After nearly two years of waiting, the highly anticipated Geneva International Equestrian Festival returns from 9 to 12 December 2021, the fourth and final Rolex steeplechase Grand Slam event of the year. Before the end of the Geneva International Equestrian Festival, the Rolex Grand Prix brought the ultimate excitement to the audience as the finale show. After a round of races and a play-off, Rolex spokesperson and Swiss rider Martin Fuchs partnered the horse "Leone Jei" to reach the 2021 Geneva International Equestrian Festival Rolex Grand Prix.
Following his first Rolex Grand Prix title at the Aachen World Equestrian Festival in September, German rider Daniel Deusser travelled to Geneva with his talented mare "Killer Queen VDM" to try to take the Road to a Grand Slam in the Rolex Steeplechase. Peder Fredricson, now number one in the world, is very competitive, and his fellow Swedish compatriot Henrik von Eckermann is also aiming to stand on the podium at the Rolex Grand Prix to add glory to his harvest year.
Rolex spokesperson and British rider Scott Brash, the only Ever Rolex Obstacle Course Grand Slam winner, realized the brutal competition and complexity of the race, brought the "Hello Jefferson" of the "Hello" family to compete, trying to make himself a monument in the field obstacle world again. The rider who was popular with the home audience was Martin Foss. He rode the "Leone Jei", the horse that helped him win the European Championship team gold medal and individual silver medal, in order to defend the glory of the Rolex Grand Prix at the International Equestrian Festival in Geneva. Not to mention the rolex spokesperson Steve Guerdat, who won this year's CP International Grand Prix at the CSIO Spruce Meadow Masters Rolex, who has done his best in every previous Rolex Grand Prix.
The Geneva Cup, held on 9 December as a qualifier for the Rolex Grand Prix, selected 40 pairs from a combination of 49 centaurs to showcase the quality of the Rolex Grand Prix to a global audience. Lead route designer Gérard Lachat has designed a route with 14 obstacles and 18 jumps for these top teams participating in the Rolex Grand Prix, including 2 double combinations and 1 triple combination. The height of the obstacle is 1.65 meters, the length of the route is 490 meters, and the allowable time is 79 seconds.
Gerald said in an interview: "The Rolex Grand Prix format of the Geneva International Equestrian Festival is actually the same as that of the Rolex Grand Prix of the Dutch Master Equestrian Grand Prix, but it is different from the format of the CIO Spruce Grass Master Rolex Presentation CP International Grand Prix and the Rolex Grand Prix of the Aachen World Equestrian Festival. "In Spruce and Aachen, riders have to complete two rounds in the outdoor field. At the Rolex Grand Prix at the Geneva International Equestrian Festival, the race was played in only one round, so Gerald designed a longer route that included 18 jumps. This year's route design requires horses to travel faster and more motivated. Jeral also gave some explanation on the route details, "We will not increase the number of double horizontal logs this year. The route features are similar to the Rolex Grand Prix at the 2019 Geneva International Equestrian Festival and are very classic. Now is not the time to arrange a special route, it is best to keep the classic style. ”
And the participating rider Daniel Duser said that compared to the Aachen World Equestrian Festival, we will see more three- and four-step distances in the indoor races of the Geneva International Equestrian Festival, so we need to train the horses to adapt to such distances and routes. The horses are well-tuned and experienced, and can be trained once or twice in advance.
Who has the best chance of winning the Rolex Grand Prix at the 2021 Geneva International Equestrian Festival? Gerald also couldn't answer that question because these riders were among the best riders in the world. But success always seems to favor riders who have a good bond with their horses, and that rider needs some good luck. Gerald wants the best riders on the field to come out on top, as these riders and horses need to work together to achieve the perfect balance of speed, precision and harmony on the routes he has designed.
Halfway through the first round of the race, the first 23 pairs of men and horses have all appeared, but there is still not a single 0 penalty point. The first to finish with a 0-point finish was Irish rider Darragh Kenny, who made the 24th appearance, and his 14-year-old Khosdan stallion "VDL Cartello". Martin Fosszcer rode the 9-year-old blue horse "Leone Jei" to the scene and was warmly cheered by the audience, successfully crossing the finish line, and all the obstacles remained in place without moving, which made the audience even more excited. Daniel Duter and his superstar "Killer Queen VDM" followed, but it didn't seem to be very lucky, folding at the 13a double crossbar, compared with the previous 7 pairs of centa duos that had made mistakes on the Rolex 13a. Tokyo Olympic steeplechase individual champion Ben Maher has just won the Rolex IJRC Round of 10 finals, but unfortunately he missed the play-offs. Steve Golda's partner "Venard de Cerisy" who played at home left the game with eight free throws. The third pair of centaurs to complete a round of 0 penalties was Kent Farrington and Gazelle, who took the top spot in the Geneva Cup and led the 40 pairs to the Rolex Grand Prix.
None of the five riders who came out later were able to create a "Clear Round", they just had flaws in the details, but this was a Rolex Grand Prix, and a small mistake could stop the rider in the race for time. It wasn't until Austrian rider Max Kühner partnered with the 10-year-old mule "Elektric Blue P" to contribute a round of 0 penalties. World number one Ped Fredrickson was not so lucky, making two mistakes on the "Catch Me Not S" to end the race with eight free throws. American rider Laura Kraut rode her current main horse, the Baloutinue, to lock in the play-offs at a break-off speed. Dutch rider Harrie Smolders partnered with 12-year-old Hhosdam's horse "Monaco" in penultimate appearance, marching steadily and fluidly, and finally finished the race with 0 free throws. In most international equestrian competitions, whenever you hear a horse with the prefix "Hello" coming into the field, it's easy to know that scott Brasz will follow. "Hello Sanctos" helped him become a Rolex steeplechase Grand Slam winner. Today he played in the finale with "Hello Jefferson", and although the first round was smooth, the mistake in the 9th obstacle closed the door of the playoffs early.
A round of time-racing ended with a six-pairs of men and horses advancing to the play-offs. The play-offs have 8 obstacles, including 1 double combination obstacle, and the allowable time is reduced to 55 seconds. According to Gerald, for spectators, racers and sponsors, the ideal situation for this race is to have 8 or so pairs of people and horses enter the play-offs, and it is clear that the route designers know the difficulty of the route and the strength of the participants.
Dalach Kenny made his debut, with partner "VDL Cartello" taking the lead with a 0-point penalty, with a finish time of 43.47 seconds, which put pressure on the five riders who followed. Martin Foss partner "Leone Jei" finished the race with 0 free throws, using small turns and acceleration in a straight line to freeze the finish time at 41.54 seconds and break the 42-second mark. Max Kuna also failed to surpass Martin Foss in time. As for the two American riders, Kent Farrington and Laura Kraut, they thought they could continue their steady performance in the time race, but the obstacle mistakes kept them apart from the championship. When all eyes were on Harry Smolds, all the riders appeared on the viewing platform, waiting for him, perhaps kissing or cry. When the chronograph numbers on the screen stopped at 41.77 seconds, Martin Foss, who was warming up, couldn't hide his excitement and hugged his team staff. Martin Foss once again took the Rolex Grand Prix podium with a time advantage of 0.23 seconds.
The end of the Rolex Grand Prix means the end of the Geneva International Equestrian Festival and the next time the Rolex Steeplechase Grand Slam event meets the audience next spring. But for the race side, this year is a special year, and they have put in a lot of effort.
Sophie Mottu Morel, president of the tournament, said: "The biggest challenge this year is that everything is changing and we have to constantly adapt to change. This year our team is new and it's difficult to coordinate since most of them have never been involved in organizing an event before. Because of the uncertainty brought about by objective conditions, it is difficult for us to ensure the enthusiasm of the team and the organizing committee. Most of the members of the organizing committee are volunteers, so motivate them and assure them that the events and performances will return as scheduled, or even do better than before. Apparently, Sophie and her team did. The re-emergence of the Geneva International Equestrian Festival is a satisfactory answer to the audience.
Text/Wan Fu Lin
Photo Bugard, CHI Geneva, Equestrian magazine