On the third day of the Brussels Stephex Masters, the CSI5* 1.55m class served as an important qualification for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Kristen Vanderveen claimed victory with Bull Run's Jireh, while the American combination stayed faultless and stopped the clock at 35.02 seconds.
Kirsten Vanderveen delivered the fastest clear round in the jump-off with Bull Run's Jireh (Uriko). Her time of 35.02 seconds was enough to secure the win in the important 1.55m qualification.
Cian O'Connor finished second with Kentucky TN (Verdi TN) in 37.33 seconds. Richard Vogel completed the podium aboard Gangster Montdesir (Kannan) in 37.83 seconds. Petronella Andersson and Odina Van Klapscheut (Zazu) took fourth place in 38.60 seconds, while Frederic Vernaet completed the top five with Orak d'Hamwyck T&L (Tobago Z) in 40.17 seconds.
With another important Grand Prix qualifier decided, the picture for Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix continues to take shape, and Kristen Vanderveen has certainly added her name to the list of combinations to watch. For Vanderveen, the result put the finishing touch on what was already a special first visit to Brussels. “I really came to Brussels Stephex Masters just to be part of the experience,” she explains. “I’ve heard great things about it here, and it’s my first time touring in Europe, so I haven’t experienced a lot of the shows over here yet. I was excited to come and see what everybody was talking about.” Even a week that brought its share of challenging weather did little to change that first impression. “Clearly this has been handled before. I feel like management has done a great job keeping everything to the highest standard for us. It has been cool to be part of a beautiful grass show like this, and then to have a great result today is the cherry on top.”
Bull Run’s Jireh is far more than simply a successful horse in Vanderveen’s string. She has been involved in his journey since the end of his seven-year-old year and has experienced virtually every stage of his development into a top-level horse alongside him. “He is a really special horse for me because I’ve been able to go through the whole process with him,” she says. “He had a great upbringing, his breeder has stayed involved in his career and I’m still very close the riders who rode him as a young horse. It has been really cool to be part of his entire career. He really is such a superstar”And if Friday’s atmosphere was supposed to intimidate him, Jireh clearly had other ideas. “He’s just a showman.No atmosphere can make him back down. In this big grass ring, I really feel like he likes to show off.”
