Matthew Sampson continued this afternoon where he left off a year ago: winning classes at Jumping Amsterdam. Last year, he claimed two victories, and this year he already secured his first. The GDS Training Prize, a 1.40m class against the clock, was an apparently easy win for the Brit. His faultless round in 54.27 seconds with Pretty Pi’que De’luxe (by Party Dance) was significantly faster than the also impressive clear round of Pim Mulder with the KWPN stallion It’s Possible SRK (by Berlin) in 56.07 seconds. Marcus Ehning secured third place with Baloubets Dree Boeken (by Baloubet du Rouet) (0/56.64 seconds).

Training Round

Top riders like Steve Guerdat with Dynamix de Belheme and Harrie Smolders with Monaco used the GDS Training Prize literally as a training round, but there was also fierce competition for the prize money. Maikel van der Vleuten (fourth), Jur Vrieling (fifth), Kim Emmen (ninth), and Marc Houtzager (eleventh) secured their first euros of the competition in a class that provided the audience with some excellent show jumping.

‘The round suited her well’

Ultimately, no one could match the speed of Matthew Sampson. The Brit won exactly the same class as last year but this time with a different horse. Sampson said: “Pretty is a fantastic horse, owned by Wim Bos. She’s naturally very fast, so I went for the win. We rode a good round that suited her well. She’s a very careful and well-behaved horse. Last year, I won this class as well, but with Candy Girl. Jumping Amsterdam is a beautiful event.”

‘I’m lucky to ride her’

Matthew has been competing with Pretty Pi’que De’luxe for a year now. “She’s already achieved some great results. In October, we were second in a 1.45m two-phase class in Oliva. This is her first indoor competition at the 5 level. It’s fantastic. I’m lucky to ride her. Tomorrow, I’ll compete with her in the 1.45m class against the clock and then decide whether I’ll start her again.”

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