Former World champion Philippe Le Jeune celebrated 30 years of competing at Horse of the Year Show by winning the Thistledown Stakes after a thrilling battle with Great Britain star John Whitaker. Philippe, who is based near Brussels, struck exactly the right note on his 12-year-old stallion Loro Piana Once De Kreisker (Papillon Rouge) to claim victory 30 years on from his first HOYS appearance, when the show was staged at Wembley. And a bumper crowd at Birmingham's LG Arena gave the 2010 World Champion a rousing reception after his big-striding challenger conquered the jump-off track in just under 40 seconds. John, though, continued his outstanding run of form this week by finishing second on Uni Stop (Non Stop x Zamiro), while Sweden's Angelie von Essen was third aboard Catinka (Contendro x Argentan). "Winning an international class is always a good feeling," said the 54-year-old Belgian rider, who won World individual gold in Kentucky four years ago. "I always love to come to England. There is a fantastic public and the crowd here is unbelievable every day and every night. The horse came to me three years ago from a French rider, and he was difficult to ride at the start. He was very honest with a lot of scope, but the rideability was quite terrible, so I spent nearly a year to settle him down."
