Friday, Apr. 19, 2024

2016 Rolex Kentucky CCI****

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There were 55 horses presented at the final horse inspection for the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, and 54 will go on to the show jumping phase this afternoon.
We call Michael Jung "The Terminator," and he just terminated everybody else’s chances today.
When he canters into the Rolex Stadium in fischerRocana FST for tomorrow’s show jumping, Michael Jung will have three rails in hand over Phillip Dutton on Fernhill Fugitive. Part of that lead was based on Jung’s dressage score, but then he massively extended it by jumping the only near-clear (0.8 time penalties) over Derek di Grazia’s cross-country track today.
There are no new faces in the top three after dressage going into today’s cross-country at the Rolex Kentucky CCI****: Germany’s Michael Jung, last years Rolex winner, holds the top spot; crowd favorites Allison Springer and Arthur sit second; and the 2015 double gold medalist from the 2015 Pan American Games (Canada) Marilyn Little is third with RF Demeter. But there are 69 other riders out there getting ready to ride the toughest cross-country course in the United States, and only one can win. If you’re looking for someone else to pull for, ribbons or not, here are three to consider.

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We took a walk with di Grazia, now in his sixth year of designing at Rolex, to learn more about some of the key combinations.
The other riders tried to get close to him—him being Germany’s Michael Jung, who won yesterday’s Rolex Kentucky CCI**** with 34.4 penalties—all day. Marilyn Little and RF Demeter, who went before the lunch break on Day 2, earned 42.5 penalties and closed the gap slightly. But it took the last rider of the day, Allison Springer on Arthur, to get even remotely close with a 39.7.
Can anyone shake Michael Jung's lead? We'll let you know in a ride-by-ride commentary of each test on Day 2 of the dressage phase of the Rolex Kentucky CCI****.
Want to see just how Michael Jung scored almost 10 points better than anyone else on Day 1 of Rolex Kentucky CCI**** dressage? Watch videos of the top three rides of the day.
If you placed a bet before dressage started at the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, you’d probably have chosen Michael Jung on FischerRocana FST to win the day. But leading with a nearly 10-point margin on 34.4 penalties? Well, you might not expected quite that result.

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