Another Gold Highlight for Michael Jung

Michael Jung wins the CCI4*-S Meßmer Trophy with Highlighter and the German Championship. Silver went to Dirk Schrade, bronze to Sandra Auffarth.

Michael Jung (GER) was the only rider to finish on his dressage score of 25.6 points. He could even have afforded a rail in the show-jumping phase without jeopardising his lead but Jung kept his cool and finished the competition with an excellent clear round:  “I  am  overjoyed. Highlighter has come a long way. To win the German Championship title with him now means a lot to me. He has been going strong all season and I am so proud of him. He has done so well all week and wasn’t fazed by the enormous crowd at all. He’s so cool.”

The runners-up of the CCI4*-S Meßmer Trophy Dirk Schrade and Casino also had a great week. Schrade could not afford a single time fault, a fact he managed to ignore before he went into the ring: “Casino is simply a great jumper. I was a little worried that he would be impressed by the atmosphere because there were so many spectators on site but he jumped really well, and was absolutely focused on his job.”

Sandra Auffarth was also very pleased with her nine-year-old Rosveel, who was only competing in his second four- star-season. “I am so happy. His dressage has improved significantly and I had the feeling that he wanted to show what he is made of this week. In the cross country, I can absolutely rely on him. He was fit as a fiddle yesterday and very full of himself in the vet inspection. In the show-jumping he was very attentive and wanted to do everything right. I think he was actually quite proud of himself.”