This competition couldn’t be tighter! Michael Jung (GER) and fischerChipmunk FRH hold onto their lead in the CCI4*-S Meßmer Trophy, but just by a slim margin of 0.3 over Laura Collett (GBR) and London 52
“Today was amazing – pure joy! fischerChipmunk is a real cross-country machine. He was brilliant, supple, attentive and focused, making my job very easy today. In two lines, I added an extra stride, everything else rode as I expected when I walked it. The conditions were great, despite the rain”
Laura didn’t take any chances, tackling Mike Etherington-Smith’s intense four-star course with focus and determination: “You can’t not smile when you ride a horse like that. He’s just phenomenal. He seems to love it here, he loves the crowd. It was an absolute joy to ride. I got him when he was seven and he’s 15 now, like a fine wine he gets better each year and I’ve just thoroughly enjoyed every second of that horse. He’s just very, very special. The aim of today was to have a good, confident ride. He covers the ground and the ground is amazing. I was having a real wobble earlier when it was torrential storm. But it was absolutely perfect going, which meant I could just let him run and make sure I set him up for the fences to make sure there are no silly mistakes. He trusts me and I trust him, we’ve built a real partnership over the last years. I know how fortunate I am to ride a horse like him”
Championship stars Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir tied times with the much-adored JL Dublin and Tom McEwen, both completing in 06:59 with 1.2 time penalties, securing 3rd and 4th positions. “This year things have really come together and we’ve had some really exciting top results. To have had such a great round here today is absolutely exciting. He was pretty perfect everywhere, looking for the flags, an absolute pleasure to ride”
Kudos to German pairs Anna Siemer and FRH Butts Avondale, one of only two teams to finish inside the optimum time, moving up from 37th to 11th, and Calvin Bockmann and Altair de la Cense, who climbed from 27th to 8th
The other clear round within the optimum time was achieved by Clarke Johnstone (NZL) and Domasco, delivering one of the standout performances of the day and jumping from 39th to 12th place. Clarke is having a stellar Luhmuhlen and heads into the final day of show jumping with two horses in the top twenty. Fellow countryman Tim Price also made significant strides, with a clear round from 15-year-old Falco to sit in 14th
Images © TGL/Annette Dölger and Eventing Times
