By US Equestrian Communications Department
The Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian CCI5*-L came to an exciting conclusion with Sunday’s show jumping phase. Thirty combinations navigated Steve Stephens’s challenging track to determine the final placings. Michael Jung (GER) and fischerChipmunk FRH won the overall title with a score of 20.1, followed by Yasmin Ingham (GBR) and Banzai du Loir in second place with a score of 31.7. Doug Payne and Quantum Leap finished third overall and won the Land Rover/USEF CCI5-L Eventing National Championship presented by MARS Equestrian as the top U.S. combination with a score of 38.4.
Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH led after the second day of dressage on a score of 20.1. Jung had a clean, fast round on cross-country day with the 2008 Hanoverian gelding owned by Deutsches Olympiade-Komitee für Reiterei e.V., Klaus Fischer, Sabine Fischer, and Hilmer Meyer-Kulenkampff. The pair finished with a double-clear show jumping round to clinch the win on their dressage score.
“You always try to give your best. That’s why you wake up every morning and go to the stables in -20 degrees or in the rain or in the heat,” said Jung of his win. “It’s a very special moment for me. A very, very big thank you to my whole team in the background helping me train the horses enough to bring the horses to this level. The biggest thank you to the horse owner, the fischer group, that we can keep this horse in Germany, and that I’m allowed to ride such an amazing horse.”
In second place, Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir scored 28.1 on their dressage test, tallied 2.8 time penalties on cross-country, and 0.8 time penalties in the show jumping to end on a score of 31.7.
Land Rover/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship presented by MARS Equestrian
(Leslie Potter/US Equestrian)
Payne (Rougemont, N.C.) and Quantum Leap had solid performances to earn the Land Rover/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship presented by MARS Equestrian title. The longtime partners began with a respectable dressage score of 37.2. Payne and the 2011 RPSI gelding owned by Doug and Jessica Payne rocketed up the leaderboard from 25th to equal fifth with a clean cross-country round with only 1.2 time penalties. They closed out their weekend with a double-clear show jumping round to end a score of 38.4
“We bought him as a weanling from Didi Callahan who bred him and we’ve had four horses that she’s bred; it was the start of a pipeline of horses coming,” said Payne of Quantum Leap’s origins. “So, to get here he certainly blew my expectations away. He just continues to get better and better as an 11 year old in his third five start now. I couldn’t ask for much more.”
Boyd Martin (Cochranville, Pa.) and Tsetserleg TSF earned the Reserve National Champion title and finished fourth overall. They had a lovely dressage test to earn a score of 29.3. Martin and a 2007 Trakehner gelding owned by Christine, Thomas, and Tommie Turner were fast and clean on cross-country day to add nothing to their score. They had 8 jumping penalties and 1.2 time penalties in the show jumping phase to end on a score of 38.5.
Buck Davdison (Unionville, Pa.) and Carlevo were third in the National Championship and fifth overall. Davidson and the 2007 Holsteiner gelding owned by Katherine O’Brien scored 27.4 in the dressage phase, tallied 10 cross-country time penalties, and 1.2 show jumping time penalties to finish on a score of 38.6.
