Jules Van Hoydonck follows in the footsteps of the elite

The young talents showed no weakness this morning in the 1.45m Grand Prix presented by Land Rover Discovery. Of the 32 title contenders, 15 qualified for the jump-off. Why should they fail to excel on a course where their older, elite counterparts are proving their mettle time and time again? Canadian rider Lexi Ray was the first to clear the course twice, setting a provisional time of 33.63 seconds. A great performance, but not fast enough to win. Although the fastest time was beaten several times, it was the Belgian rider, Jules Van Hoydonck, who took the lead with his twelve-year-old mare, Minte VD Bisschop, in 31.14 seconds. He was just a few hundredths of a second ahead of the Italian Camilla Bosio on Kindesth (31.19) and the British rider Oliver Fletcher, the reigning European Champion of Young Riders (31.40 with Bp Pocahontas).