Before gearing up for undoubtedly the week's grandest spectacle, the Fancy Dress Western, the audience at Nekkerhal was treated to world-class showjumping. In the CSI5*-W 1.50m class, top-notch performers took center stage! Belgian horses dominated the majority of finalists in the jump-off, with the victory going to Gerfried Puck and the BWP mare Equitron Melody vd Smidshoeve. Frédéric Vernaet narrowly missed securing the win.
After the withdrawal of Kevin Staut and Julien Epaillard, sixteen riders remained for the jump-off. Gilles Thomas kicked off the 1.50m high course with a textbook round aboard Elfra van Beek Z (El Salvador), a nine-year-old stallion bred at 't Eirbissemhof. Unfortunately, the duo couldn't deliver a faultless round. Following them, Frédéric Vernaet on Okina van de Bien (Toulon) tried to keep the victory on home soil. The nine-year-old mare is a breeding product of Martin Schuurmans. Encouraged by the audience, they maintained a clean sheet and set the time at 36.33s. A safe ride by Jessica Burke with Nikey HH (Herald van 't Ruytershof, breeder: New Nordic Horses) secured the second faultless jump-off. The crowd went wild when Jos Verlooy guided FTS Killossery Konfusion (Siec Livello) to the final line. The son of F. and L. Glynn was nine hundredths too slow to take the lead but secured the third faultless jump-off so far.
Thibault Philippaerts and Obama de La Liniere (Marius Claudius), winners of the Sires of the World, and Koen Vereecke with Kasanova de La Pomme (Bamako de Muze) made a mistake at the first obstacle, eliminating their chances of victory. The fourth faultless round came from Sara Vingralkova (CZE) and Kas - Sini DC, a descendant of San Patrignano Cassini from Belgian soil as the BWP gelding is bred by Rudy De Cooman.
Even Pius Schwizer and Chelsea Z (Chellano Alpha Z), despite their flawless course, couldn't contend for the top position. With three combinations to go, it was up to Pieter Devos and Casual DV Z, a homebred by Cornet Obolensky. Devos skillfully navigated the course with the eight-year-old mare but also fell short of Vernaet's time. Gerfried Puck did it! The Austrian rider, aboard Equitron Melody vd Smidshoeve (Epleaser van t Heike), a BWP mare bred by Hugo Stevens, clocked the time to beat.
Only Jules van Hoydonck, with his self-trained Minte vd Bisschop (Plot Blue), could bring the victory back to Belgium. The Belgian champion received a warm welcome from the audience and left in the same manner. The young Belgian had a dream debut at the 5* level, knocking only the last obstacle out of the cups, just a few hundredths away from the fastest time.