CSI 3*: Koen Vereecke wins the Grand Prix (1.50m)
The final CSI 3* Grand Prix of Knokke Hippique 2022 (presented by Knokke-Heist and Electric City Mobile) took place in the early evening today. Of the more than 58 riders competing, only 8 finished the first round without faults. Italian course designer Uliano Vezzani had clearly set the bar high. Would anyone succeed in completing both rounds without making any mistakes? Oh yes! It took a while, but finally Belgium’s Francois Mathy Jr and Uno de La Roque (Kannan) cleared both courses. Later he was joined by Lorenzo De Luca (ITA | Don Vito) and Philip Houston (GER | Sandros S Bella). Lorenzo was a bit slower, but Philip had Francois beat. Last combination in the arena: Koen Vereecke and Lector Vd Bisschop. Would they clear all jumps, finish faster and thus take the home win? They did! With a magnificent lightning fast performance they finished first and made the Zoute Plage arena explode with cheers. Koen Vereecke: “I watched the performance of my competitors very carefully on the big screen. They rode smoothly but not very fast. So I knew I had a chance with Lector. He is a quick horse anyhow and felt very good during the first round. Plus, he had some time to rest because we rode early on in the class. So the odds were in my favour and I luckily was able to capitalize on my chances.”
