Germans lead the way at Luhmühlen
Monday, 15 June 2009 05:32
Germany’s Michael Jung, 26, rode La Biosthetique – Sam FBW to finish on his dressage score to win the Luhmuehlen CCI**** presented by E.ON Avacon Vertrieb (GER), the third leg of the HSBC FEI Classics™, in Germay today. His first four-star win – and on his first attempt at this level.
Michael was in 14th position after the Dressage and was one of only two competitors to achieve the optimum time of 10 minutes 23 seconds on the Cross Country.
The Germans filled the one, two, three slots on the final day of competition. The overnight leader, Olympic gold medallist Andreas Dibowski, took 2nd place with a fence down in the show jumping.
Dirk Schrade was 3rd moving up two places with a superb clear round on Gadget de la Cere AA. He was runner-up on this horse in 2007.
The best of the Brits was Mary King on her home bred mare, Kings Temptress. She moved down one place to 4th after lowering a rail in the show jumping but at the mare’s first four-star competition Mary was thrilled with the result.
The sole American, William J Coleman, on Twizzel split the two British ladies in the top placings and finished in 5th position after jumping a clear round in the final show jumping.
Kristina Cook (GBR) knocked three show jumps and finished in 6th position.
Luhmuehlen was full of excitement from start to finish and with the 2011 FEI European Championship being planned this competition provided competitors with an ideal opportunity to look ahead.
Competition Statistics
17 horses came forward for the final show jumping
5 jumped clear rounds
4 had 4 penalties
Germans were in the top 10 placings
QUOTES
Michael Jung: “I was a bit nervous, but he really jumped everything perfectly. He gave me such a good feeling over the first few jumps – we met everything perfectly – that helped my confidence. It will take a couple of days to sink in that I’ve really won.”
Dirk Schrade: “There’s such a special atmosphere at Luhmuehlen, it’s unique. I always want to do well here as it’s the biggest event in Germany and I’m really happy it’s gone so well. Michael is one of the best young riders in Germany at the moment and he has a fantastic horse. Perhaps he had a little bit of luck this weekend, but it’s not really such a big surprise that he won.”
Julia Otto, Director of Luhmuehlen: “We’re very pleased; we’ve got lots of happy sponsors and equine enthusiasts which is very important. The numbers of spectators are up by 10% (to 28,000 over the three days) which is confirmation that many people are interested in eventing. We’re proud to see three German riders at the top – we’re always pleased to see so many riders from abroad, but we’re pleased the German riders are doing so well at the moment and we wish them all the best for the European Championships at Fontainebleau.”
RESULTS
1 Michael Jung/La Biosthetique – Sam FBW (GER) 47.0 + 0 + 0 = 47.0
2 Andreas Dibowski/Euroridings Butts Leon (GER) 45.30 + 0 + 4 = 49.30
3 Dirk Schrade/Gadget de la Cere AA (GER) 41.70 + 9.20 + 0 = 50.90
4 Mary King/Kings Temptress (GBR) 46.50 + 3.20 + 4 = 53.70
5 William J Coleman/Twizzel (USA) 47.80 + 6.80 + 0 = 54.60
6 Kristina Cook/Miners Frolic (GBR) 43.0 + 6.80 + 12 = 61.80
7 Paul Tapner/Inonothing (GBR) 48.30 + 8.80 + 12 = 70.10
8 Frank Ostholt/Air Jordan 2 (GER) 33.50 + 36.80 + 0 = 70.30
9 Austin O’Connor/Pocket Rocket (IRL) 61.50 + 7.60 + 9 = 78.10
10 Sacha Pemble/I’ve been dun (GBR) 66.70 + 12.80 + 4 = 83.50
Full results on www.luhmuehlen.de
2009 HSBC FEI Classics™ Standings (after 3 of 5 events)
1 Oliver Townend (GBR) 18 points
2 William Fox-Pitt (GBR) 17 points
3 Lucinda Fredericks (AUS) 15 points
4 Michael Jung (GER) 15 points
5 Bettina Hoy (GER) 12 points
6 Andreas Dibowski (GER) 12 points
7 Lucy Wiegersma (GBR) 11 points
8 Bruce O Davidson Jr (USA) 10 points
9 Dirk Schrade (GER) 10 points
10 Sam Griffiths (AUS) 10 points
The complete standings are available here.
HSBC FEI CLASSICS™ CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2009
1. 22-26 April - Rolex Kentucky Three Day-Event (USA)
2. 7-10 May - Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR)
3. 11-14 June - Luhmuehlen CCI**** presented by E.ON Avacon Vertrieb (GER)
4. 3-6 September - The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR)
5. 21-25 October - Les Etoiles de Pau (FRA)
The HSBC FEI Classics™, established last year, unites the top end of the international Eventing circuit, namely the five 4-Star Eventing competitions currently on the calendar. The Top Ten placed riders at each event receive points; the five riders with the highest number of points at the end of the season are awarded prize money.
POINTS SYSTEM Points will be awarded to the Top Ten riders at each event as follows: Riders can only win points with their best horse/performance at one event and if the combination has obtained a qualifying result. In case of equality of points, the best placed rider is the competitor with the lowest total of penalty points at the specific event (=differentiating score).
1st: 15 points
2nd: 12 points
3rd: 10 points
4th: 8 points
5th: 6 points
6th: 5 points
7th: 4 points
8th: 3 points
9th: 2 points
10th: 1 point
2008 WINNERS
1. William Fox-Pitt (GBR) US$ 150,000;
2. Nicolas Touzaint (FRA) US$ 75,000;
3. Frank Ostholt (GER) US$ 50,000;
4. Phillip Dutton (USA) US$ 33,000;
5. Bettina Hoy (GER) US$ 25,000
