By Kim Lundin
Photography: FEI/Richard Juilliart, FEI/Liz Gregg
The World Cup final in Leipzig was both the debutants’ ball and a party for experienced riders. party and, among the horses, there were surely some future superstars, but it was established Olympians who left Leipzig with the trophies in both dressage and jumping.
A World Cup final with 40 showjumpers and 18 dressage horses will never provide a broad representation of pedigrees that are trending upwards in top sport, but using a magnifying glass for those who are on the rise works great!
A showjumping precedent
For the first time in several years the jumping final was won by a rider who used two horses, a fashion that has become less frequent as the World Cup format always favours a quick, reactive, athletic horse, with scope as well as speed and the ability to jump from impossible angles.
Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs started with his approved stallion Chaplin (2007/KWPN Verdi TN - Jaltha B x Concorde) in the speed class – the first class of three in the final. In the second round, with his Oldenburg gelding The Sinner (Sanvaro - Andrea Gold x Landgold) Fuchs had one rail down, so progressed to the final round with five penalties. However, over two rounds Chaplin didn’t touch a rail, and their names are now engraved on the World Cup in perpetuity.
As a stallion, Chaplin was retroactively recognized by KWPN for breeding in 2021, a protocol used for stallions that have qualified through good competition results. Commenting on the 15-year-old stallion’s future career, Fuchs said: “We have seen his first foals at home now, so Chaplin will have a competition break during the summer and we will decide this autumn on how to proceed.”
Chaplin’s damline is characterized by performance even though Chaplin himself was the best offspring of three in the final. Also as damsires, the stallions Come On (Cantus x Baloubet du Rouet) and Contender (Calypso II x Ramiro Z) each had two offspring in the final.
The runner-up in Leipzig was the Cassini II son Monaco (out of Ulla II x Contender) successfully ridden by Harrie Smolders. During an active competition career, this gelding has amassed over €1.3 million in prize money, and has been the most successful offspring of Cassini II by far since 2015... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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