Los Angeles—Sept. 28

Jos Verlooy’s trip to the Longines Los Angeles Masters didn’t start out too well.

On the first day he had, in his words, “a really stupid fence down.” He planned to enter his horse, Domino, in an extra class the next day to smooth out the mistake, but trainer Harrie Smolders talked him out of it.

“He said no, because I was going to jump clear on Sunday,” recalled Verlooy, who, sure enough, topped the $475,000 Longines Grand Prix today. “I believed him, and then I won!”

This win came at the debut edition of the Longines Los Angeles Masters, the latest stop on the Masters Grand Slam tour, a boutique indoor show jumping circuit with editions in Paris and Hong Kong. It’s also become the biggest show jumping competition on the West Coast of the United States since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, where Verlooy’s father, Axel Verlooy, represented Belgium at just 20.

“My father is a horse dealer, and he rode here in the Olympic Games 30 years ago,” said Jos. “For me to win the grand prix here today is something really special.”

Not that it was easy. At just 18, Verlooy was one of the youngest riders on the 42-horse start list that read like a virtual who’s-who of the show jumping circuit. He beat out most of the riders in the top 10 of the Longines world rankings, along with a handful of medalists from the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (France) earlier this month.

And top riders ran into problems. Richard Spooner took a tumble off Cristallo—their second time parting ways this week—when Cristallo put on the brakes coming out of a line. And Reed Kessler stopped out on Cos I Can. Phillipe Rozier retired on course when things with Rahotep de Toscane didn’t go according to plan, and most of the rest of the riders logged a rail or two across the course, especially at a maxed out oxer over a water tray.

Six riders made it around Luc Musette’s track without penalty. First to go in the jump-off, Verlooy nailed a snug inside turn then galloped flat out to the last to lay down a super quick round. He had to watch the next five riders chase after him from an oversized chair on stage, with a video camera catching his every reaction. Georgina Bloomberg and Juvina, fresh off her win at the Central Park Grand Prix presented by Rolex, followed with a steady clear to finish an eventual third.

“I was coming in on a good streak,” said Bloomberg. “I had a win last week at Central Park, so I had a little bit of a high and was feeling confident. My horse was jumping well so there were no major expectations. I came here just wanting to perform my best and do well and that’s an extremely talented horse and usually I know if I don’t make a mistake she is going to perform well.”

The next two combinations, Cameron Hanley (Living The Dream) and Lauren Hough (Reconnaissance), ticked a rail apiece. Swiss rider (and reigning Olympic gold medalist) Steve Guerdat tried to catch Verlooy in the jump-off on his relatively new partner Albfuehren’s Paille, but finished just off the pace for second. When Kevin Staut’s Estoy Aqui de Muze HDC had one down, Guerdat was the first to congratulate Jos.

“It was really nerve-wracking to watch Steve go, he’s one of the best riders in the world,” said Verlooy. “It’s super for me that I can be first and he’s second—I know, sorry Steve—and for me, it’s such an honor that I can do this at my age.”

Guerdat was thrilled with his second-place finish, as he’s been focusing on his confirmed mounts at the international level and hasn’t had as much time to practice with Albfuehren’s Paille, who’s a newer ride.

“This is only our third jump-off together and it was the first really big class that we jumped,” said Guerdat. “But today was not for me to beat Jos, and he absolutely deserved the win, and I’m happy with my second place.

“I have the feeling that everything is improving,” Guerdat continued. “Today, along with Friday, is the first time she jumped really great, and I had that feeling I was expecting to have since the beginning. I’m so happy to have this horse with me.”

Verlooy described this as easily his biggest win to date, and he was extra excited to earn it on Domino, his first 1.60-meter horse. His father, horse dealer Axel Verlooy, bought Domino, a Belgian Warmblood by Thunder van de Zuuthoeve, to be his son’s first junior jumper. At the time the horse was 7 and still green, and the two learned together as they graduated to bigger and bigger fences.

Now that Jos has had a taste of the California lifestyle, he’s already planning to come back to contest some FEI World Cup Qualifying classes in order to qualify for the upcoming 2015 FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas.

“I’m going to come back here to do [CSI-Ws] in Del Mar, [HITS Thermal] and Las Vegas,” said Verlooy. “I like it here, and my horse does too!”

If you haven’t seen the amazing photos from yesterday’s Charity Pro Am Costume competition, click here now. Find full results from the week here, and catch up with all the news from yesterday’s Longines Speed Challenge. For a full report from the Longines LA Masters, check out the Oct. 13 issue of the Chronicle.