PrintWith their new chef d’equipe, Markus Fuchs, at the helm, the Italians go out with a bang while France claims the Meydan series title.
The Italian team had only 4 total points for the Meydan FEI Nations Cup series going into the final, and nothing could have saved them from elimination from next year’s series.
People were even avoiding eye contact with the riders and the changing string of chefs d’équipe as the Italians racked up what had to be record losing scores that left a pall over the crowds at recent series shows: 63 faults from their first round at Hickstead (England) and 72 in Falsterbo (Sweden), to name just two.
At the draw during the Dublin CSIO (Ireland), Aug. 5-9, as if to add insult to injury, Italy was picked to go first in the order of go for the league final.
Markus Fuchs, less than two months after officially retiring from professional ridng, sat in the seat for the first time as the new chef d’équipe of the Italian team. He’d only been in discussions with the riders since the San Patrignano CSI***** (Italy) in mid-July, where he managed to put the best four together for one last go at Dublin.
“I didn’t expect to be on the top of the list so quickly!” Fuchs joked before his team took to the course in Dublin.
But he continued with a more serious, though not negative, tone.
“I don’t have great hopes for tomorrow; I’ve still got to get to know the riders, the teams, their horses,” he said. “We’ll start from the bottom next year, but I guarantee you we won’t finish last.”
In his first outing with the Italian team he orchestrated a 360-degree, come-from-behind turn-around that would trump most made-for-TV movies in America. It’s evident now that Italy has good horses and strong riders, and though they are likely leaving the league (see "Great Britain And Belgium Both Qualify For Nations Cup Top League"), if Fuchs has anything to do with it, they’ll be back.
A Deep Well
In Friday’s competition, three of Italy’s four riders had only one rail down after two rounds. With their team tied with the United States for first at the half, the last rider to go, Piergiorgio Bucci on the 12 year-old bay Baden Wurttemberg gelding, Kanebo, clinched the win for Italy with a clear round.
