It was not meant to be with the third title for Martin Fuchs in the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva: The Swiss double winner of 2019 and 2021 stared spellbound at the monitor in the warm-up area after his ride and the interim lead. Would McLain Ward be able to top his time of 39.77 seconds with Leone Jei in the jump-off? He could. Fuchs had already missed a canter jump at almost all distances. McLain Ward did the same with HH Azur, with whom he already finished third in the Super Grand Prix in Prague a few weeks ago. On the final line he risked everything and reached the finish line after only 38.43 seconds.
At least 13 riders made it to the jump-off in the Rolex Grand Prix. Among them was Daniel Deusser with his partner Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z. The stallion with the big fighting heart did not make a single mistake in round two either. Only the fact that he had to start the jump-off in second place was not ideal. Deusser and Tobago Z finished in a great sixth place. The European Champion André Thieme and his DSP Chakaria also had two clear rounds. "Unfortunately, I didn't have the knife between my teeth in the jump-off today. The mare would certainly have been fast if I had ridden fast. I was probably thinking about a good finish to the year and so I rode a bit on the safe side," Thieme told spring-reiter.de after his round. Thieme was then also super satisfied with ninth place. "We had a great year.
Also in the jump-off were Christian Ahlmann and his Dominanter 2000 Z. The time in the jump-off of 41.82 seconds was good, unfortunately a pole fell on the way to the finish and so Ahlmann and his mighty stallion placed eleventh.
Third place on the podium this year went to Ireland's Shane Sweetnam with James Kann Cruz ahead of Gilles Thomas and the Holstein mare Calleryama. Simon Delestre and his Cayman Jolly Jumper, who jumps like a cat, came fifth ahead of Daniel Deusser and Tobago.
The winner was visibly close to tears after his triumph at the end: "I don't know how Azur did it today," the Rolex Grand Prix winner rejoiced. And he told how he was already thinking about saying goodbye to the mare at the end of last year. "She didn't feel good, I thought she had passed her zenith." But then everything turned out quite differently. "Since the beginning of this year, she feels like a newborn. Fit and bouncy. She has won so many ribbons in Grand Prix this year. That is impressive," her rider is happy. Also because today, with this victory, he also remembers the hard times in his career. "That's life, it always goes up and down." At the moment, the signs are definitely pointing upwards. At the Dutch Masters, the new Rolex LIVE CONTENDER definitely wants to attack.
Before the Rolex Grand Prix it was also very emotional. Martin Fuchs had said goodbye to his Clooney. For him it was the most important appointment of the week, not the Grand Prix. And of course the tears flowed during the farewell speech, not only for Martin Fuchs: "Clooney, you were my hero, my partner, my crack, my superstar. I will always keep you in my heart. I love you." Afterwards, the dream team galloped through the Geneva Palexpo Hall, which was shaking with applause, one last time to Sweet Caroline.
