The two Australian combinations are through the trot up at Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event and are set to complete their dressage tests on day two of the action.
Tenth down the centreline on Friday will be Rebecca Braitling with 14-year-old British Sporthorse Caravaggio II (Vagnelis-S x Courtesan), owned by Bec in conjunction with Arnell Sporthorses.
Ema Klugman with 13-year-old Zangersheide mare Bronte Beach (Verdi x Dalphine), owned by the Bronte Beach Syndicate, will be just behind them as 13th in the Friday draw.
Equestrian Life wishes Bec and Ema the best of luck!
Record score for Michael Jung on day one of the dressage
Germany’s Michael Jung is no stranger to the top of the scoreboard at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event. While the fact he took the lead after Thursday’s dressage test was not a surprise, his record-breaking score of 18.6 was. The exceptional score garnered by FischerChipmunk FRH broke Jung’s previous CCI5*-L record of 20.1 set at K3DE in 2022 and leaves him well in front of Tim Price (NZL) with Jarillo and Clarke Johnstone (NZL) with Menlo Park, who are tied for second on scores of 28.4. Price is also in fourth place with Happy Boy on a score of 29.1.
“I’m very happy to be here again,” said Jung, a four-time Olympian. “I really love this place, this show; everything is how you wish to have it for a competition. Everything worked like I wished today in the test.”
Jung’s résumé is as good as a rider can get; he has been Olympic and World Champion multiple times and has won the K3DE on four occasions. FischerChipmunk FRH, the 14-year-old bay Hanoverian owned by a consortium including DOKR (the German Olympic Committee), Klaus and Sabine Fischer and the horse’s breeder Dr. Hilmer Meyer-Kulenkampff, is the reigning Olympic champion from the 2024 Paris Games, so it wasn’t surprising to find this pair atop the leaderboard.
“Chipmunk is a horse you dream to have in your stables,” Jung said. “He’s a super talent. He’s great in the dressage — easy and relaxed to ride. On cross-country, he’s super fast with a big stride, and he has a lot of scope in the show jumping.”
Price has three horses in the CCI5*-L, with 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood Jarillo and 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood Happy Boy competing on Thursday. “My two horses are a bit of an unknown quantity at this level, but Happy Boy and Jarillo tried really hard today,” said Price, a three-time Olympian and the world’s #2 ranked rider. “You want them to come and do their best and deliver what they’re capable of doing, and they both did that today.”
He described Jarillo, owned by Lucy Allison, Frances Stead, and James and Rachel Good, as “beautiful, super talented, but sharp and distracted and thinking of other things, though he’s getting better as he gets older. He’s got the world in front of him. It was my job to have him stay focused in the arena today so he could relax and produce the work he could, but I must be with him everywhere and kind of hold his hand.”
In contrast, Happy Boy, owned by Price, Susan Lamb and Therese Miller, seemed to live up to his name. “I’ve had him a bit longer, and we’ve had a lot of fun together,” Price said. “It’s taken a while to get to him to the 5* level; he’s sort of small-framed and unassuming, but in everything he’s done, he’s believed in himself.”
Johnstone and Menlo Park, the 15-year-old British Sport Horse owned by Clarke, Jean, and Rob Johnstone, have been together for four years. “We’ve been to [the World Championship] together and the Paris Olympics,” said Johnstone, a two-time Olympian. “I bought him from a good friend in Australia when I was still living in New Zealand, and we moved together to England. He’s very well-traveled, just a lovely guy, and a friendly, happy horse. He loves traveling and doing things.”
Sitting fifth overall on a score of 29.8, four-time U.S. Olympian and World #10 Boyd Martin currently leads the Defender/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship presented by MARS Equestrian aboard Fedarman B.
One of only seven annual 5* three-day events in the world
Produced by Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI), a non-profit, charitable organisation that supports the development of equestrian sports by staging sporting events at the highest level, the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian features one of only seven annual 5* three-day events in the world. Known as “The Best Weekend All Year,” the event annually attracts nearly 90,000 spectators who also enjoy extensive shopping, a variety of hospitality experiences and a wide array of demonstrations. In addition to the traditional CCI5*-L, the event also features the Cosequin® Lexington 4* and the Kentucky International CSI5* presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.
Source: K3DE press release / edited by Equestrian Life
