At the three-star show in Drachten, Robert Vos rode the gray jumper Selano to second place. Vos and the Corland son (out of Isidoor by Bentley, breeder: W.H. Ton of Nunspeet) are a new combination. "Selano belongs to the Swedish Young Rider Hanna Klensmeden, who has been my intern since the CSI in Enschede. She wanted to train with me to prepare for the European Championships for Young Riders. Unfortunately, she broke her leg two weeks ago, so she asked me to continue Selano's training. Last Wednesday, I took the horse - who's very experienced - to a schooling course and we 'clicked' right away. After that, I decided to take Selano to Drachten. Since I don't know the horse very well, I didn't ask for everything from him in the jump-off. But Selano is a very fast horse by nature, and he jumps like a machine," according to Vos.

The time difference between Vos and the winner, Amy Graham, was just 0.07 seconds. For the Australian, it was her first grand prix victory in Europe. "In the past four years, we placed second and third in a lot of grands prix but we never won one. When I reflect on my ride, I think I owe my win to my instincts. I was headed really fast for the last jump when I felt like I needed to check my horse back. It worked perfectly, so I was able to get Bella Baloubet to just the right distance at the last jump," explained the 27-year-old, who makes her home near Brussels, Belgium. Graham thinks she won't get to enjoy her horse much longer. "This horse is for sale. He's 12 years old now, so that's an ideal age to let him go," said Graham. Suzanne Tepper and VDL Westminster (Heartbreaker out of Narzisse ster prest by Fedor, breeder: J.L. Kloosterboer of Geesteren) also emerged unscathed from the jump-off. Their time was good for fifth place. With four faults, Chantal Regter and Westminster's half-brother Rapide Viando SFN (Heartbreaker out of Phantum by Concorde, breeder: H.A. Langeslag of Berlicum) ended eighth.

During the show, numerous KWPN jumpers emerged winners. Among them were the young horses Bella Meta (Triomphe de Muze out of Van Meta PROK sport-jump ster by Quick Star) and Chesney (Indoctro out of Vanity PROK by Kannan), both bred by M.G. Kramer vd Meer of Oud-Beijerland and ridden by Siebe Kramer. Chesney's co-breeder is B. Rademakers of Zevenhoven. B. Amelusiena (Sam R out of T. Amelusina II PROK by Calando I, breeder: Stal Roelofs of Den Ham), ridden by John Popely, was another young winner. In the 1.40m, the top positions were claimed by Albert Zoer with Zerro Leone (Kigali out of Sebrina keur sport-jump by Iroko, breeder: E.K. Dolfijn of Marum) and Wesley Heijdens with Ullrrich (Indoctro out of Orchidee ster by Corleone, breeder: G. de Jong-Bassa of Leerbroek). Zydoctro van de Kapel, another Indoctro son (out of Souviens Toi by Landwind, breeder: R. Socquet of Kalmthout), won the first 1.45m class under Marc Bettinger, followed by Vion Cup winner Arc de Triomphe HS (Triomphe de Muze out of Una Bella S elite sport-jump prest by Calvados, breeder: the Van Straaten fam. of Den Ham) with Frank Schuttert in second place. Fourth place was for Jur Vrieling aboard the KWPN-approved stallion VDL Zirocco Blue (s.Mr.Blue out of Licorne des Forets by Voltaire, breeders: F. & G. Paris of Couvains).

In the 1.50m classes, two KWPN jumpers ended third: one was Wresca (Krunch de Breve out of Presca by Andiamo, breeder: P. Tissen of Maasbree) under Ruben Romp; the other was SF Tin Tin (Phin Phin out of P.Milva by Cassini I, breeder: J.H.M. Evers of Deurne) with Michael Hendrix. Wesley Heijdens also experienced success. Riding the Kigali son Pavarottie H (out of Melinda by Gentleman, breeder: L. Hofstede of Staphorst), he jumped to fifth place in the 1.50m, after placing third the previous day in the 1.45m.