Nicola Philippaerts and H&M Harley vd Bisschop were in great shape last weekend in Madrid. Together with Ben Maher, or better known as the London Knights, they won the Team Competition during the 4th leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour. The team was unbeatable, as they also covered up the 1st (Ben Maher) and 2nd (Nicola Philippaerts) place in the GP.
Nicola rode a tripple clear round yeserday. At first, a clear round in the Massimo Dutti Trophy, second a clear round in the Team Competion and last but not least a triple clear round in the GP of Madrid. Due to their outstanding performance, the London Knights take up the 1st place in the current overall standings after leg 4.
"Harley jumped amazing", smiles Nicola. "His fantastic performance in the Team Competition was an extra motivation to do even better during the GP. We had 10 competitors. After 6 combinations, it was up to us. We had the same time as the Spanish Eduardo Alvarez Aznar. Ben was the final rider, and was a little faster, so he won. I feel blessed with these horses. Last week H&M Chilli Willli jumped amazing and now, H&M Harley vd Bisschop takes over. Hopefully, they can continue like this. I try to work hard and train them, but to give them some breaks in between as well. Both of them are top class horses, yet very different. Harley is a little more sensitive then Chilli Willi. Anyway, he has more experience and jumped the GP of Calgary already twice. Chilli Willi, on the other hand, has his strengths as well. Both of them are fabulous horses!
Thibault Philippaerts wins Juniors Nations Cup
Also younger brother Thibault Philippaerts (Cataleya 3) had a great weekend. He won the Nations Cup in Fontainebleau with his teammates, Maartje Verberckmoes, Thibeau Spits and Simon Morssinkhof. Thibault rode a double clear round.
