Piergiorgio Bucci (ITA) rode the round of his life to take victory in the sixth leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League in Madrid this afternoon with the 12-year-old gelding Hantano. This marked his first World Cup win and sees him go down in history as the first Italian rider to win the Madrid leg of the series.
Javier Trenor Paz set a strong but fair first test in the first round, making use of four maximum height obstacles and a range of material types and colours around his thirteen-fence track. He put his wealth of building experience at IFEMA Madrid to expert use by producing a track slightly less technically demanding than other legs in consideration that historically, horses can find this venue more daunting than others.
He may have been left rueing this decision when four of the first seven combinations produced clear rounds comfortably inside his allowed time of 69 seconds. Three of those riders however, sit within the top 11 on the Longines World Rankings List. World No. 5 Julian Epaillard (FRA), winner of this class in 2021 and 2022, showed the rest of the field how to master the course when producing the first clear from second draw with his home bred 11yo gelding Donatello d’Auge. Two horses later, three- time World Cup Final Champion Steve Guerdat (SUI) produced the second clear with a round epitomising his masterful horsemanship on the World Cup first-timer Lancelotta. In just a plain snaffle bridle, the 11yo mare skipped around without touching a pole belying her inexperience at this level.
Robert Whitaker (GBR) followed suit with his winning partner from Verona, the striking black stallion Vermento and Martin Fuchs (SUI) guided a spring- heeled Connor Jei to the fourth clear round after just seven riders. Faults started to accumulate here on in, highlighting the fact that the early draw was packed full of horses and riders of an exceptional calibre rather than that a soft task had been set.
Fences fell all around Trenor Paz’s track with only three of the 16 obstacles remaining in the cups for the duration of the first round. The final line required scope, care and obedience testing horse and riders’ concentration and fitness right to the end of the 13-fence track. The delicate white planks set at the maximum height of 1.60m came quickly after a turn and were followed by a five-stride distance to a large Liverpool oxer strategically constructed with horizontally- striped blue and white poles. The final fence claimed eight victims whilst its predecessor, fence 12, dashed the dreams of five combinations, amongst them 3 fancied combinations that were otherwise faultless.
Mariano Martinez Bastia (ESP) raised the roof of his home show producing the sole clear from the 6 Spanish riders that contested round one. Longines FEI Jumping World CupTM regulars Marcus Ehning (GER), Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Wilma Hellström all returned clean sheets, meaning that at the halfway stage, a jump- off of at least eight combinations was guaranteed.
Perhaps lured into a false sense of security by the riders that had gone before him, Ireland’s Cian O’Connor produced a foot perfect round with Bentley de Sury to open the second half of round one, but a single time fault kept them out of the jump off. Seven riders faulted before Max Kuhner (AUT) added his name to the jump- off list. Double Olympic Bronze medallists Maikel van der Vleuten (NED) and Beauville Z N.O.P lived up to all expectations in producing clear round number 10. Next in was Piergiorgio Bucci who masterfully guided the big gelding Hantano around Madrid’s tight arena in his own unique style. Completing the Jump- off start list were Kim Emmen (NED) and Michael Pender (IRE).
Julian Epaillard was the first to navigate Trenor Paz’s jump- off track and looked like he was on par to set an unbeatable standard before the penultimate fence fell to finish on four faults in a sensationally quick time of 39.60. One by one, hot favourites dropped out of contention as fences fell in quick times with riders feeling the pressure of the high-class field waiting in the wings behind them.
Drawn 6th of the 13 qualified riders, reigning Champion here in Madrid, Marcus Ehning put on another customary exhibition when producing the first clear of this year’s battle against the clock. Never breaking his rhythm, he guided Dps Revere around the track without fault in a time of 42.54 seconds. It looked like he might be the Maestro of Madrid once more when Wathelet and Helström faulted and Kühner produced the second clear in a steadier time of 45.70.
But the masters of consistency, Maikel van der Vleuten, glided around the inside lines of the track gradually building momentum to be the first combination to take a stride out between fences 8b and 9, going seven strides where others had gone 8. Their polished performance saw them stop the clock in 41.48 to take the lead at this late stage. Bucci followed on Hantano. They cruised round the course taking inside lines and the shortest distance options in total harmony with one another never missing a beat. A horse towering in stature, contesting only his second ever World Cup Qualifier, one would be forgiven for dismissing Hantano’s chances here this evening at this early stage in his career. But such is the bond formed between Bucci and his ride of just one year, that they deceptively sliced 0.71 seconds from the leading time to break the beam in 40.77 with just one rider remaining.
No stranger to the podium, Ireland’s Michael Pender set sail aboard his long-term boss’s home bred 10yo mare HHS Los Angeles. There looked to be little between them and the leading time but the exuberant mare landed a long way out from the penultimate fence meaning Pender had to work a bit harder and took a stride more than he would have liked to around the turn before the gallop to the last. This proved costly as they crossed the finish line in a time of 41.22, slotting them into second place allowing Bucci to celebrate his first Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ victory and relegating Van der Vleuten to third place.
Bucci realised a dream this evening when winning the 6th leg in Madrid. “It’s an amazing feeling, I really like this show, I’ve often been placed here but never close to winning so I’m really happy!”
Bucci was quick to credit his relatively inexperienced mount Hantano. “My horse is amazing, fast and a winner! He has a funny style, but he’s really good and I hope we will have more wins!”
The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Basel wasn’t originally on Bucci’s agenda but his wins here tonight may see his plans for April 2025 change dramatically! He heads to A Coruña next week and will “make a new plan” incorporating picking up enough points to qualify him for his first Final next April.
After six legs of the Western European League, Kevin Staut (FRA) remains at the top of the standings with 49 points. Richard Vogel (GER) sits in 2nd place on 42, Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Steve Guerdat (SUI)have 36 points apiece holding not 3rd and 4th spots whilst Robert Whitaker (GBR) and Marcus Ehning (GER) round out the top 6 with 28 points each. Piergiorgio Bucci (ITA) jumps straight into the top 20 sharing equal 16th position with Verona victor Sophie Hinners (GER).
The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League moves on to A Coruña next week for the seventh leg of the 2024/2025 season being held on 7th- 10th December 2024.
Full results here.
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