Michael Jung is the new HSBC FEI World Cup Champion

Michael Jung (GER) confirmed his status as a rising star in the sport of Eventing when he rode superbly on La Biosthetique Sam to become the first German winner of the HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing Final, held for the first time in Eastern Europe at Strzegom (POL).

Jung jumped an immaculate, quiet clear round in the final phase, leaving the overnight Cross-Country leader Frank Ostholt (GER) on Air Jordan no room for error.

Suspense was maintained to the end, though, as Ostholt looked as if he would go clear, but then Air Jordan hit the troublesome middle part of the treble and dropped to 2nd place ahead of defending champion Clayton Fredericks (AUS) on Ben Along Time, 3rd, who clipped the 6th fence for 4 faults.

German riders Andreas Dibowski (Euroridings Butts Leon) and Marina Köhncke, back in the big time on the promising mare Calma Schelly, finished 4th and 6th, split by Ruth Edge (GBR) on PC Wilson, a German-bred horse that, in fact, was originally bought from the Verden sales to be a police horse.

And, to the huge excitement of the crowd, Pawel Spisak (POL) retained his 7th place on Weriusz with a well-ridden clear round, thus completing fantastic weekend’s sport which many first-time visitors to this beautiful corner of Poland will remember with affection for a long while.

COMPETITION STATISTICS

20 horses started the Jumping
1 withdrew (Robert Sirch and Ballymakenny, GER, 21st)
8 Clear rounds
Crowd attendance was 4,000

ABOUT THE FIRST THREE:

1st: Michael Jung, 27, is set to make his debut on the senior German team at the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championship at Fontainebleau with La Biosthetique Sam, a nine-year-old by Stan The Man (same sire as the 2004 Olympic champion Shear L’Eau), owned by Sabine Kreuter. The pair have triumphed at all levels, winning Compiegne CCI 2* in April, and in June won Luhmuhlen CCI 4*, Michael’s first attempt at 4-star level. He was Young Rider European Champion in 2003.

2nd: Frank Ostholt, 33, is head of the German national equitation centre at Warendorf. He first rode on the senior German team with Air Jordan, a 14-year-old chestnut gelding by Amerigo Vespucci XX owned with Robert Vietor, in 2003 at Punchestown (IRL). He was 26th at the 2004 Olympic Games in 2004, and won team bronze at the 2005 European Championships at Blenheim (GBR). In 2006, he won Luhmuhlen CCI 4* (GER) and was a member of the gold medal team at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen (GER), finishing 4th individually. In 2008, Frank won Olympic team gold in Hong Kong with the young horse Mr Medicott. He is on the German squad for the HSBC FEI European Eventing Championship at Fontainebleau (FRA) next month with Air Jordan. Frank recently got married to the Swedish event rider Sara Algotsson.

3rd: Clayton Fredericks (AUS), 41, came to England from Perth, Western Australia, in the 1990s. His best results have come with Ben Along Time, a 14-year-old Irish sport horse by Cavalier Royale owned by Edwin and Peta McAuley. They won the World Cup final in 2005 in Malmo (SWE) and in 2008 at Deauville (FRA). They also won the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event in 2006 plus the World silver medal and, last year, team silver at the Olympics. Clayton is married to this year’s Kentucky winner, Lucinda, and they have a young daughter, Ellie.

QUOTES:

Michael Jung: “I came here having won at Luhmuhlen and Wiesbaden, so obviously I knew I had a good chance, but so much can go wrong and I was quite nervous today because I wanted to do the horse justice. I’m very happy that it all turned out so well.”

Frank Ostholt: “Of course I am now wondering what could have been, whether I could have gone faster across country, or approached the treble differently, but I have to be happy with second place. Although I’m not really!”

Kate Fulham, HSBC: “It’s been a fantastic competition. HSBC couldn’t be more pleased.”

Marcin Konarski, Event Director: “It has taken me all year to persuade Pawel Spisak that he should ride here, and the result was the best we could hope for.”

RESULTS

1 Michael Jung/La Biosthetique Sam (GER) 35.6 + 0.8 + 0 = 36.4
2 Frank Ostholt/Air Jordan (GER) 30.6 + 2.4 + 4 = 37
3 Clayton Fredericks/Ben Along Time (AUS) 31.4 + 5.6 + 4 = 41
4 Andreas Dibowski/Euroridings Butts Leon (GER) 39.6 + 5.2 + 0 = 44.8
5 Ruth Edge/PC Wilson (GBR) 35.2 + 8.8 + 4 = 48
6 Marina Köhncke/Calma Schelly (GER) 44.8 + 4.4 + 0 = 49.2
7 Pawel Spisak/Weriusz (POL) 41.5 + 10.4 + 0 = 51.9
8 Kai Ruder/Leprince des Bois (GER) 41.7 + 14.8 + 4 = 60.5
9 Peter Flarup/Silver Ray (DEN) 53.5 + 19.2 + 0 = 62.7
10 Karin Donckers/Gazelle de la Brasseries (BEL) 45 + 19.20 + 1 = 65.2