Andrew & Nereo jumping at WEG in Kentucky (photo by me)
Andrew Nicholson must be mad that we’ve dubbed Michael Jung “Ze Terminator”, because it seems that he is making a bid to become The New Zealand Terminator. He wins your 2012 Pau CCI4* on his Olympic mount Nereo in what appears to be a wonderfully successful redemption from the 10 minute delay in London that may or may not have cost him an individual Olympic medal.
After cross country yesterday claimed so many victims (only 22 of 60 starters finished clear and 28 starters failed to complete the course) I was certainly surprised to see so many fresh looking horses in the show jumping. The course was absolutely riddled with related distances, requiring adjustability, attention and tidiness from the horses and riders. The arena was also quite spooky and some horses were less than perfectly straight down their lines, especially over the “water table” (aka, liverpool), which was directly next to the crowd and caused some funky crooked jumps.
Gemma Tattersall and King’s Gem (bred by Mary King) was the first and only one to jump clear within the time until Andrew Nicholson, who was the first and only rider to finish on his dressage score. He really put the pressure on Michael Jung, who unfortunately had one rail down at the tricky FEI vertical, to drop to third place with his Luhmuhlen winner Leopin FST. Jock Paget also had one unlucky rail down, which cost him the win and dropped him to 2nd place.
The cups must have been quite deep however, because there were quite a few pairs that were show jumping by braille and feeling their way around. The only jump that seemed to be a bit unlucky was the back rail on the final oxer in the triple combination, which appeared spring loaded. The time was also a bit tricky to make, and those who went for the safe ride were given penalties for that. A handful of riders jumped clear but still had time penalties.
Unfortunately for Colleen, Luke seemed to be a little too fit and full of opinions, and she took down three rails, as well as having 4 time penalties for a total of 18 penalties to drop three places to 28th 27th overall. We all know Luke is a phenomenal jumper, but today was simply not his day.
Chilli Morning looked very fresh, and managed to jump WFP out of the tack a few times. Now that I’ve seen him go, I understand a bit better why Mary King said that the horse was more suited for a man to ride. Any horse that can manage to look that strong with William aboard is certainly not an easy ride! He finished with a clear round but one time penalty. William also managed to have no time penalties on his other ride, Bay My Hero, but had one rail down to drop behind Chilli Morning.
My favorite horse of the day was Caroline Powell’s Onwards and Upwards, who was truly a class act in his first four star competition. What an amazing jumper! He made it all seem unbelievably easy, along with going clear inside the time yesterday on the cross country. At only 9 years of age, this horse really has an amazing future.
For the CIC2*, Michael Jung was finally defeated, this time by Chris Burton on Graf Liberty, who held a .3 lead over Michael and Fischerrocana FST. American Julian Stiller had one rail down to hold her 9th place finish on Enjoy Me.
