'Hansi' Dreher starts the year the same way he ended it ... 'on point'! Last month, he won the 1.55m CSI4* Grand Prix in A Coruna, and as the icing on the cake, the FEI World Cup in Mechelen. Together with his trusted Vestmalle des Cotis (Baloubet du Rouet x Landor S), the German rider had to concede defeat to the last combination to compete in the 1.50m main event in Basel.
For a moment, it seemed Dreher and Vestmalle des Cotis (bred by M. Rudy Cock, Christine Cock-Leva) were on their way to victory. But that was without accounting for Martin Fuchs. In front of his home crowd, Fuchs, riding the 12-year-old L&L Upgrade (Ultimo, bred by Gestüt Rahmannshof), edged out Dreher’s time by just under a second.
The German had to settle for second place, behind Roger-Yves Bost and the 14-year-old SF mare Ballerine du Vilpion (Baloubet du Rouet, bred by Christophe Legros).
Just outside the top three was Richard Vogel with Crack HV (Cornet Obolensky), followed by Michael Pender and the 12-year-old HHS Vancouver (Indoctro).
