The highlight of the weekend was just jumped in Mechelen: the CSI5* World Cup. 39 combinations competed in this class with jump-off. Before the start of the course, the course builder already indicated it would be a difficult task: "I expect a lot of faults on the exit of the triple jump," he said. And so it happened... The exit of the triple jump did indeed go down several times. Furthermore, obstacle one also brought several combinations in trouble. Several horses tapped the first Carlsberg-oxer towards VIP out of the scoops. Eventually five combinations still managed to jump a clear round. A jump-off with five thus had to determine wins and losses. It had been since 2011 that the Mechelen audience had seen another Belgian win the World Cup, but today that chance was there: three of the five jump-off candidates were jumping under the Belgian flag. They did have competition from the winner of the last edition: Daniel Deusser. It was certain in advance that the jump-off would be very fast.
Quick results
1. Wilm Vermeir - IQ van't Steentje
2. Hans-Dieter Dreher - Cous Cous
3. Daniel Deusser - Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z
The first rider to compete in the jump-off was Hans-Dieter Dreher. This German rider is perhaps less well known to the general public but he was rock solid among the rankings in the CSI5* classes this week. Even in the World Cup he was already sure of a nice ranking but that didn't stop him from shooting out of the starting blocks in the saddle of Cous Cous (v. arrow fast). His gray stallion left all the bars in the scoops and immediately set a great time: 35.19 seconds. The other riders knew immediately what the reference was.
Pieter Devos was the first of three Belgians to compete in the jump-off. Devos already had a very nice season with Mom's Toupie de la Roque (by Kannan) but winning the World Cup in Mechelen would of course be the icing on the cake. Devos therefore left nothing to chance and immediately threw everything into the battle to sharpen Dreher's time. Toupie is by nature a very fast mare and Devos was happy to take advantage of his mare's natural speed. He eventually finished in 36.11 seconds, very fast but not fast enough to keep Dreher from the provisioning first place.
Gilles Thomas was up next. The 24-year-old Belgian was also the youngest rider in this jump-off. However, he did not let that touch his heart. Riding the 12-year-old mare Calleryama (by Casall), he was clearly determined to give the audience a Belgian victory. Thomas had worked his mare specifically toward this moment, hoping to shine in Mechelen. Thomas seemed on his way to a lightning-fast round but a miscommunication on the last obstacle resulted in four penalties and a time of 46.55 seconds.
All hopes for a Belgian victory were thus pinned on Wilm Vermeir. First, however, it was up to the reigning champion, Daniel Deusser. He saddled his top horse Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z (by Otangelo) in the hope of extending his title this year as well. He obviously wanted to end his season in beauty, so he took all the risks. He was lightning fast, but even he just failed to improve on Dreher's time. His 35.39 seconds did earn him second place in the provisional standings.
Finally, it was up to Wilm Vermeir. The Mechelen crowd was still hoping for a Belgian victory and he was the only one who could still make that happen. Winning in Mechelen would immediately also mean his first win in a CSI5* World Cup. Vermeir knew he had only one option: ride fast and do it faster than Dreher. He rode the round of his life, his IQ van't Steentje (by Toulon) left all the bars in the scoops and finished in 34.45 seconds.