OCALA, Fla.--Nicola Phillippaerts of Belgium on Gadget Mouche won the $200,000 Grand Prix CSI4* over Zoe Conter of Belgium on La Una and Laura Kraut on Bisquetta on Saturday evening, Feb.28 at the World Equestrian Center.
Nicola Phillippaerts on Gadget Mouche (Photo by Andrew Ryback)Thirty-four competed over the course set by Paris Olympic course designer Gregory Bodo of France with 12 going clean to make the jump-off.
Germany’s André Thieme on Paule S went first in the jump-off, going clean in 42.27 seconds to set the early time to beat and eventually place fourth.
Darragh Kenny of Ireland, Ben Maher of Great Britain, Christian Kukuk of Germany Lillie Keenan, Kent Farrington and Natalie Dean all had rails down.
Olympic Gold Medalist Laura Kraut on Bisquetta, the 12-year-old Zangersheide mare she has ridden for nearly six years, went next.
Bisquetta was making her first start back since December..
“MY PLAN was to not go full throttle, because she’s just not fit yet,” Kraut said. “Once I actually got in there, I got going, probably more than I intended, but not enough to beat them.”
Laura Kraut on Bisquetta Photo by Andrew Ryback)Kraut finished in 41.31 seconds to take over the lead.
“She’s just an amazing mare," said Kraut. "I mean, she really knows the sport, she knows she’s not supposed to touch any poles, and she’s just everything you could ask for in a horse.”
Belgium’s Zoé Conter followed on La Una, a mare she has ridden since the age of 7.
“‘La Una and I go way back," said Conter. "I’ve had her since she was 7 years old. She’s 15 today. She’s been my loyal partner. We’ve had some bumps in the road when she was young, trying to build the partnership. But for the last four or five years, she’s been my steady partner. She’s more than just my best horse, she’s also my best friend.”
“I’m not the fastest rider, and my horse is not the fastest mare, and I know that about myself and about the horse," said Conter. "So I made my own plan and just wanted to stick to it to see what I can do and what my horse can do.”
Conter was clean in 41.17 seconds to take over the lead by just one tenth of a second.
Then Philippaerts on Gadget Mouche went, finishing in 40.30 for the win..
“He’s an amazing horse," said Phillippaerts. "We bought him as a 7-year-old in France. It’s a bit of a family horse, actually. My dad rode him for two or three years as a young horse, then my brother rode him, and I rode him a bit at some other shows. The last two years I’ve been riding him a lot, and last year he really stepped up. He’s lovely to ride, and he always gives his best.”
His plan for the jump-off was simple.
“Try to go as fast as possible,” he said. “My horse naturally is very fast. He doesn’t have the biggest strides, but you can really ride him in the turns. He doesn’t lose much time over the ground. For me, it’s more important that I stay a little bit quiet myself, but I think he jumped great again today.”
Jessie Springsteen on Don Juan van de Donkhoeve was fifth, clean in 42.55, and McKayla Langmeier on Riesling van de Gaathoeve was sixt, clean in 43.12.
