Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
As is our wont on Friday at Aachen, we save the editorial heavy lifting for the dressage report – which you can read here – and let the showjumping one a scant few hours later just serve as an update, because there are only so many functional brain cells left by the time you’ve been reporting on and shooting an event for seventeen hours straight. But today, we’ve got a stonker of a little update to bring you, and one that changes the shape of the entire competition: after jumping a faultless clear showjumping round in the main stadium this evening, two-phase leaders Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH have withdrawn from the remainder of the competition, and will not run cross-country tomorrow morning in a bid to save the gelding’s best for Paris. Shock! Horror! Julia Krajewski now leading with her LA Olympics horse (maybe; probably) Nickel 21, which is actually very nice!
Julia Krajewski and Nickel 21. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The showjumping today proved typically tough, not just because of the big atmosphere even when the stands are only sparsely filled, and not even just because of the tough course design – it’s also a tricky phase here because this arena is so colossal that it’s remarkably easy to end up going hacking and picking up a helping of time faults in the process. But none of that for Julia, who goes into tomorrow’s cross-country in the top spot despite a heavy rub on fence three, nor for Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S, who are now second place overnight, up from equal third. Their partners in that equal third first-phase spot, Emily King and Valmy Biats, were also foot-perfect and will now sit third.
In fact, all the new top ten added neither time nor poles, just one of which could send a combination tumbling down ten or more places on the leaderboard. Laura Collett and Dacapo step up from seventh to fourth; Tim Price and Jarillo move from sixth to fifth; Sandra Auffarth and Viamant du Matz, who won here in 2022, move up two spots from eighth to sixth. Swiss five-star champions Felix Vogg and Colero, who rounded out our top ten after dressage, are now seventh, closely followed by Germany’s Calvin Böckmann and The Phantom of the Opera, who we all became enormous fans of at Kentucky this spring, and who now sit eighth, up from first-phase twelfth. Belgium’s Lara de Liedekerke-Meier, fresh off her history-making five-star win at Luhmühlen with Hooney d’Arville, will go into cross-country in ninth place with Ducati d’Arville, who finished tenth here last year, and Jonelle Price and Senor Crocodillo round out the top ten.
Hallie Coon and Cute Girl. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
All four US riders jumped faultless clears; Hallie Coon and Cute Girl’s was arguably the round of the day, thanks to the diminutive mare’s expressive, ebullient style, and they jump up from first-phase 24th to 16th place. Alyssa Phillips and Oskar move from 25th to 17th; James Alliston and Karma leap up from 33rd to 23rd, and Liz Halliday and her nine-year-old Shanroe Cooley pop neatly from 31st to 22nd.
Liz Halliday and Shanroe Cooley. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The strength of this collective showing steps Team USA into bronze position, up from seventh of eight in this first phase. Great Britain retains their lead, but formerly second-placed Germany is now replaced by Australia after a very good performance for their riders. You can check out the individual leaderboard in full here, or take a glimpse at the top ten and the team standings below:
The team standings after showjumping.
The top ten going into cross-country at CHIO Aachen.
Now, we’re looking ahead to tomorrow’s cross-country course, which is a twisty, technical effort by Rüdiger Schwarz on which the time is usually very tough to catch – but there are some murmurings from the riders that this year’s technicality may be faintly softened from last year. It all kicks off at 9.30 a.m. local time (8.30 a.m. BST/3.30 a.m. EST) – you can check out the ride times here and catch all the action live on ClipMyHorse as it happens. We’ll be back tomorrow with a full report on all the action. Until then: Go Eventing!
EN’s coverage of CHIO Aachen in 2024 is brought to you with support from Deirdre Stoker Vaillancourt Real Estate, your prime choice for Aiken, SC property!
World Equestrian Festival CHIO Aachen: [Website] [Program – All Disciplines] [Program – Eventing] [Entries – All Disciplines] [Entries – Eventing] [Live Stream] [Results – All Disciplines] [Results – Eventing] [EN’s Coverage]
