Niels Bruynseels and his incredible mare Gancia de Muze (Malito de Reve—Barones, Nimmerdor) delivered a truly jaw-dropping jump-off to take home the victory for Belgium in Sunday’s CSI**** €300,000 Rolex Grand Prix at 2018 Knokke Hippique (Belgium) on July 1.

After having won the five-star grand prix competitions at Knokke Hippique’s sister event Brussels Stephex Masters (Belgium) in 2016 and 2017, and more recently the Rolex Grand Prix of Den Bosch (the Netherlands), expectations were high for home hero Bruynseels who did not disappoint all those that had come to watch him today.

Niels Bruynseels and his incredible mare Gancia de Muze. Photo by Scoopdyga/Pierre Costabadie.

Fourteen riders out of the 46 in the competition managed to produce clear rounds over the thirteen-fence track set by Italian mastermind Uliano Vezzani, to move on to the jump-off. “I think it was a super course today, and not because I won,” Bruynseels said. “It was a fair course because these horses have to jump not only this weekend— it’s every weekend or every second weekend—and this did not take everything out of them. It was a great job by the course designer.”

In the jump-off, it was U.S. rider Adrienne Sternlicht and Cristalline (Cristallo 1—Mona Lisa, Caretello B)—the winners of Friday’s feature class—that really set the pace as second to go. Blazing around the shortened track with turns that brought the spectators to the edge of their seats, the pair stopped the clocks at 40.32 seconds, and it looked like that would be tough to beat.

One rider later however, Ireland’s Darragh Kenny entered the ring with Balou du Reventon (Cornet Obolensky—Georgia, Continue). The Irish rider jumped the penultimate upright with a breath-taking angle before galloping flat out to the last oxer, snatching the lead from Sternlicht with his unbelievable time of 39.06 seconds.

Darragh Kenny and Balou Du Revention. Photo by Scoopdyga/Pierre Costabadie.

As next to go, Great Britain’s William Whitaker really gave it a shot on the lovely Utamaro d’Ecaussinnes (Diamant de Semilly—Arizona Van Arenberg, Quidam de Revel) but crossed the finish line slightly shy of Kenny’s time in 39.84 seconds.

Another two riders later, it was time for Bruynseels. Notoriously fast, and especially when on Gancia de Muze, he set off in top gear and did not once pull back the tiny bay mare who definitely played the game today. With the speed of light, the pair yet again showed what a magical partnership they have when bringing the time down to 38.74 seconds, pushing Kenny back to second and Whitaker to third.

None of those to come were close to touching the top three. Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat finished fourth with Bianca (Balou du Rouet—Coco, Cardento) in 39.95 seconds, ahead of Sternlicht in fifth.

William Whitaker and Utamaro d’Ecaussinnes. Photo by Scoopdyga/Pierre Costabadie.

After his win, Bruynseels was quick to acknowledge the impact of the home crowd’s support. “They give me an extra motivation to win here,” he said. “It was my plan; everything I did the last week was directed towards trying to win with Gancia here today. It was not an easy win because the other guys were very fast, but I have a super horse, and she was the one that won today. I did the same lines as the other riders, but she is just faster.”

This was only the fourth show for runner-up Darragh Kenny and Balou du Reventon, and the Irish rider was content with the result. “I think in the end the speed of Gancia de Muze was what beat me,” he said. “I thought that my horse was fantastic, and I had a as good a round as I could have had. Niels and his horse were amazing today, and it was his day to win!

Looking back on his jump-off, third placed William Whitaker commented: “If I was going to say that there was an area that I could have been slightly quicker, it would be to the second last fence. I tried to just balance him up a bit around the corner and I think he just got a little bit confused. But I could not be more happy with my horse; he jumped two fantastic rounds.”