Max van de Poll and Ortane conquer world title in six-year-olds

Earlier this week, 40 combinations had managed to qualify for this ultimate final battle. Course designer Bernard Mathy and his team had built a technically demanding course for this final, with the obstacles at a height of 1.40m. Faults fell all over the course, but the Longines triple jump in particular, strategically placed on the VIP side, turned out to be a real troublemaker. In the end, only seven combinations remained clear, leaving them to prepare for the all-decisive jump-off.

One of those seven finalists was Max van de Poll with the KWPN mare Ortane (Balou du Rouet x Quinar Z), bred by D. Van De Linden and C. Van Der Heijden in the Netherlands. As the second starter in the jump-off, the duo immediately set the bar extremely high. With a lightning-fast time of 42.26 seconds and, above all, a flawless clear round, Van de Poll managed to put the pressure firmly on. None of the competitors managed to match him after that, impressively securing the world title.

"It was the first time I qualified for the final", the winning rider begins. "I don't want to say I did not have a plan going into the jump-off but I am lucky I can rely on the carefullness and speediness of Ortane. The course was quite challenging and the competition was big but she has so much quality that I wasn't worried about that. I am happy to have done so well in such an incredible setting".

Following her gold medal last year in the five-year-olds, this year's silver medal was for Irish rider Niamh McEvoy. Together with her Irish gelding BP Othello (Ganesh Hero Z x Tygo - Breeder: Ennisnag Stud), she rode a fast jump-off in 43.19 seconds, but in her haste the pole from the Stephex jump did not stay up.

The bronze fell into Belgian hands thanks to Thibeau Spits and the BWP mare Touch of Joy Dwerse Hagen (Nixon van 't Meulenhof x Casall), who was born and raised at the home of the Spits - Ceulemans family. As the last combination to go, the bar of the Stephex obstacle rolled out of the spoons too, finishing in 43.29 seconds.

Nest next to the podium stranded Belgian rider Stef Bossaert with the Zangersheide mare Claudia Optima Z (Cicero x Balou du Rouet - Breeder: Optimus Agro NV). They reached the finish in 44.58 seconds, challenging Leon Melchior's oxer against the flat. Norwegian rider Benedikte Serigstad Endresen and the KWPN mare Oreo Brownie H (Diarado x London - Breeder: H. Hartlief) completed the top of the leaderboard in ^5th place. As the first combination to start, they set the tone with a round with 4 penalties in 45.18 seconds.

Click here for the results.