Your 2015 Land Rover Burghley Champion Michael Jung! He rode fischerRocana FST in the prize giving because Sam can be a bit naughty in awards ceremonies. Photo by Nico Morgan.
Michael Jung has had Sam, who he describes as like a good friend to him, since he was five years old and there’s not much left that they haven’t won! In fact this was their 21st international win, and in the last nine years (since 2006) they’ve never finished outside the top 5 — Olympic, WEG and European gold, CCI4* wins — but Michael did say today was pretty special.
“Burghley is such a famous competition with a high tradition; to be here with two horses and to finish with two healthy horses and to win Burghley is a very special moment. Sam and I have a really good partnership, I’ve known him for many years and done many competitions with him; I’ve learnt a lot from him and with him, and maybe he’s also learned a little bit from me. He’s a very strong horse and I’m very happy to have him, every time he gives me a very, very good feeling, he always tries his best and gives me 100 percent. In the show-jump arena he jumped very well today, he was powerful and concentrating and that helps a lot.”
Michael himself was still pretty lame this afternoon, and his groom Julia Harsch trotted Sam up in the final horse inspection this morning, but he insisted again that his leg is “OK enough, when you’re on the horse you don’t feel it!” Michael couldn’t confirm at this point whether he’ll be back next year but did reiterate how impressed he’s been with the event and what an honour it’s been to be here, “I like the competition very much and I’m so happy that we had the chance to come here this year; if my horses are fit and ready, I’ll try and come back next year.”
Tim Price takes second place to Michael again, just as he did at Rolex in the spring, and after making no mistakes all weekend, “Ringwood Sky Boy has been improving in all ways and I really thought that would show itself on the flat and I went out there and achieved what I wanted to achieve. He’s an excellent cross country horse so given those two phases I kind of expected to be somewhere in the mix come yesterday afternoon but to still be here today — that’s where it’s exceptional.
“I’m so thrilled for the horses and the people involved in him, they’ve believed in him, I’ve believed in him and it’s just a testament to the hard work and training and preparation because he’s not natural in the show-jumping but he is a good jumper and he’s learning to try hard at the right times in the right way.”
Tim also won a nice £3000 bonus this afternoon for being the clear round closest to the optimum time while wearing SSG gloves; he also won the equivalent prize at Rolex in the dressage phase.
Chris Burton was happy to lay his Burghley demons to rest — he first came over here as a young rider all the way from Australia and fell at the third fence! Now he takes home the third and fourth prizes after impressive performances on both his Adelaide CCI4* catch ride winner TS Jamaimo and Haruzac, and we can only hope that he’ll come to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event before too long to try and add that string to his bow.
There’s a reason everyone loves Burghley and counts it among the best events in the world — everything is done to the max. Hospitality, the competition, the organisation, it’s impossible to find fault with it and we even had perfect weather and conditions this year to boot. Many thanks to all the riders for being so patient and talking to us, many thanks to the volunteers, grooms, families and supporters, to the fantastic press office and to you for joining us this week.
Next week will see us up in Scotland for the European Championships, and it would be hard to bet against seeing Michael on the podium again along with his teammate Ingrid Klimke, who popped in this afternoon to receive her FEI Series winning prize. Until then, we wish our brave U..S contingent a brave and happy journey home, and GO the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials!
#LRBHT: Website, Final Scores, Burghley TV, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Twitter, EN’s Instagram, @samanthalclark
