Photos courtesy Jumping Bordeaux/Christophe Bricot
Michael Jung and Corazon have done it again, winning the Devoucoux Indoor Derby in Bordeaux
The eight year old bay mare that has previously been competed at 1* level by Australia’s Isabel English whilst working for Michael in Germany, won the Indoor Derby for the Prize of WALTER Solar for the eighth time at the 33rd International Stuttgart German Masters Horse Show late last year and did it again at the Devoucoux Indoor Derby in Bordeaux last night /ukeurope/equitana/its-indoor-eventing-season
Michael and Corazon beat off some hot local competition, winning the 4,000.00€ with a time of 126,80 ahead of France’s Maxime Livio riding Boleybawn Prince (127,19) to take home 3.000,00€ and Rodolphe Scherer riding Coeur de Crack (127,97) in third, winning 2.250,00€
The relatively new ‘Indoor Derby’, now officially known as CIX-Arena, format started at the Jumping International de Bordeaux in 2014 and the format remains the same with a mix of fixed cross country type obstacles and show jumps spread across the main arena and the warm-up arena. Pierre Michelet is the course designer and the horses invited to participate must have already placed in a CCI2*or CIC2*
This year the riders faced 12 fixed and 5 showjumping-type obstacles ,including a bank, a water complex, an eye, some skinnies, corners and brush fences with a fixed fence maximum height of 1.10m and the showjumping-type obstacles maximum height set at 1.30m
The height certainly wouldn’t prove a problem for Michael, who is to compete in the Abu Dhabi Nations Cup CSIO5* Nations Cup for Germany in March, but Corazon is a fairly inexperienced horse at this level, having had just one CIC2* under her belt at Strzegom in October where she finished fifth. In 2017 Isabel English also competed the mare in three 1* competitions at Hünxe, Holzerode and Marbach
The horses are allowed to practise in the main arena in advance which Michael says helped the young horse settle in the atmosphere and ‘she was once again great to ride and gains more experienced from round to round’
Watch the video of Michael and Maxime's rounds below
