Stuttgart – The all-rounder beats the specialist: the penultimate starter, the eventing World Champion Michael Jung, simply flew around the course on Der Dürer TSF. They were so quick that they ended up as the quickest of the 25 participants in the rentES Speed Master on Saturday evening. The pair clocked 58.09, all 12 fences were still standing and the local hero from nearby Horb relegated the jumping World Champion Philippe Le Jeune into second place. The Belgian and his gelding Leo du Prairial took 59.55 seconds to go round the course and looked like the certain winner. But, the “world’s most complete rider” (horse show director Gotthilf Riexinger in a press conference prior to the STUTTGART GERMAN MASTERS) left him trailing by almost one and a half seconds. Third was the American Lauren Hough aboard her mare Available Versace (60.21). Behind her were two riders from the Stuttgart region, Paul Hofmann on Floronce (60.24) and the five-time winner of the BW Bank Indoor Championship, Timo Beck, who needed 60.65 seconds on Askaban.
The 6,100 spectators in the Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle gave their “Gold Jung” a standing ovation and cheered frenetically when he was on his laps of honour. The 28-year-old horse farm manager had previously won the iWEST Dressage Cup, a qualifying class, and the Indoor Derby on Wednesday and then was also victorious on Thursday in the final of the iWEST Cup. Now came the coup against the jumpers – which inspired the announcer: “A win in eventing, two wins in dressage, a win in jumping – the vaulters will have to watch out next year.”
