Martin Fuchs (SUI) produced two flawless rounds of jumping to take victory in the penultimate leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League staged in Bordeaux (FRA) this evening with the wonderful Conner Jei (Connor x Cosimo). After a slow start to this season’s campaign, the 2022 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final Champion hit form with fourth and fifth placings in Basel (SUI) and Leipzig (GER) but desperately needed a strong performance here to secure enough points to guarantee his place in this season’s Final.
"Conner Jei felt fantastic today, he was smooth and fast in the jump-off and feels great. I’m so grateful to have a horse like him!" Martin Fuchs says. “I knew I put pressure on but with Julien (Epaillard) last to go you always know you’re not fast enough! “He laughed. “I hoped he’d be slower but that never happens with Julien!”
After the initial relief at having finally secured his place in what will be his first Longines FEI Jumping World Cup ™ on home soil, Fuchs was then hit with the overriding joy of victory at this historic World Cup venue where he was competing for the first time.
“The World Cup Final is always a big goal and I’ve been struggling a lot this season; missing precision and I’ve made a few errors. I felt a bit of pressure today because I needed a good result to qualify for the Final, now that’s done it’s a big relief and I’m so happy to win here. Conner Jei felt fantastic today, he was smooth and fast in the jump-off and feels great. I’m so grateful to have a horse like him!” Fuchs concluded graciously.
