International Helsinki Grand Trophy 160 cm offered yet another thriller between the world’s top riders and in the jump-off, it was down to 13 horse-and-rider combinations to battle for the podium places. Martin Fuchs on L&L Upgrade proved unbeatable in the deciding round, topping the leaderboard with over half a second margin to Brazilian Yuri Mansur with Vitiki. Helsinki double winner from 2022, Sweden’s Angelica Augustsson Zanotelli on Deesse de Coquerie, was the last to take on the jump-off track and just narrowly missed the second place.
Martin Fuchs and L&L Upgrade – photo Iita-Maria Ahtiainen
The Swiss is happy to be back in Helsinki and loves riding in front of the Finnish crowd.
“The jump-off suited me well; my horse L&L Upgrade is extremely fast, careful and handy, and in the indoor events which have a lot of turns, you need that. He helped me out in the first round twice when I didn’t ride as good as I wanted. But I believe in the jump-off we had a really good round together, he’s a fantastic horse. He just jumped his first five-star Grand Prix in Oslo last week so now coming to Helsinki and having his first win is pretty amazing.”
In the shows like this, Fuchs is always in it to win it.
“Usually when I’m in the jump-off, I always really try to go for the first place, I never play it safe. I rather have a fault than be fourth at the end. I like to take risks, I like to go fast and try to go for the win. Sometimes it works out as today, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s what the sport is about; we always come back, we try, and then we go home and we try to improve things. Then we go to our next show and do our best again.”
Helsinki Grand Trophy, international jumping competition with jump-off 160 cm. Starts 33 placings 12
1) Martin Fuchs – L&L Upgrade, SUI 0-0/33.43
2) Yuri Mansur – Vitiki, BRA 0- 0/34.18
3) Angelica Augustsson Zanotelli – Deesse de Coquerie, SWE 0-0/34.22
4) Andreas Schou – Billy Matador, DEN 0-0/34.30
5) Pieter Devos – Primo DV, BEL 0-0/34.67
6) Jenny Krogsaeter – Laurier, NOR 0-0/35.40
7) Peder Fredricson – Alcapone des Carmille, SWE 0-0/36.37
8) Kevin Staut – Visconti du Telman, FRA 0-4/33.35
9) Edouard Schmitz – Quno, SUI 0-4/33.41
10) Mario Stevens – Carrie 22, GER 0-4/34.05
11) Hans-Dieter Dreher – Vestmalle des Cotis, GER 0-4/34.67
12) Katharina Rhomberg – Colestus Cambridge, AUT 0-4/37.14
Complete results: https://www.longinestiming.com/equestrian/2024/helsinki-international-horse-show-helsinki/resultlist_04.html
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