Gilles Thomas has his sights set on the Rolex Grand Prix of Brussel and he made that goal immediately clear in the first CSI5* qualifier, where no one stood in his way to take victory in front of a home crowd!
Early in the class, American Natalie Dean set the tone with a clear ride in the saddle of the BWP horse Oasis van de Bucxtale. With the daughter of Quinn vd Heffinck, the winner of the first 5* Opening Class clocked a lightning-fast 66.61s. The only other combination to also dip under those 67 seconds was Gilles Thomas. He came to the start on the back of the Zangersheide stallion Elfra van Beek Z (El Salvador) and guided the breeding product of Guido Herrijgers to the finish line in 66.42s! No one did any better, the victory was in after 56 competitors passed the revue.
Bronze went to France's Olivier Perreau on the 9-year-old Gl Events Faustine Sauvage (Kannan). A strong ride by Olivier Philippaerts aboard Poppemieke Jw van de Moerhoeve (Vigo d'Arsouilles) earned him fourth place. He had to share this with Yuri Mansur and the Diamant de Semilly stallion Fifty Fifty Semilly (Diamant de Semilly).