Daniel Deusser stormed to victory in the third leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League held in Verona this afternoon with Stephex Stables’ on form 11-year-old stallion Otello de Guldenboom. Their faultless round in 36.13 seconds saw them knock compatriot and reigning Olympic champion Christian Kukuk (GER) from the top of the podium having taken a short-lived lead. This marked a spectacular double of wins for the partnership who had also proved unbeatable in Friday’s feature class, the 1.55m Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Qualifier.
Deusser used his penultimate draw in this afternoon’s seven-strong jump-off to full advantage. Having watched his compatriot Christian Kukuk and the rangey 11-year-old mare Just Be Gentle take the lead with a clear in 37.31 seconds moments before he entered the arena, he knew he had to take a risk somewhere to better it.
A delighted Alain Jufer (SUI) pulled off a career-best Longines FEI Jumping World CupTM performance when he and his partner of six years, the 14-year-old Dante MM put up a valiant challenge from last draw of the seven-strong jump-off to leave all the fences intact and break the beam in 36.93 seconds.
Athletes, trainers and experts of the sport alike, were unanimous in their praise for the masterful track set by course designer Uliano Vezzani (ITA) and his team. “Technical” and “delicate” were the terms used by every athlete when asked for their first impressions of the track and they were prevalent once again in the post class analyses of every expert interviewed. His use of light and delicate materials coupled with technical lines which required total concentration and committed, decisive riding from athletes, provided the perfect balance of being fair for horses but very difficult for their pilots to get right.
Only two of the 16 jumping efforts presented by Uliano remained in their cups throughout, as fence two and fence four made up part of the inviting early stages of the track giving combinations the chance to get into a rhythm before the real questions began. The combination at fence six, despite being described by athletes as ‘straight forward’, saw each element fall five times. The most technical line came from fence nine to ten. A towering, square oxer at fence nine preceded a two-strided oxer to vertical double at ten ‘a’ and ‘b’. The short five-stride distance between the two imposing oxers saw combinations shorten their stride and consequently lose the power and impulsion required to clear the back bar of the 1.55m high and 1.60m wide oxer at 10a. However, it was the aesthetically pleasing 1.60m high wavy planks at fence 11 that pleased athletes far less than spectators, as no fewer than fifteen of the forty combinations coming forward incurred four faults here.
Armando Trapote (ESP) demonstrated exactly how to negotiate Vezzani’s test when from second draw he guided the spring-heeled 14-year-old Tornado VS to a clear round which was nothing short of a joy to watch. Despite some highly fancied combinations following him, at the half time arena maintenance break only two clear rounds had been recorded. The second of these raised the roof of the Veronafiere S.p.A, as it was delivered by Italy’s own Emanuele Guadiano, with the 11-year-old cornet Obolensky x Baloubet du Rouet gelding, Esteban de Hus.
Richard Vogel (GER) and the 11-year-old Cloudio gave an exhibition of Jumping to provide the first clear of the second half as the striking grey Casall x Cassini stallion gave every fence inches to spare whilst appearing totally relaxed and at ease. When the next two athletes in the draw followed suit and added their names to the jump-off order, one could have been forgiven for thinking that the latter-drawn athletes had now mastered the tricky track.
However, Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen (NOR) and Equine America Harwich VDL showed the same level of skill and experience that earned them third place in leg one of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ in Oslo two weeks ago to deliver clear round number four. Christian Kukuk then demonstrated why he is the reigning Olympic Champion as he and the 11-year-old Tyson x Ticallux Verte mare glided effortlessly around the track to make it five clears from the 26 combinations.
It wasn’t until the penultimate athlete of round one that the next clear was recorded however, as Daniel Deusser conjured up another customary polished round to make it three out of six for Germany in round two’s decider. His faultless performance was matched by last to go, Switzerland’s Alain Jufer and his ever-reliable partner Dante MM.
The jump-off track posed many challenges to athletes with options to omit strides down three distances, a roll-back and a ‘he who dares’ gallop to the last. Emanuele Guadiano set the benchmark when producing the first double clear in 37.54 seconds. Vogel, keen to match the victory posted by his partner Sophie Hinners (GER) in this class 12-months-ago, looked set to lay down a formidable challenge. He opted to take a direct seven strides on the dog leg from the oxer at fence seven to the FEI vertical at fence four where all before him had gone eight. When Cloudio touched the rail and dislodged it with a hind foot, his chances of retaining the title for the Stable were gone but his time of 35.44 seconds demonstrated that Gaudiano’s leading time was vulnerable.
Kukuk followed, opting to play safe and take eight strides to the FEI vertical where his compatriot had faulted but followed this up with a sensationally tight roll back to the next vertical. He matched Vogel’s seven strides rather than eight down to the remaining two parts of the combination and set sail to the last to break the beam in 37.31 seconds and take the lead with just two athletes remaining.
Waiting in the wings however was a hungry Daniel Deusser, with the taste of success fresh on his lips and brimming with confidence having commandeered Friday’s feature class aboard his World Cup ride. Having watched both of his fellow countrymen go before him he knew exactly what to do and where he could pinch a stride, and fraction of a second. He executed his plan to the letter, taking a tighter line to fence seven before successfully negotiating the oxer to the FEI vertical in the seven forward strides and matching Kukuk’s pace thereafter. His time of 36.13 seconds shot him to the top of the leaderboard with just one athlete left to challenge his lead.
Jufer battled valiantly but an extra stride to the double saw him finish just adrift of the leader in 36.92 seconds. This was however good enough to slot him into second place, in between the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2014 Champion Deusser and current Olympic Champion Kukuk with his ever-reliable partner of seven years Dante MM and record a career-best World Cup performance.
“It’s an amazing day. It’s the best placing that I’ve had in a World Cup. I haven’t done so many World Cups in my career so now it’s a good time!” said Deusser, who explained that when he walked the course his initial thought was that, “We have some really big fences! But when I watched the first three (athletes, who had four faults, clear and four faults) I thought, ‘Ok it’s easy!’ But the longer the class went on the more we saw it was a complicated course. At the end it was the correct number of athletes in the jump-off.”
Of his tactics and plan in the jump-off he explained, “I had a bit of doubt going seven (strides) to the FEI vertical…but Otello gave me a good feeling at one, two and three so I thought now is the time to try it. In the end I was lucky that I did it as I think that was where I made the time up!”
After three legs of the 2025/2026 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League, Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen tops the league standings with 25 points. Sanne Thijssen (NED) sits in second on 22 points just ahead of Ben Maher (GBR) in third on 21, whilst Daniel Deusser and Olivier Perreau (FRA) share fourth place on 20 points apiece.
The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League now heads north to Germany where Stuttgart will host leg four on November 16. A Coruña will stage leg five on December 7 before the series crosses the English Channel for the festive London leg on December 21, 2025.
Results here.
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