Fuchs flies into first place after Lyon

Sunday’s €300,000 World Cup class – the fourth of 13 qualifiers on the continent as riders chase after a spot in next year’s Final in Gothenburg, Sweden – was a marquee event at the massive Equita Longines horse show in Lyon. And 40 elite horse-and-rider combinations were on hand at the Eurexpo venue with the CSI 5*-W show jumping podium in their sights.

In the end, 10 of them made it into the tie-breaking jump-off after faultless opening rounds, with Great Britain’s Robert Whitaker and Catwalk IV just missing out in 11th place (still good for €7,500). In that deciding round, the lightning-fast Italian Lorenzo de Luca and Ensor de Litrange established the time to beat, stopping the clock in 37.78 seconds. Other big names in the sport like Belgium’s Pieter Devos, the Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten and France’s Kevin Staut took off in pursuit, but fell just short time-wise.

It all came down then to Martin Fuchs and his compatriot, world championship podium mate and friend Steve Guerdat, with Fuchs and his 12-year-old grey gelding the only ones able to outrace De Luca and his mount, in 37.25 seconds, and Guerdat and Bianca in third. “I was always going for the win,” the World No.10 explained afterwards, “but I wasn’t sure I could beat Lorenzo – I’m not always super-fast with Clooney and Lorenzo looked really fast on the screen. I didn’t know what time I had going through the finish, but when I looked up I saw first place and I was very, very happy!”. The Lyon triumph came with a cheque for €75,000 as well as 20 qualifying points for the top spot.

This victory is already Fuchs’ sixth CSI-5* Grand Prix victory – indeed, his father Thomas, a retired rider and part of the family dynasty alongside brother Markus, told GrandPrix Heroes magazine last month that, “Martin already has more medals than me!”. And if Martin and Clooney’s current form is anything to go by, the difference between the father and sons’ trophy collections will undoubtedly continue to grow. In any case, after racking up 35 points in just two qualifier starts, the newest star of the clan is on the verge of qualifying for the 2019 World Cup Final, with around 40 points generally sufficient to secure one of the 18 places available through the league.

Next stop: Stuttgart, Germany, from November 14–18.