Swiss bliss for Martin Fuchs

This year was the 10th anniversary of the Longines CSI Basel equestrian competition, but the first time the city located at the Swiss, French and German borders has hosted a stage of the World Cup in the Western European League. Eighteen Europeans will qualify from the league for the Jumping Final in April in Gothenburg, Sweden, where they will take on other top riders from around the world, including defending champion Beezie Madden of the United States. 

And after this latest result and previous World Cup legs in Oslo, Helsinki, Verona, Lyon, Stuttgart, Madrid, La Coruna, London and Mechelen, Fuchs and his close friend and compatriot Steve Guerdat are comfortably qualified for the showdown in Sweden, sitting in third and first place in the standings respectively.

The man in second in those standings, Belgium’s Pieter Devos (riding Apart in Basel), was one of three starters alongside Fuchs and the Netherlands’ Marc Houtzager (Sterrehof’s Calimero) to make it into the tie-breaking jump-off at the St. Jakobshalle arena. To get there, they had to ride clear and within the 68-second time limit imposed for the first round on designer Frank Rothenberger’s challenging course.

Others, including Ireland’s Bertram Allen on Molly Malone V, just missed out on advancing, with the Irish pair racing to a breakneck time of 65.28 s but incurring four faults to finish eighth. And so it came down to the three finalists, with Fuchs – whose father and uncle are former top international riders – riding last and needing to beat Houtzager’s clear round in 38.84 s and Devos’ 36.98 s ride with four faults.

“I saw the riders going before me and I discussed what to do with Steve [Guerdat] and my dad [Thomas Fuchs],” he explained, and that advice paid off, as World No.10 rider and his 13-year mount stopped the clock in 37.61 s with no bars down. “It’s amazing!”, he said afterwards. “So many people came here today, lots of my friends and my family, so to win at home in front of them is always so special – this was a great day for me and my amazing horse Clooney!” Click here to watch the combination’s winning jump-off round.

For his part, FEI Jumping Director John Roche praised the inaugural World Cup event in Basel: “The event has been organised to the highest standard, there was a completely full house today and the atmosphere was electric, A home win went to the last man into the arena, so you couldn’t have written a better script for a fantastic day of sport!” The highest-ranking British rider in the 1.60-metre class was Laura Renwick, in 35th, while Michael Whitaker retired from the qualifier in Switzerland. The next stop on the league circuit is Leipzig, Germany, followed by Amsterdam and Bordeaux.