The first final for the World Young Horse Championship is over. The five-year-olds kicked off this morning under a radiant morning sun.
Eleven combinations were able to complete the 1.30m high base course without faults and were expected for the jump-off. Although the list of selected riders was mainly dominated by Irish combinations, we also saw three Belgians among them.
The first faultless round was seen from Bernardo Ladeira (POR) and Noblesse, a five-year-old KWPN mare by Falaise de Muze, but right after that, it was Michael Pender (IRL) who took the lead with HHS Ocala (Urano de Cartigny). The target time to beat was 37.22 seconds.
The audience was on the edge of their seat as Jason Foley was speeding to the finish line with SVS Symphony (Comme il Faut) but the last fence went down for the pair, who were 22 seconds faster then the leading Pender. In the end, nobody was able to beat the pair and Michael Pender finally took home his first big globe in the World Championships.
“It’s amazing. I was knocking on the door a few times and I suppose everything came together today. I want to thank everybody at home, for producing this horse. It’s a massive day for everybody else at home, too. It’s an incredible day, he has done a fantastic job.”