BY JEAN LLEWELLYN / PRESS RELEASE COURTESY ZANGERSHEIDE
PHOTOGRAPHY: SPORTFOT
The race for the medals at the 2026 FEI-WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses has come to an end. At the Ratina Z Arena on September 20, starting at the traditional start time of 08.30, the five-year-olds kicked off ‘Super Sunday’.
In front of a large crowd, the young talents were immediately treated to a challenging final, which this time consisted of two rounds. This immediately added an extra dimension to the battle for the day’s first world title.
The top 38 horse-rider pairs from Thursday and Friday’s qualifying rounds lined up at the start of this first final of the day, with jumps set at 1m30, with 18 completing a clear first round. They were then qualified to return for a decisive second round, in which, unlike in previous years, riders had to aim for an ideal time. Course designer Bernard Mathy and his team set this ideal time at 54 seconds, meaning the finalists were tasked with riding clear rounds whilst staying as close as possible to this time.
Vintage van de Heyveldhoeve
It was the 16-year-old Irish rider Sam Widger who achieved the best result with the BWP mare Vintage van de Heyveldhoeve, a daughter of Kasanova de la Pomme and I Am Moerhoeve’s Star, bred by Bert Stoop. As one of the last pairs to start, Widger and Vintage van de Heyveldhoeve galloped to the finish line in 54.14 seconds, putting them just 14 hundredths of a second short of the ideal time.
According to Sam Widger: “Vintage had been feeling good all week, but I hadn’t expected a victory in this final (laughs). Greg (Broderick) bought her from the breeder a year ago and I started riding her for him about six months ago. She’s a Thoroughbredy mare and, above all, very careful. She really fights for you in the arena. I’d like to thank Greg for allowing me to ride such a good horse at my age.”
With this fine performance, Widger and Vintage van de Heyveldhoeve relegated another Irish pair into second place, with silver going to Coen Williams and the Irish-bred gelding GLC Mr President, a son of Conthargos and Untouchable who was born at breeder Gareth Cassidy’s stud. They were the first to compete in the decisive second round and performed superbly, clocking a time of 54.18 seconds.
The first bronze medal of the day stayed in Belgium thanks to Rik Nauta and the BWP gelding Vazan van Strijtem, a son of Cazan van het Schaeck Z and Saros van’t Gestelhof, bred and owned by Marc and Kristof de Pauw. After a clear round, Nauta and Vazan van Strijtem clocked a time of 54.48 seconds, which meant they were also on the podium.
The other places in the top five of the rankings went to the Irish rider Niamh McEvoy and the Irish gelding BP Bob Rock (Rock ‘n Roll ter Putte x Captain Clover; breeder: Gbbs Int Ltd); and to French rider Maxime Thefenne with the KWPN gelding Rhodondence (Caribis Z x VDL Sheraton; breeder: Stal Falkena-Olff).
Six-year-old final
The battle for the world titles continued on ‘Super Sunday’ at midday, with a particularly thrilling final for the six-year-olds. With a place in the decisive jump-off as the primary objective, and with both well-known names and previous medallists at the start, it promised to be another fascinating battle for the world title...
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