A seasoned Belgian nations cup rider and member of MLSJ team Archers, Philippaerts returned at the bottom half of a 12-horse jump-off over courses designed by Peter Grant (CAN).
 
Gadget Mouche—a French-bred Andiamo Semilly son—was produced through the Philippaerts program by his father Ludo and brother Thibault and is now making a name for himself at the five-star level. Philippaerts debuted the gelding in the 5* ranks in Spruce Meadows only a month ago.
 
When Philippaerts entered the Tryon stadium, his fate was all but sealed as the runner up after Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz—his mount from the 2024 Paris Olympics—laid down a blistering pace of 43.94 seconds to take over the lead from world no. 1 Kent Farrington aboard Greya.
“If you can beat these guys with these horses, it's always very nice to be able to do that,” admitted Philippaerts, who earned his first MLSJ grand prix title.
Gadget Mouche was efficient in the turns and quick across the ground to pip Sweetnam and his Gizmo Partners owned mount by two tenths of a second and steal the win.
 
“This is his third five-star where he jumped the grand prix, and he feels very good. He was very quick tonight,” continued Philippaerts. “I’m happy to be back over here in America. It's my second year in Major League and I really enjoy it; it's a great sport, great riders and a lot of great events.”
 
When asked about his recent string of second-place finishes, Sweetnam answered, “I have a lot of experience coming second this year so I always felt there was someone that maybe could catch me [tonight], but I left everything out there. James Kann Cruz is brilliant, and his results speak for themselves. Not just this year, every year. When you go to jump on him, you know you have a chance.”
 
The record-breaking evening that was promised was not to be after Farrington settled for third aboard his phenom mare Greya on a time of 44.18 seconds. Farrington is still on the hunt to make history with his ninth grand prix win in one year, while Greya chases her own record of seven.
 
“I'm at the wrong end of this lineup tonight,” said Farrington. “I was very happy with my horse—she's an incredible athlete and I am very proud of what she's doing in the sport. It was going to be a tall order tonight when there's so many clear going faster and faster. I'm happy with the horse, disappointed to be third.”
Complete results from the $340,000 5* Grand Prix, presented by KASK, can be found here.