Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva? Martin Fuchs has already won it twice. Spruce Meadows is also out. But he has tried to win the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen many times in the past and never managed it, until yesterday.
Fourteen horse-and-rider combinations jumped clear in the first round of the 2025 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen. Eleven of them managed to finish clear for a second time, thereby qualifying for the jump-off. This exceeded expectations, as course designer Frank Rothenberger revealed in an interview with the stadium commentator. His explanation: «The horses jumped brilliantly!», especially Martin Fuchs's Leone Jei.
In the jump-off, eight fences stood between the eleven combinations and the grand cash prize of 1.5 million euros, with half a million going to the winner alone. The penultimate fence, a double combination, proved to be the trickiest test on the course. This was where the riders accumulated the most faults, as in the case of Olympic gold medallist Christian Kukuk and Checker 47. Crowd favourite Richard Vogel even knocked down the poles of both obstacles with United Touch S.
The Brazilian debutant in Aachen, Stephan de Freitas Barcha, completed the first round clear with Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio. In the Nations Cup, the pair were eliminated after suffering a fall. Today they showed what they are capable of: they completed a clear round in 54.33 seconds, which earned them fourth place in the final classification.
Then it was the turn of Swiss rider Steve Guerdat and the European champion Dynamix de Belheme. With a smooth and fast round, in which the mare did not lose a single centimetre between the fences, he shaved almost two seconds off the Brazilian rider's time. The new time to beat was 52.59 seconds.
The next to fall was Gerrit Nieberg. In 2022, he won the Rolex Grand Prix with Ben after an exciting jump-off. But Ben was an experienced horse (now competing in the USA); Nieberg's new star, the imposing skewbald gelding Ping Pong van de Lentamel, is only ten years old and, obviously, the CHIO Aachen wall, which was used as an obstacle for the first time in the jump-off, unsettled him a great deal. He hesitated and the pole came down.
Martin Fuchs and Leone Jei were next on the starting list. The wide arena at Soers is ideal for the big, athletic gelding with his long stride. And Martin Fuchs had set himself a big goal. «I've been very close to winning here. Last year I let myself down in the jump-off and made a mistake. I wanted to do better this year.» Especially since Fuchs is aware that: «When I do a good job, he always leaves the pole up.» How did he prepare for the Rolex Grand Prix? «I spent almost the whole afternoon watching videos of every Rolex Grand Prix I've ridden here with Leone Jei to see what I could do better.» The strategy that Fuchs ultimately devised for the jump-off — leaving out a stride in the double combination and then galloping at full speed to the final upright — turned out to be the right one. He chose the perfect line to find the optimum takeoff at the fences for Leone Jei. Even before seeing the result, he pumped his fist triumphantly. His joy was even greater when the result appeared on the screen: 50.29 seconds clear, the new leader.
Lillie Keenan's horse, the next to go, is called Faster, but he was actually a bit slower (the clock stopped at 51.44 seconds) and the pair had also picked up four faults. Next came Richard Vogel and United Touch S. As already mentioned, they faulted at the double combination. The winner of the North Rhine-Westphalia RWE Prize, Nina Mallevaey, then entered the arena with Dynastie de Beaufour. How fast they were! But they paid a heavy price for taking risks: four faults. Thanks to her faster round among those with four faults, the 25-year-old French rider was able to celebrate a fantastic fifth place on her debut at the Soers.
Only one combination was left that could snatch victory from Fuchs: the team Olympic gold medallist and winner of the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup, Laura Kraut with Baloutinue. But Laura Kraut said that she had already decided at the wall not to risk everything on the golden double and, instead, to try to make a dash for it. She did so, but her safe round cost her 200,000 euros. The clock stopped at 52.41 seconds, which was enough for second place, ahead of Steve Guerdat, but not enough to dethrone Martin Fuchs.
Martin Fuchs thus becomes the first Swiss person to win the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen since 2004, when his uncle, Markus Fuchs, led the final lap of honour of the CHIO weekend with Tinka’s Boy. The previous Swiss triumph before that was in 1983, when Willi Melliger, Martin Fuchs’s godfather, took victory with Van Gogh. «My horse was fantastic today,» declared the beaming new contender for the Rolex Grand Slam. «Always there, always present. He always lets me lose a few strides in the jump-off. So that was my plan today. I feel very fortunate to ride a horse like this.» The next leg of the Rolex Grand Slam, where Leone Jei will be able to demonstrate his talent once more: Spruce Meadows.
Martin Fuchs's peers took the defeat in their stride. Laura Kraut explained: «I'm really pleased with my second place. There were eleven riders in the jump-off. The fastest in the world, so I knew I couldn't finish that well. I was lucky because I competed right until the end. The golden double was difficult to jump; many riders were fast until then. I didn't know if I had an advantage over Martin, but instead of risking it all, I opted for the safe route at the golden double and the speed at which Martin got to the final fence... No way!».
Steve Guerdat had a similar stance: «I have many reasons to be happy today. My mare jumped wonderfully. The competition didn't go well for us; there were too many clear rounds. I knew I had no chance of winning. Today you needed a horse with a huge stride, something Dynamix doesn't have. Of course, I would have liked to finish first, but, naturally, I'd rather Martin won than anyone else,» he said, thoroughly happy for his friend and compatriot.
That is how CHIO Aachen 2025 concluded, and the sports director, Birgit Rosenberg, made a very positive assessment: «Today was the perfect end to a great show for us, apart from the rain, and the spectators celebrated the horses and the sport with us.».
All results of CHIO Aachen 2025.
