Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva? Martin Fuchs has already won it twice. Spruce Meadows – also crossed off the list. But he has tried winning the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen so many times in the past and never succeeded – until today.

14 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 he had expected, the Course Designer, Frank Rothenberger, revealed in an interview with the stadium commentator. His explanation: “The horses jumped fantastically!” Especially Martin Fuchs’ Leone Jei.

In the jump-off eight obstacles were stood between the eleven pairs 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 question of the course. This is where the riders collected the most faults, for instance as in the case of the Olympic gold medallist, Christian Kukuk and Checker. The public’s favourite, Richard Vogel even knocked the poles of both obstacles down with United Touch S.

The Aachen debutant from Brazil, Stephan de Freitas Barcha, delivered the first clear round with Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio. In the Nations Cup, the pair were disqualified after taking a fall. Today, they demonstrated what they are capable of: Clear in 54.33 seconds, which meant fourth place in the final ranking.

Then, it was the Swiss rider Steve Guerdat and the European Champion Dynamix de Belheme’s turn. With a smooth, fast round, in which the mare didn’t waste a centimetre over or in between the obstacles, he knocked almost two seconds off the Brazilian rider’s time. The new time to beat was 52.59 seconds.

The next to go was Gerrit Nieberg. In 2022, he won the Rolex Grand Prix with Ben after a nail-biting jump-off. But Ben was an experienced horse (which now competes in the USA), Nieberg’s new star, the striking piebald gelding, Ping Pong van de Lentamel, is just ten years old and he obviously found the CHIO-Aachen wall that was implemented as an obstacle for the first time in the jump-off very spooky. He hesitated and the pole fell.

Martin Fuchs and Leone Jei were next on the starting list. The vast arena at the Soers is ideal for the large, athletic grey gelding with his huge stride. And Martin Fuchs had set himself a big goal. “I have come close to winning here so often. Last year I let him down in the jump-off and made a mistake. I wanted to do it better this year.” Especially since Fuchs is aware that: “When I do a good job, he always leaves the poles up. How he prepared himself for the Rolex Grand Prix? “I spent most of the evening watching videos of all the Rolex Grand Prix I have ridden here with Leone Jei to see what I could do better!” The strategy that Fuchs ultimately came up with for the jump-off – leaving out a stride at the double combination and then riding as fast as he could to the last vertical – proved to be the right one. He chose exactly the right line to find the optimal take-off at the fences for Leone Jei. Even before he saw the result, he clenched his fist in triumph. His joy was even greater when the result appeared on the display: Clear in 50.29 seconds, 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 pair had also picked up four faults along the way. Then, came Richard Vogel and United Touch S. As already mentioned, they failed at the double combination. The winner of the RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia, Nina Mallevaey then entered the arena with Dynastie de Beaufour. Wow, they were fast! But they paid for their risk dearly – four faults. Whereby, thanks to them notching up the fastest four-fault ride, 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 pair left, who could snatch the victory away from Fuchs: The team Olympic gold medallist and winner of the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup, Laura Kraut with Baloutinue. But Laura Kraut said she had already decided at the wall not to risk all at the golden double and instead try to ride home clear. Which she did, but her safe round cost her 200,000 Euros. The clock stopped at 52.41 seconds, which sufficed for second place, ahead of Steve Guerdat, but wasn’t good enough to oust Martin Fuchs from the throne.

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 the year 1983, when Willi Melliger, Martin Fuchs’ god-father, claimed the 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: Spruce Meadows.

Martin Fuch’s fellow-competitors took the defeat lightly. Laura Kraut explained: “I am very happy with my second place. There were eleven 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; a lot of the riders were quick until then. I didn’t know if I was up on Martin or not, but instead of risking all I opted to take the safe route at the golden double and the speed Martin went at to the last fence – no way!

Steve Guerdat’s had a similar stance: “I have many reasons to be happy today. My mare jumped amazingly. The class didn’t go well for us; there were too many clears. I knew I hadn’t a hope of winning. Today you needed a horse with a huge stride, which Dynamix doesn’t have.  Of course, I would have like to have come first myself, but of course I’d prefer Martin to win rather than anyone else,“ he said totally happy for his friend and fellow countryman.

As such, the CHIO Aachen 2025 came to an end and the Head of Sport, Birgit Rosenberg drew a very positive balance: “Today was the perfect finish of a great show for us, apart from rain and the spectators celebrated the horses and the sport with us.”