Swiss own the podium at home in Basel

45 horse-and-rider pairs were on the start list for the Grand Prix at the St. Jakobshalle, with six pulling out partway through the first round, including World No.25 Denis Lynch of Ireland, on All Star. The top 15 finishers advanced out of round one: Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs and Werner Muff were first and second on Clooney and Daimler respectively, and France’s Simon Delestre third on Chesall Zimequest. The trio rode clear, with no faults and the fastest times.

And those results repeated themselves in the jump-off, with Fuchs and his partner, the 12-year-old grey son of the famous sire Cornet Obolensky, riding last, allowing the rider to plan his strategy based on his rivals’ times. The pair took advantage of the opportunity, with another faultless ride and the day’s fastest time, 38.70 seconds, winning nearly €85,000. Muff and Delestre were next — with times of 39.64s and 41.91s respectively. The full results are here.

“I’m very proud to be the first Swiss rider to win this Grand Prix, and that in front of this fantastic audience,” Fuchs said afterwards. “Clooney has very often proved that he can jump the biggest classes, but he was not always so fast. Now he is getting faster and faster for every class, and he has a fantastic overview and is still extremely careful. He was amazing today.”

The 26-year-old Fuchs, ranked 13th in the world in his sport, won the gold medal at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and finshed fourth at the 2017 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Omaha (also on Clooney).

Next year, from January 10-13, 2019, the Longines CSI Basel will mark its 10th anniversary, and will have World Cup status for the first time. And speaking of the World Cup, Western European qualifying continues this week in Leipzig, Germany from January 18-21, as riders target a place in April’s 2018 Final in Paris.