Strong start for reigning European champion — and good news about his injured horse

Reigning champion Martin Fuchs made a good start to his campaign at the 2021 European Showjumping Championships — and had good news about his winning 2019 ride on the same day.

The Swiss rider finished in fifth place in today’s speed class, which kicked off both the team and individual competitions. He and Adolfo Juri’s Leone Jei jumped a class clear 0.2 of a second behind fourth-placed Olivier Robert of France.

Martin said he was very pleased with the nine-year-old gelding, who has never jumped either a speed class or in a championship.

“I haven’t done many fast runs with him yet; a couple of jump-offs, but not over a whole course, so I wasn’t sure how this was going to be today,” he said. “I just tried, from the first to last fence, to have a good pace without doing anything crazy! And I was actually very excited to see that I was then sitting in second place.”

Martin said of course the situation is different for the title-holder at a championship, but he does not put any extra pressure on himself owing to that.

“It’s almost more the other way around, because I’ve won it already, so it’s just a bonus what is coming this week,” he said.

Good news for Martin Fuchs at European Showjumping Championships

Martin added that he had also had a positive update on Clooney 51, on whom he won his 2019 European Showjumping Championships title, who sustained a humerus fracture in the field shortly after the Tokyo Olympics.

“This morning, one hour before the class, I got a great phone call from Professor Furst who is taking care of Clooney, to say he for the first time, took him out of the box and did a couple of steps,” Martin said. “He sent me a video, which was sent to all; everybody here is very excited too.

“Very good news, a good day.”

You might also be interested in:

European champion showjumper recovering in hospital with fractured foreleg

European Showjumping Championships: Super Swedes continue in top form as German rider leads

Clooney 51: from ‘difficult’ beginnings — how it all changed for this champion jumper

Find out how it all went right for this superstar grey gelding (and why dressage is key)

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