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Jung On Top Heading Into Rolex Finale

Defending champion Michael Jung is in position to pull of a three-peat going into Sunday's finale of the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park.  Samantha Lederman reports on Saturday's action.

As predicted Derek Di Grazia’s course caused a fair amount of trouble Saturday, and going into the final phase Sunday the top three is a foreign affair.

The leader after the dressage Clark Montgomery had two mistakes on course, essentially taking him out of the competition, and leaving the door wide open for German rider Michael Jung and his mare Fischerrocana, the winners in 2015 and 2016. 

Jung’s mistake-free round with just 1.6 does indeed leave him in pole position ahead of Sunday’s show-jumping.

Right behind him in second place is Frenchman Maxime Livio who sped round clear and fast on Qalao Des Mers, moving up from 8th place after the dressage.

Great Britain’s Zara Tindall made the trip worthwhile, moving up into 3rd place with a fast clear on High Kingdom, a horse she brought here two years ago to compete, but was unable to start when he injured himself in the stall before the competition began.

Matt Brown is the highest placed US rider in fourth place on Blossom Creek Foundation’s Super Socks and will be hoping to win the US National Championship in the show-jumping finale Sunday.

After a Final Vet Inspection Sunday morning, the competition will be decided in the Rolex Stadium Sunday afternoon. Jung can afford to knock one show-jump down and still stay ahead of Livio.  Last Fall they were in exactly the same position at the Pau 4* event and Fischerrocana hit two rails while Livio and Qalao Des Mers jumped clear for the win.

Attendance at Rolex Kentucky Saturday was 35,677.

Listeners might remember Lederman and her English accent from when she was a morning news anchor on WUKY from 1999 to 2001.
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