Lexington, Ky.—April 26
At the end of an eventful cross-country day in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L, only the top two riders retained their dressage placings. German Olympian and dressage leader Michael Jung proved once again just how good he is, adding just 2.4 time penalties with FischerChipmunk FRH to sit on a score of 21.0.
“He’s very honest with me,” said Jung of the 17-year-old Hanoverian (Contendro I—Havanna, Heraldik). “I really can trust him. I still get better and better with him together, [we’re] still learning, but I think we have a great partnership, and that’s very important for the cross-country. He felt a bit tired on some places, so I give him some time, and I knew I was behind the time, but he was really, really good galloping to the end of the course.”
Despite the handful of penalties, Jung was the third fastest of the day, and he widened his lead over second-placed U.S. Olympian Boyd Martin and Commando 3, who accumulated 6.8 time penalties for a total score of 32.8. After dressage, Jung had a record lead of 7.4 penalties ahead of Martin, but now he’s increased it to 11.8 penalties—giving him a comfortable two rail and 3.8 time penalty lead ahead of show jumping.
The previous record for largest lead after cross-country in a five-star was held by Olivia Barton and Hollyander HG, who had 10.1 penalties in hand at the Adelaide CCI5*-L (Australia) last year. (They ultimately finished second).
“It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden such a tough course, but I really believe in my horse,” said Jung, who last competed in a five-star in 2022, when he won Kentucky. “I know he’s a good runner and has so much scope. He’s 17 now and he’s very experienced, so I’m very, very lucky to have him. The ground was a bit softer than I thought but still very [good] by the jumps, so nothing really bad. I’m very happy so far. He was really fighting and [galloping well].”
If he were to win tomorrow, Jung would be the only rider to win the Kentucky five-star five times, but he said breaking records isn’t something he thinks about.
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“I’m not really thinking about the record,” said Jung, 42. “I’m more thinking about the competition, and I was really happy how I went through the course. It was not the focus to keep the points and the time because of the record. I just want to have a good round, and I’m really happy also with a few penalties of the time. And fingers crossed for tomorrow.”
Martin and Commando 3 are in the lead for the USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship. He had the fourth quickest round of the day with “Conner,” despite taking the long route at the famed Head of the Lake, a decision he made after riding his first horse, Fedarman B, knowing that the ground was going to get chopped up with more rides.
Martin is the only U.S. rider to sit within the top 10, a feat he achieved with all three of his rides. Fedarman B moved up to 7th with 10.4 time penalties and Luke 140 now sits ninth.
“I had a good, strong day,” said Martin. “And Bruno [Fedarman B] was good. I was very pleased they took his 15-penalty [for missing a flag] off. … He got a little bit tired around the course. And then I was probably a little bit cautious on Luke. And then I thought, ‘Come on, Boyd-y, toughen up a bit and, you know, go pretty quick on Conner.’ ”
While Martin said riding so many gave him plenty of information on how the ground was holding up after the rain yesterday, there wasn’t a ton he could take from horse to horse.
“They’re three very different horses,” he said. “They’ve got a different length of stride that it’s three individuals. I think you’re very, very nervous on the first horse, and then after you get more tired, you stop getting nervous. It’s important to sort of stay positive and stay focused as the day goes on.”
Only British rider Harry Meade made the time over Derek di Grazia’s cross-country course—and he did so with both of his mounts. Et Hop Du Matz and Grafennacht, who were 17th and 18th after dressage, leapfrogged up the leaderboard and now sit third and fourth.
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“I guess I was confident they were fit, and I thought I’d just get out there and see how they felt,” he said. “The first horse [Et Hop Du Matz] I know really well. I’ve always felt he’d been really good with spongey course, and I hope to be a really good five-star horse. And he was great, very adjustable. He’s got a long stride; he can even be shortened with just as well.”
While Meade knows “Hoppy” well, his partnership with “Lillie” is still quite new. The mare was brought up by British eventing legend William Fox-Pitt, and when he retired from competing at the five-star level last year at Badminton (England), Meade got the ride. He spent the fall into this spring getting to know Lillie. They went to Montelibretti CCI4*-L (Italy) in March, and when Lillie won by a margin of 23.9 penalties, he decided to enter her in Kentucky.
After an underwhelming dressage yesterday (35.2), in their first experience in atmosphere together, Meade admitted that midday today he wasn’t sure whether he would run her cross-country, before deciding to set out and see how she handled it.
“I thought I just had to just learn as much as I could about her on the way around,” he said. “And was one thing I knew was she doesn’t like getting close to a fence, and actually, I wanted to keep her standing off fences and give the fences space. But she was really cool.”
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.
