MARTIN FUCHS AND LEONE JEI WIN THE ROLEX GRAND PRIX OF CHIO AACHEN 2025
Fourteen pairs jumped clear in the first round of the 2025 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen. Eleven of them stayed clear a second time and thus qualified for the jump-off.
That was more than Course Designer Frank Rothenberger had expected. “The horses jumped fantastically!” Especially Martin Fuchs’ Leone Jei’’.
In the jump-off, 8 obstacles stood between the 11pair s and the big prize money—1.5 million euros, half a million for the winner alone. The penultimate obstacle, a double combination, proved to be the trickiest part of the course. This is where the riders collected the most faults, for instance, as in the case of Olympic gold medallist Christian Kukuk and his horse Checker. The public’s favourite, Richard Vogel, even knocked down the poles of both obstacles with his United Touch S.
Pan American champion and Olympic athlete, Brazil’s Stephan de Freitas Barcha delivered the first clear round with Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio. During the Nations Cup, the combination had been disqualified following a very dangerous fall, and at the Grand Prix, they demonstrated what they were capable of: clearing in 54.33 seconds and earning a fourth place in the final ranking.
It was then Swiss rider Steve Guerdat’s and his Dynamix de Belheme turn to try to clear the jump-off. In a smooth, fast round, in which the mare didn’t waste a centimetre over or between the obstacles, he knocked almost two seconds off the Brazilian rider’s time and so the new time to beat was 52.59 seconds.
Next to go was Gerrit Nieberg, the 2022 Rolex Grand Prix winner, who competed with Ben in a tense jump-off. The horse was experienced and now competes in the USA. Nieberg’s new star, the striking 10-year-old piebald gelding Ping Pong van de Lentamel, found the CHIO Aachen wall—introduced as a new obstacle for the first time in the jump-off—particularly spooky. He hesitated resulting in a knockdown of the pole.
Martin Fuchs and Leone Jei were to follow. The big arena at the Soers perfectly suited the large, athletic grey gelding with his impressive stride. Fuchs had set himself an ambitious goal: “I’ve come close to winning here so many times. Last year I let him down in the jump-off and made a mistake. I wanted to do better this year.” He also noted, “When I do a good job, he always leaves the poles up.”
Regarding his preparation for the Rolex Grand Prix, Fuchs shared, “I spent most of the evening watching videos of all the Rolex Grand Prixs I’ve ridden with Leone Jei here to see what I could improve”. His chosen strategy of omitting a stride at the double combination and galloping to the final vertical proved to be the winning approach. He selected the perfect line to achieve the ideal take-off at each fence for Leone Jei. Even before seeing the official result, he clenched his fist in triumph and his excitement intensified when the clock showed a clear round in 50.29 seconds making him the new leader.
Lillie Keenan’s horse who was next to go may be called Fasther, but he was actually slightly slower; the clock stopped at 51.44 seconds and the combo also picked up 4 faults along the way.
Richard Vogel and United Touch S followed however they knocked down the combination. Nina Mallevaey, the winner of the RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia, then entered the arena with Dynastie de Beaufour. They took a risk by going very fast but carried 4 faults. And thanks to that, the 25-year-old French rider was able to celebrate a fantastic fifth place on her first appearance at the Soers.
There was just one combination left who could snatch victory away from Fuchs: the team Olympic gold medallist and winner of the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup, Laura Kraut with Baloutinue. But Kraut said she had already decided at the wall not to risk all at the golden double and instead try to ride home clear. 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 Guerdat, but not enough to oust Fuchs from the top spot.
Martin Fuchs is thus the first Swiss winner of the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen since 2004, when his uncle, Markus Fuchs, headed the last lap of honour of the CHIO weekend with Tinka’s Boy. The last Swiss triumph prior to that was in 1983, when Willi Melliger, Martin Fuchs’ godfather, claimed victory with Van Gogh. “My horse was fantastic today,” the new contender for the Rolex Grand Slam beamed. “Always there, always present. He always lets me leave out a few strides in the jump-off. So that was my plan today. I feel very fortunate and lucky to ride a horse like this.’’
The next leg of the Rolex Grand Slam, where Leone Jei will be able to demonstrate his strengths again, is at Spruce Meadows.
Martin Fuchs’ fellow competitors took the defeat lightly. Kraut explained: “I am very happy with my second place. There were 11 riders in the jump-off, the fastest riders in the world, so I knew it couldn’t end so well. I was lucky because I competed towards the end. The golden double was difficult to jump; many riders were quick until then. I didn’t know if I was ahead of Martin or not, but instead of risking all, I opted to take the safe route at the golden double and to follow Martin’s pace to the last fence—no way!”
Guerdat shared a similar view: “I have many reasons to be happy today. My mare jumped amazingly. And even though the class didn’t go well for us there were too many clears. I knew I didn’t have a chance of winning. Today, you needed a horse with a huge stride, which Dynamix doesn’t have. Of course, I would have liked to have come first myself, but I’d prefer Martin to win rather than anyone else,” he said, totally happy for his friend and fellow countryman.
And so CHIO Aachen 2025 came to an end, and the Head of Sport, Birgit Rosenberg, gave a very positive summary: “Today was the perfect finish to a great show for us, despite the rain, and the spectators celebrated the horses and the sport with us’’.
--ENDS—
Full results here
For more info. about the event see here