December 26th is the day... the start of Jumping Mechelen. It is well known by now that Belgium sits at the absolute top of the global jumping sport. But did you also know that all our stars have been part of the action at the Nekkerhal since they were children?
Stars such as Niels Bruynseels, Pieter Devos, Nicola and Thibault Philippaerts, Thibeau Spits, Gilles Thomas, and Jérôme Guéry wouldn't dream of missing this event. This past summer, Bruynseels won the Belgian Championship for 7-year-old horses in the saddle of Vintage (by Vagabond de La Pomme). More recently, Spits left his mark on the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva. There, he relied on Impress-K van ’t Kattenheye (by Indoktro K van ’t Kattenheye) to secure the bronze medal. During the previous edition at the Nekkerhal, the then 23-year-old rider stepped into the spotlight several times with no fewer than four top-10 finishes in the 5* circuit, including a third-place finish with Conrad Quality Z (by Connor) in the CSI5*-W Jumping Mechelen Prize.
Furthermore, Jordy Van Massenhove, Mike Van Olst, Jos Verlooy, Annelies Vorsselmans, and Gregory Wathelet are the Belgian representatives for the World Cup battle. They will be joined by Jeroen Appelen, Gudrun Patteet, Leonie Peeters, Olivier Philippaerts, Jules Van Hoydonck, Wilm Vermeir, and Frédéric Vernaet in the other CSI5* classes.
Competition of Olympic Proportions
Top international talent is also finding its way back to "Flanders' Christmas Jumping." The participant list boasts names such as World Cup Final winner Julien Epaillard, multiple FEI Jumping World Cup Mechelen winner Daniel Deusser, last year’s winner Hans-Dieter Dreher, multiple Olympic medalist Maikel van der Vleuten, and Olympic champion Steve Guerdat.
Dutch rider Willem Greve currently leads the FEI Jumping World Cup Western European League thanks to a series of strong performances. He opened the year in January with a victory on Highway TN N.O.P. (by Eldorado vd Zeshoek) in Leipzig, marking the first World Cup win of his career. This was immediately followed by a third-place finish in Bordeaux in the saddle of his other Eldorado vd Zeshoek star, Grandorado TN N.O.P.. Recently, he relied on the Rooms family-bred Pretty Woman van ’t Paradijs N.O.P. (by Vigo d’Arsouilles) to take the win in both the Stuttgart and La Coruña World Cup legs.
"I always look forward to Jumping Mechelen," says Greve. "Belgians are true horse people and you notice that in everything, including the crowd. There is a real passion and admiration, and you can feel that right into the ring."
