Michael Jung set a new Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event dressage record this afternoon when he powered into the lead with a score of 18.6 on his Olympic champion FischerChipmunk FRH.
The 17-year-old bay, owned by Michael’s father Joachim, the German Olympic committee for equestrian sport and Klaus and Sabine Fischer, put in a flawless, expressive test, demonstrating how established and secure he is in his work. He earned six 10s, five of them from ground jury president Christian Steiner of Austria and one from Canada’s Peter Gray.
This is Chipmunk’s first competition since his individual gold in Paris last summer.
“We didn’t have such good competitions around my place, so I needed to think about a different preparation,” said Michael. “I went to a few training places to prepare him and I absolutely trust him. We have a great partnership. We have done so many competitions. I think he’s in a really great shape.
“He had a longer break after Paris and I started with more training in February to build up the endurance, the muscles and try to get him ready.”
With his test today, Michael Jung beat his previous Kentucky Three-Day Event dressage score, from 2022, by 1.5 marks. Asked why he chose to return to Kentucky, Michael said: “Because I really love this place and if I have the chance and opportunity, I try to take it.
“I’m just thankful to have this good horse. He’s so nice to ride and it’s a big thank you to my owners, the Fisher Group as without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
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Michael took over the ride on Chipmunk from fellow German team rider Julia Krajewski in 2019, after she produced the son of Contendro I to championship level.
“He’s very uncomplicated if you know him, but looks more calm than he is – he is quite sensitive inside,” he said. “It took a while to get a good partnership. But if you know him, he’s so, so easy, so relaxed. He’s a super talent in all three phases.”
Michael commented that Derek di Grazia’s Kentucky cross-country course is twistier than some previous iterations of the track.
He explained: “FischerChipmunk is a big horse with big strides, so for sure it’s better for him to gallop more straight. I’ve walked the course twice and it’s very important to find a good line through the turns so that you need not slow down too much, so that you can keep the rhythm and not lose too much time.
“You need a very trustful rhythm – you cannot make everything 100% safe because then you are too slow. So you need to trust your horse and try to have good rhythm and take a little bit of risk and gallop.”
Two New Zealand rider share second place at this early stage, with Tim Price (Jarillo) and Clarke Johnstone (Menlo Park) both scoring 28.4.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.
