Gilles Thomas prolongs his title in the Belgian Seniors Championship

During the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses, Saturday afternoon is traditionally time for the finale of the Belgian Championship for Seniors. The best 16 combinations from the two qualifiers on Wednesday and Thursday will then appear in the ring for an ultimate battle for the medals.

Thomas' championship seemed like a déjà-vu of last year's performance. Like in 2023, he started his championship with a 3rd place during the Table C class on Wednesday. After a clear round during the second qualifier on Friday, he took the lead in the preliminary standings before the final both last year and this year and began the final as the top favourite.

As expected, the first round of the final proved to be a real challenge. Only four of the 16 combinations managed to set a clear round, shaking up the rankings considerably. But not for Gilles Thomas. As leader in the ranking, he entered the ring as the last competitor. He kept his cool and delivered a perfect clear round, keeping his lead and starting the second and decisive round on top of the leaderboard.

In the second and all-decisive round, Thomas was the last competitor in the order of go again. He could afford two penalties for time, which gave him a goof starting point. For a moment the crowds held their breaths, and a sigh of relief went over the grounds when Thomas and Luna took some risk on the Eurohorse oxer, but with another flawless round he secured his second consecutive Belgian title. “This is a fantastic title that is only possible thanks to the entire team around me! For a while I thought about competing with a younger horse this year, but the Belgian Championship is and remains special, so I opted for Luna after all (laughs). My uncle Marc once came second at the Belgian Championships with Luna's mother and the day before an embryo was flushed. And that became Luna. So, it was already in the back of my mind it would be great to start her at the Championship one day.”

Silver went to Nathan Budd with his 10-year-old stallion Touardo Blue Z, a son of Toulon and Arko III who was bred by Hugues Delattre. Budd started the final day as number six in the ranking with a score of 3.26 penalty points, but thanks to two excellent clear rounds he managed to make an impressive rise in the standings and took the 2nd step on the podium. “Touardo Blue arrived in my stable 2 years ago and the start was definitely not easy. We had to get to know each other a bit but have certainly grown tremendously over the past year. He was already in excellent form over the past few months, so I am extremely happy that I was able to cash in on that here today with a medal. The crowd was also great today and really stood there until the very last moment.”

Bronze went to Rik Hemeryck with the 11-year-old BWP horse Navarro Van Het Eelshof (Jappelloup Vh Dauwhof x Poleander), bred by Wim and Tom Mertens. Hemeryck started the final in fifth place with a score of 2.78. In both rounds he managed to stay clear and keep all the poles in the cups. Unfortunately, a single penalty point for time in the decisive round meant he missed out on silver and had to settle for bronze. “Two years ago we were already 5th here at the Belgian Championships and then we were the only double clear in the final. Often during such a final there is only one double clear, but this year it was different with the fantastic performances of Gilles and Nathan. I am therefore very happy with this 3rd place, although that penalty point for time in the decisive round is of course still sour.”