the horse since 2021, having bought the horse from Swedish rider Ludwig Svennerstal.
“He’s a young horse, green horse, so unpredictable, but super talented,” he said. “But, you know, just for him to be focused on me, on the job and there with an element of relaxation, which he was, I was really happy with that, because he can look at things. I stopped here to get the boots off, and way over there is a golf cart, and he’s looking at that. He’s a bit of a skylark, but he went in and really focused. I was happy.
“I didn’t really expect him to go this far,” he continued. “Not that I ever think of a limitation for a horse, but he was just a real modern eventer type, and I thought maybe he’s going to be great up to four-star horse, but he’s proven a bit more to me since then.”
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He was also excited about “Happy’s” performance. That horse won the young horse championships at FEI WBFSH Eventing World Championship for Young Horses (France) as a 7-year-old, and he’s now 13 contesting his first five-star.
“He has a small frame of an unassuming horse, and but everything he’s done, he’s done because I believe in him and he believes in himself,” said Price. “So I’m hoping stepping up a level now we’ll be able to demonstrate the same things to ourselves and and get the job done.”
Boyd Martin is the top ranked U.S. rider, sitting fifth on a 29.8 with Fedarman B, his partner for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Though the pair have done three five-stars before, this is the first time “Bruno,” a 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Eurocommerce Washington—Paulien B, Fedor) has done Kentucky.
“ ‘Bruno’ went really well,” said Martin. “I was pleased with him. He’s a nice, quiet, laid-back horse, and the energy in there was just about right. So it’s one of our better tests. Still a few things to clean up, but all in all, he was a champion in there.”
The Chronicle is on-site at the Kentucky Horse Park with two reporters to bring you everything you need to know at coth.com, so you don’t have to miss a minute of the action. You can find all of our coverage from the week here. You can also follow along on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to read our May 23 issue for more in-depth coverage and analysis of the event.
