“I want to say thank you for the collaboration and continuous support received from Simona, Gianluca and the whole team, without them nothing would have been possible, we did an incredible job. Thanks also to Pedro Pablo Gomez Martinez Establos Al-Shaalan, owner of the horse I will be riding for the race. This will be my first World Championship and to bring the colours of Fuxiateam and those of Chile to Pisa fills me with joy and pride. I am enthusiastic and ready to go, I will give my best for all the people who believe in me and whom I do not want to disappoint”.
Reading it again today, that post of 8 May on the Facebook page of Italia Endurance Stables & Academy, has a certain effect, indeed a great effect. It makes one think, really, that to want is to be able and that sport is one of the most suitable worlds to write the most beautiful pages of one’s own history.
The protagonists of this story are Boni Bejamin Viada de Vivero and As Embrujo, who have proudly written their names on the golden roll of the World Endurance Championship. They won the bronze medal at the end of the 160-kilometre Longines FEI Endurance World Championship 2021 in San Rossore, after a race that to call masterful is an understatement. At their debut in a rainbow event, the 26-year-old Chilean rider of Fuxiateam and the 2012 bay gelding shone in their own light and overturned all odds. Behind the two UAE riders, Al Kitbi, gold medallist, and Al Faresi, silver, was the pair that grew up in Fuxiateam, where Boni, head trainer in the stable created in Agello (Perugia) by Gianluca Laliscia and his wife Simona Zucchetta, developed the preparation of As Embrujo together with veterinarian Angelo Paris. This medal,” said Boni in an interview with Fei.tv immediately after his arrival, “was a wonderful surprise and I dedicate it to all those who helped me earn it. As Embrujo is only eight years old and we have worked hard to qualify him for this World Championship. He was fantastic in this race. He really amazed me.
Astonishment increased by the pride and satisfaction of having managed the race impeccably from a tactical point of view throughout the 160 kilometres. The initial decision to keep up with the leading group was confirmed lap after lap to such an extent that Boni was able to ask for the best from As Embrujo right at the end, when many of the other pairs travelling in the first positions were forced to reduce the pace in order to cross the finish line and pass the final veterinary control. Always growing the race of the pair of Fuxiateam: 23rd in the first lap, 17th in the second, 16th in the third, tenth in the fourth, sixth in the fifth and third, for a historic bronze medal, at the finish. Bravo Boni, great As Embrujo and applause to all the Fuxiateam.
