Press release from Longines CSIO St. Gallen, edited by World of Showjumping

The home team won Friday’s CSIO5* 1.60m Range Rover Nations Cup of Switzerland in front of an electrified crowd at the Gründenmoos stadium in St. Gallen.

After finishing the first round in fourth place on 8 penalties, the Swiss team delivered a top-class second round. As the team's opening rider, Martin Fuchs and Lorde (Clyde LVB x Elan de la Cour) set the tone with a clear round in 72.94 seconds. Jason Smith followed up by repeating his first-round zero aboard Picobello van'T Roosakker, (Kassander van’T Roosakker x Canabis Z), again clear in 72.11 seconds. Alain Jufer and Dante MM (Diarado x Luxius) had a tougher time, finishing on 12 penalties – a score that could be dropped, as only the three best results per team counted.

Everything then rested on the shoulders of Steve Guerdat and Albführen's Iashin Sitte (Bamako de Muze x Tinka’s Boy). The current world number 10 produced a tidy round with just a single time penalty in 75.20 seconds. Added to the first-round result, the Swiss total stood at 9 penalties – a score that would have opened the door to a jump-off if the final British rider had gone clear. However, with the very first rail down for the Briton, the suspense was over and the Swiss victory was sealed.

Austria finished second on 16 penalties, followed by Great Britain in third on 17 penalties. Belgium, leader after the first round, slipped to fourth on 18 penalties, ahead of the USA (20 penalties), Germany (22 penalties), Ireland (27 penalties) and Brazil (32 penalties).