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Markus Fuchs - a worthy winner of the
inaugural Lyon International Show Jumping Event

CSI**** Lyon, GL Grand Prix (80.000 €), Sunday October 30, 2005

Markus Fuchs and Grannie, the winner
of the 1st international Grand Prix of Lyon

What a man the Swiss have here! Markus Fuchs has not lost any of his enthusiasm despite having had a difficult year in 2004- a nasty accident at the beginning of the year, a missed opportunity of an Olympic medal, and, at the end of the year, the retirement of the horse of his lifetime, Tinka's Boy, injured in Spain - gave Markus his share of difficult times. Despite this, Markus still managed to keep himself in the top 10 World Rankings. He came to Lyon ranked 4th in the world and left as top of the class.

The course, designed by Gerard Delporte, was a perfect test. As pointed out by Markus - "the difficulty was well distributed. The triple combination was not easy because of the distance coming off the wall.” The cream rose to the top with 10 horses being able to negotiate the course without error. Four Swiss riders managed to make the cut. Only one Frenchman, Hubert Bourdy, managed to make it to the jump off, however a torn ligament sustained during the first round prevented him from participating in the jump off. Australian Edwina Alexander, aboard her star performer Isovlas Pialotta, was first in the jump off and opted for a careful clean. Her time of 38.43 was beatable. However, Daniel Etter, one of the five Swiss riders who participated in the class, and Peter Wylde, the American Olympic champion, managed a better time but with 4 faults each. Steve Guerdat and Grégoire Oberson, were clean however, they were too slow.

When Markus Fuchs enters a ring - he does so without a set plan - except to win. "In the last three weeks, the business on showjumpings was not profitable in that I was spending more money than I was earning. At this point, I decided that enough was enough. I took shortcuts but was very careful with the double combination and was quite surprised that I was 4 seconds quicker than Edwina."

Markus put on quite a show for the crowd and the crowd responded with great enthusiasm. "When I heard the crowd screaming it got my blood racing and I had to try control myself".

Thanks to Markus, the first champion of the Lyon International Grand Prix belongs to one of the greatest names in showjumping today. The overwhelming consensus of the riders with regards to the superb facilities offered in Lyon, along with the appreciative fans, proved that the show was indeed a first class event.

 

Complete results on www.equitalyon.com

Photos on request
Contact :
Pascal Renauldon
Grandes Écuries
BP 60242
F-60631 Chantilly cedex
Tél.:+33-344 620 621 / +33-608 759 407