Michael Jung has won the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event for the third year running, with a delighted Zara Tindall taking third place.
Making history
Michael is the first rider in the event’s 39-year history to achieve three back-to-back wins. The German rider had one pole down in the final phase, but his dressage score of 37.1 penalties was enough for him to maintain his lead. Riding the 12-year-old FischerRocana, Michael also incurred 1.2 time penalties on the cross-country, to finish on a winning score of 42.7 penalties.
“She is a really wonderful horse, a top fighting girl,” said Michael. “She jumped wonderfully and was only a bit spooky at the white fence.”
Thrilled
Zara (pictured above) was thrilled to take third place with High Kingdom, after she finished on her dressage score of 46.6 penalties. She was the only Brit competing in Kentucky and one of four riders to produce a clear round in the showjumping.
France’s Maxime Livio also finished on his dressage score of 44.6 penalties to take the runner-up spot on Qalao des Mers.
Matthew Brown (USA) slipped from fourth to sixth after hitting the first rail with BCF Super Socks. This meant Phillip Dutton moved up to fourth with a clear round on the 18-year-old Mr Medicot, who was competing in his last four-star. Phillip has now completed Kentucky an amazing 40 times and he took yet another national title as the highest placed US rider.
All the action
This was Michael’s 10th four-star win. William Fox-Pitt currently holds the record with 14 titles, but the 34-year-old Olympic, European and World champion looks to be catching him up. Just hours after winning on American soil, Michael was on a flight to England to defend his Badminton title this weekend.
You can catch all the action from Kentucky and Badminton right here on H&C, as part of the FEI Classics series. FEI Classics: Kentucky premieres on 10 May at 9pm on Sky 253, while FEI Classics: Badminton is on Wednesday 17 May. If you don’t have Sky you can watch online by subscribing to H&C Play.