Nicola and his ten-year-old gelding Gadget Mouche won the CSI4* Grand Prix in Ocala on Saturday evening. In a jump-off with twelve riders, they delivered a second clear round and stopped the clock 0.87 seconds faster than Zoe Conter and La Una, who finished in second place.
This victory in Ocala is Nicola’s first Grand Prix win of the year. That he achieved it with Gadget Mouche is no surprise. “Gadget has been jumping very well over the past six months,” Nicola says. “This is the third Grand Prix out of six that we have won together. He is in great form at the moment. He is quite calm, has a very good character and is lovely to ride. And he is naturally very fast across the ground.”
Nicola is not the first Philippaerts to ride Gadget Mouche. “When he was seven years old, my father rode him for a while and helped to shape him. After that, he joined my group of horses. Over the past year I’ve ridden him a lot, and he has been very consistent with many clear rounds. The results speak for themselves. He’s a real asset for our stable and will be an important horse for the future.”
As tradition has it, Nicola spends the first four months of the year in the United States, combining sport and business. The American tour is now halfway through, which makes it a good time to reflect. “I’ve had a few classes where we were unlucky, often with just one rail down in a Grand Prix or in a jump-off,” he explains. “But overall, the horses are jumping well here. I’m very happy that everything came together on Saturday night and that we could win the Grand Prix. Still, it’s early in the season and there are some important shows coming up in the next few weeks.”
Next weekend, Nicola will compete in a major five-star show in Wellington with Katanga. After that, there will be a four-star show and a Nations Cup, followed by the final week in Wellington in mid-March. “We’re looking forward to the rest of the tour,” Nicola concludes.
