United States Eventing Association

Michael Jung (GER) and Fischerrocana FST (Itaugno XX x Rose II) absolutely blazed around Derek di Grazia’s four-star track here at the 2016 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Land Rover. As Jung described yesterday, he came here to win, and he’s well on his way to a second consecutive victory with an incredible twelve-point lead going into show jumping.

Michael Jung and Fischerrocana FST.

In a class of their own, Jung and Brigitte and Joachim Jung’s mare “Rocana” added only 0.8 time penalties to her dressage score and now sits on a 35.20. “I’m absolutely very happy about my mare. She was absolutely fighting and concentrating. When I pushed her at the end she galloped fast and she tried her best,” Jung said.

“The four-star here in Kentucky is early in the season, so not much time to bring her in the best condition, but in the cross-country you need a horse that trusts you and that fights, and I’m very happy about my horse,” he said. Jung will sleep easy knowing he has three rails in hand for Richard Jeffery’s show jumping course.

Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Fugitive.

The last American winner here in Lexington, Phillip Dutton, sits in the second with Fernhill Fugitive (Lux Z x Barnadown Ramiro) and third with Mighty Nice (Ard Ohio x Sarazen), respectively. Tom Tierney and Ann Jones’ Fernhill Fugitive was the first out of the start box this morning and the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse added 4.40 time penalties to their score. Mighty Nice, a 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse owned by the HND group, finished with 4.8 penalties to jump from eleventh to third place.

“I thought all three went well,” Dutton said on finishing all three rides with zero jump penalties. “I was pleased with the way my guys went. I think it was a great learning experience for them, and hopefully they’ll be better for it.”

Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice.

Consistently rainy weather through the day was cause for concern for many of the riders with later starts, and the already difficult time became even harder to make as the day went on. Out of the sixty-four starters today, none went finished within the time.

Dutton, who rode in at the beginning, middle and end of the day was pleased with how the course held up. “Every stride the horses were working harder [because of the muddy footing]. It wasn’t ideal to gallop where other horses have been, so you had to pick and choose [where you ran]. You have to be pretty pleased with the way it held up considering it rained all day,” he said.

Maya Black and Doesn't Play Fair.

Maya Black and Dawn Dofelmier’s Doesn’t Play Fair (Camiros x Oncoeur) hold fourth place going into show jumping after the 11-year-old Holstiener gelding ate up this tricky track. In this pair’s second visit to Rolex Kentucky, Black and “Cody” added only a handful of time penalties for a current score of 49.90.

Black – who claims to be the least experienced of the bunch – has really began to make a name for herself after finishing second in the Carolina International CIC3* and winning The Fork Horse Trials CIC3* earlier this spring. “I’m definitely not as experienced as these people up here,” she joked of her counterparts, Jung, Dutton and Lauren Kieffer.

“I wasn’t concerned about the fences. I was more concerned about getting around safely and doing the best thing for my horse,” she said. “Last year he got more tired, but this year I was really pleased with how he galloped and recovered.”

Seven pairs withdrew before cross-country including Liz Halliday-Sharp’s fourth place ride, Fernhill By Night, and Jessica Phoenix’s tenth place ride, Pavarotti. Five pairs were eliminated and three retired on course. Sixteen out of the fifty-six finishers had cross-country jump penalties, including second place holders going into cross-country Allison Springer and Arthur, who had a heartbreaking refusal at fence 24c, the Park Question.

Show Jumping begins at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow and will run in reverse order of go.

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