It was an afternoon filled with emotions as the CSIO5* 1.60m €1,500,000 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen 2025 was decided at Soers on Sunday. Some got life-long dreams fulfilled, others had to accept that it was not their moment to shine.
The Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen is jumped over two rounds, and a jump-off, and eighteen horse-and-rider combinations moved on to the second round of this second Major of the year in the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping. The test course designer Frank Rothenberger presented for round two turned out to be a relatively easy task for this calibre of horses and riders, and no less than eleven pairs joined the jump-off after posting double clear rounds.
With such a large and strong field for the jump-off, it was bound to become a race – with the riders being forced to take all the risk from start to finish if they were to have any chance to take the title. Fastest of them all was Switzerland's Martin Fuchs and his trustworthy 13-year-old gelding Leone Jei (Baltic VDL x Corland), 7th out in the order to go. The jump-off course could not have been much better for Fuchs, who used Leone Jei’s ground-covering stride to his advantage and got a perfect run to the penultimate combination that caught out so many of his competitors. Crossing the finish line, Fuchs stopped the clock on 50.29 seconds – a time that turned out to be impossible to beat.
Here we look back at how it played out behind the scenes of the second round and the jump-off at Soers, and we start with Martin Fuchs' long-time groom Sean Vard who has been there even before Leone Jei leaped into the spotlight as a 9-year-old in 2021 – and through all the ups and downs – so needless to say this Grand Prix win brought out a lot of emotions.
All photos © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping. No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.
It kept on raining for round two...
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Richard Vogel took his time to walk the course for the second round, and ran out as first to go Gregory Wathelet entered the ring,
But first...let us take a selfie.
The weather conditions required serious studs.
It quickly turned muddy at Soers as the rain kept on pouring down.
From shorts and sunglasses to rain jackets, wellies and umbrellas; the weather gods put everything on offer during CHIO Aachen 2025.
High-five! Cooper Maher celebrates his dad's clear in round two, after he had picked up four faults in round one with the stunning Point Break.
And another high-five! Sandra Auffarth and Quirici H ended on a total score of one fault from round one, after jumping clear the second time out.
Olivier Robert's Iglesias D.V. lost a shoe in round two, but nevertheless the two managed to jump the first double clear of the Grand Prix.
One rider later, a jump-off was secured by reigning Olympic champions Christian Kukuk and Checker.
Sophie Hinners and Iron Dames Singclair were the third pair to join the jump-off...
...and David Will was kept busy, running from Hinners, to support Richard Vogel next.
Steve Guerdat gets ready to go at Soers.
After a dramatic fall in Thursday's Nations Cup, Stephan de Freitas Barcha and Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio impressed everyone with a double clear in the Rolex Grand Prix.
Fifth pair qualified for the jump-off: Steve Guerdat and Dynamix de Belheme – reigning European champions and Olympic vice-champions.
Are you looking at me? Yes we certainly are Ping Pong! Double clear and ready for the jump-off.
Martin Fuchs and Leone Jei were the 6th duo to make it to the jump-off.
Then it was seven: Lillie Keenan and Fasther.
And one more, and not just anyone: Richard Vogel and United Touch S.
Sean Lynch looking very serious despite a double clear from the world's leading U25 rider Nina Mallevaey and Dynastie de Beaufour, the 10th pair to join the jump-off.
The 11th and last pair qualified for the jump-off: Laura Kraut and Baloutinue.
It was not to be for world no. one Kent Farrington, who had to see Greya clip a rail in round two to leave them out of the jump-off.
Helena Stormanns and Nina Mallevaey take a look at the big screen as the jump-off gets underway.
All the three first riders in the jump-off – Robert, Kukuk and here Hinners – clipped rails.
The first to leave all the fences up was Stephan de Freitas Barcha – fourth out in the jump-off – who set the time to beat to 54.33 seconds.
Next to go, Steve Guerdat shaved the time to beat down to 52.59 seconds – but by the look of his face, he knew it would not be enough.
Gerrit Nieberg had a brick on the wall down, but still left the arena with a smile after his lovely Ping Pong had exceeded all expectations.
“I had a very good plan for the jump-off, with leaving out a stride into the double which was a hard task because the golden double was hard to jump,” Fuchs detailed as he clocked a time of 50.29 seconds. “But I know my horse very well; he is extremely careful and can jump out of any situation, so I said we try and we take the last risk for this golden combination. Then from there on it was just the last fence in front of us, and go as fast as I could.”
Four faults for Fasther, after a great weekend for Lillie Keenan in Aachen.
Gerrit Nieberg following the jump-off from the warm-up.
Hopes were high for Vogel, but United Touch S took two rails with him in the double – the most troublesome part of the jump-off.
Nina Mallevaey had the fastest round in the jump-off in 50.01 seconds but on the expense of a rail down in the double and four faults added to her score. In the end it was good enough for 5th.
Waiting for Laura Kraut as last to go...
...but the time was not good enough. 52.41 seconds put Kraut second, and pushed Guerdat to third.
Better believe it Sean!
Leone Jei looking proud as the winner of the CSIO5* 1.60m €1,500,000 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen 2025.
Second place Baloutinue; another horse that has given his team so much.
And of course the one and only Dynamix!
“My mare jumped amazing. With so many clears and this jump-off course I knew that I had no chance to win today, there was no option as basically you needed a huge-strided horse which my mare is not," a slightly disappointed Guerdat said after the Grand Prix.
Fuchs is now the new Live Contender in the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping ahead of series' next stop at Spruce Meadows, where he and Leone Jei won the Grand Prix both in 2024 and 2023.
“It’s a very special day for the whole family and the whole team,” Fuchs said about becoming the 4th Swiss rider through history to win this prestigious Grand Prix. “Leone Jei is such an incredible horse, in all the Majors, he is always there and always present so when I do my job he usually leaves the poles up. He has a huge stride, so in a ring like this it allows me to leave out some strides and to really go full risk and still usually jump the fences clear. I’m very fortunate and lucky to be riding a horse like this.”
“All of the Majors always have the best riders and horses in the world, so it is really exciting – especially here in Aachen where we are for a whole week, and it is building up to the Grand Prix. Sunday is always an exciting day, to walk the courses for the Rolex Grand Prix, and to lay out a plan. Actually, last night in bed I was studying all my prior Rolex Grand Prixs with Leone Jei and really tried to see what I could improve today and where I could try to be better than the last years – so I am really happy that it turned out like this," Fuchs said.
Then