Edited press release from Hubside Jumping 

It was the Belgian national anthem which could be heard this Sunday afternoon at Hubside Jumping Grimaud, when Gregory Wathelet and the 15-year-old gelding Edesa's Basantos (Basantos x Elmshorn) won the CSI4* 1.55m Grand Prix at the Hubside Jumping Fall Tour.

A course of 13 obstacles and 16 jumping efforts awaited the 43 horse-and-rider combinations in this Grand Prix. Designed with skill by Grégory Bodo (FRA), the course looked tricky. “At Grimaud, you have to bring horses both technically and mentally ready,” he explained. “I was able to watch the horses and riders over the first days and I must say that they all were jumping well. I’d built some tricky courses but not necessarily very big ones. I was inspired by this to design today's. It is built in three parts, the first part is quite technical with obstacles that arrive quickly, then very open in the middle before getting tighter at the end. It's a real 4* test, following the FEI recommendations as it's a qualifying event for next year's World Championships.”

With fourteen pairs through to the jump-off – all aiming for that single place on the top step of the podium – it was going to be necessary to play every card right in order to win, and this to the great pleasure of the public, delighted to witness the battle unfolding. 

As the last to go in the jump-off, Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet and Edesa’s Basantos crossed the finish line in 37.65 seconds – taking the victory to a huge applause from spectators. “Basantos is a horse I don't usually ride,” explained the winner of the day. “He belongs to one of my students, I’ve just got him for a few shows. The main goal was to get him going again. I just wanted to do a Grand Prix so that he’ll really be ready when his owner gets him back. He's an experienced horse who's used to this height, he always behaves very well. I knew the jump-off was going to be close, there were a lot of us and the first to go especially, Kendra Claricia Brinkop, was very fast. But I saw the possibility of taking a stride off at the last jump. No one else before me did it, the distance did strike me as being very long, but he has a huge stride so I did it and that's where we made the difference. The first round was a good 4* level, tricky but still approachable, especially for young riders and horses for whom these classes are a stepping stone to 5* classes. I'm remaining here next week so hope to do a repeat performance, even if it's with a different horse.”

Kendra Claricia Brinkop (GER) on Kastelle Memo (Thunder van de Zuuthoeve x Cicero Z) was hopeful right to the end that she’d done enough but finally had to settle for second place. Jos Verlooy (BEL) completed the top trio with Luciano van het Geinsteinde (Quinn van de Heffinck x Air Jordan). Philippe Rozier (FRA) on Le Coultre de Muze (Presley Boy x Vigo d’Arsouilles) took the fourth place, while Luis Ferreira (POR) on Cerruti Van Ter Hulst Z (Cassini I x Corrado) placed fifth.