Germany's Jung wins third consecutive Kentucky 3-day Event
Xinhua, May 1, 2017 Adjust font size:
Germany's Michael Jung won the Kentucky Three-Day Event for the third year running on the 12-year-old FischerRocana on Sunday.
Jung did have a jumping fence down, but his supremacy in the dressage and cross-country meant he could afford it and is second in the FEI Classics after three out of six legs behind Frenchman Maxime Livio, who finished runner-up at Kentucky on Qalao Des Mers with a clear jumping round.
"She is a really wonderful horse, a top fighting girl," Jung said of his horse. "She jumped wonderfully and was only a bit spooky at the white fence. I really like Kentucky - and not just because I win here - but because I feel very welcome. You can train the horse for every phase and it's why I like it and why I come back."
With one FEI Classics win each, and a second place each, Livio and Jung both have their sights firmly on the 2016/17 series title. Jung will be competing at Badminton next weekend, fourth leg of the series, which could be his opportunity to step up to top the leaderboard.
Both Livio and Zara Tindall, the only British athlete in the field, finished on their dressage scores. Tindall was ecstatic with her third place after a clear round on High Kingdom and it must have laid the ghost of the disappointment two years when she had to withdraw before dressage when the horse suffered a freak injury.
Matthew Brown of the United States slipped from fourth to sixth after hitting the very first rail with BCF Super Socks, so it was Phillip Dutton, who has now completed Kentucky an amazing 40 times, who captured yet another national title as highest placed American rider, as he moved up to fourth with a clear round on the 18-year-old Mr Medicott, a horse having his last four-star run after an illustrious career.
A record number of spectators watched the 4-star Eventing action this year at Kentucky, with 34,000 attending cross country and 24,000 at the jumping finale. Endit