The home crowd cheered the victory in Valkenswaard of their top-ranked Dutch star and his “once in a lifetime horse.”
Harrie Smolders
The Dutch rider bested a star-studded field of 40 in the €500,000 Longines event in the resort town on the French Riviera.
It took an exciting 10-horse jump-off, with plenty of thrills and spills, to determine the winners of this prestigious event at CHI Geneva.
The Italian rider scored the lion's share of the 308,000+ euro purse; Canadian Kyle Timm was 11th with Casino Calvin.
The 2023 Longines Global Champions Tour battle was between Smolders, Maikel van der Vleuten and Henrik von Eckermann in Riyadh, KSA.
Canada's Beth Underhill and Nikka Vd Bisschop place 6th with two spectacular clear efforts in the rich €350,000 event.
The dutch rider piloted Uricas vd Kattevennen to the win, while Canada's Beth Underhill places 15th with Nikka vd Bisschop.
Harrie Smolders seals the Dutch hattrick in the third leg of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup 2023 Europe Division 1 series.
The victory came aboard Chaplin, “the horse of my heart!” while Harrie Smolders and Jens Fredricson complete the podium.
Friday's win aboard Contagious puts the American at the top of the leaderboard going into Sunday’s World Cup title decider.
