Martin Fuchs did put the cherry on top concluding the $3 million CPKC Grand Prix by Rolex on top at Spruce Meadows. The Spruce Masters culminated in a stunning repeat victory for Swiss dynamo Martin Fuchs and super steed Leone Jei (Baltic VDL), as they claimed a second consecutive win
Fuchs shared the podium with Darragh Kenny (IRL) and VDL Cartello (Cartani), who came second, and Daniel Deusser (GER) with Killer Queen VDM (Eldorado vd Zeshoek), who placed third, in the two-round competition that started with 38 horse-rider combinations and finished with only the final three in the jump-off.
Swiss Steve Guerdat guided his Venard de Cerisy (Open Up Semilly) to the fourth place, while Tim Gredley and Belgian Warmblood-gelding, MEdoc de Toxandria (Der Senaat 111) completed the top five with just one time penalty.
In a shock turn of events, the Rolex Grand Slam contender going into the event, André Thieme (GER), and DSP Chakaria, were knocked out in the first round, finishing 26th with eight faults, as only the top 12 riders advanced to the second round of the 1.60m competition.
“It feels amazing to be able to secure a win here, back-to-back,” Fuchs said after the event. “It was a dramatic day, but luck was on my side.
“For me, Spruce Meadows and this competition is the ultimate goal. I am very happy.”
Next year, if Fuchs pulls off a hat-trick, his payout will be quite a lot larger as the organizers announced to pimp-up the money to 5 million dollars.
Fuchs shared the podium with Darragh Kenny (IRL) and VDL Cartello (Cartani), who came second, and Daniel Deusser (GER) with Killer Queen VDM (Eldorado vd Zeshoek), who placed third, in the two-round competition that started with 38 horse-rider combinations and finished with only the final three in the jump-off.
Swiss Steve Guerdat guided his Venard de Cerisy (Open Up Semilly) to the fourth place, while Tim Gredley and Belgian Warmblood-gelding, MEdoc de Toxandria (Der Senaat 111) completed the top five with just one time penalty.
In a shock turn of events, the Rolex Grand Slam contender going into the event, André Thieme (GER), and DSP Chakaria, were knocked out in the first round, finishing 26th with eight faults, as only the top 12 riders advanced to the second round of the 1.60m competition.
“It feels amazing to be able to secure a win here, back-to-back,” Fuchs said after the event. “It was a dramatic day, but luck was on my side.
“For me, Spruce Meadows and this competition is the ultimate goal. I am very happy.”
Next year, if Fuchs pulls off a hat-trick, his payout will be quite a lot larger as the organizers announced to pimp-up the money to 5 million dollars.