Richard Vogel (GER) was positively unbeatable Sunday in Verona, running off with the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Verona (ITA) at Fieracavalli with Gangster Montdesir, marking the third straight year for a German rider in the competition.
In a nine-horse jump-off of accomplished combinations, Vogel and “Gangster” were in a class of their own, effortlessly navigating Uliano Vezzani’s (ITA) jump-off track in just 33.02 seconds. German teammate Tom Schewe earned runner-up honors in a strong battle for second with Congress Blue PS (36.87s), followed by Simon Delestre (FRA) and Gatsby du Tillard (39.83s).
“Gangster is an incredible horse,” Vogel said. “I could not be prouder of him and how he jumped the jump-off. He was with me everywhere, and I could really follow my plan. I never had to slow down so much. I could just keep coming.”
On paper, Verona’s World Cup field was stacked, with four of the World’s top 10 — Vogel, Steve Guerdat (SUI, No.4), Ben Maher (GBR, 7) and Daniel Deusser (GER, 9) — in the lineup. But no one could come close to Vogel and Gangster, even when the first round did not go completely to plan.
“In the first round, we were very lucky at jump number two. I had too long of a break between my last oxer in the warm-up and the first oxer inside [the arena], so the first jump was good, but at number two, he was a little bit surprised,” Vogel shared. “It was a big and wide oxer for him. After that, he dialed in super, and he was really with me, and I felt that he was really game today. We tried to do a better warm-up situation for the jump off.”
Vogel got the warm-up and the round he wanted when it came time for the short course. After Max Kühner and Vivo de Muze were the first to navigate the jump-off without fault, Vogel and Gangster all but obliterated their time, executing two flawless inside turns and besting the 43.11-second standard by more than 10 seconds—a feat rarely heard of at the top level of the sport. From there, the names on the leaderboard changed frequently—but only for second place. Henrik von Eckermann took hold of the runner-up spot before being overtaken by Delestre, who was then surpassed by Schewe. Schewe’s time was still more than three seconds off the winners.
“I watched Richie, and I watched Simon, and for me the target was to beat Simon,” Schewe said. “There’s a reason why [Vogel] is the No. 1 in the world, and at the moment he’s untouchable. I just wanted to give my horse a super experience, and I did the plan, and the plan worked out.”
“I watched Richie, but I knew I had no chance to beat him today,” Delestre added. “So I just tried to go for second place. From what I saw, I had to be in front of Henrik. At the end, I finished third, but podium in a World Cup is good for the first [indoor] Grand Prix of the season [for Gatsby du Tillard].”
A two-time winner of this event, Delestre has high hopes for Gatsby, who has made the podium in each of his two career World Cup starts, finishing second in his debut last season at Leipzig (GER).
“I hope he’s going to still grow for the future and will become a superstar. He is already, but he can still improve,” Delestre said. “He’s only 10 and in his first year jumping five-star Grand Prixs. What he’s already done is fantastic.”
Also 10, Gangster Montdesir has been a quick study, already with five Grand Prix wins at the highest level of sport on his resume.
“He’s only 10, but he feels like a professor doing these jump-offs,” Vogel said. “We know how incredible he is. We don’t count the wins, but he’s very, very special to us, and we’re very proud of all the achievements he has.”
Vogel now sits atop of the Western European League Standings with 37 points, followed by Max Kühner (AUT) with 32 points and Julien Epaillard (FRA), who has 25 points.
The WEL continues in a week’s time at Stuttgart (GER) on 15 November 2026.
Results here.
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