Gilles Thomas was once a mini steeplechase competitor at Jumping Mechelen and is now one of the world's absolute best.

Gilles Thomas, poster boy for Jumping Mechelen 2025, had an exceptionally strong sporting year. He became European team champion and individual bronze medallist with the and he crowned himself the youngest winner of the Longines Global Champions Tour ever by winning the overall circuit with victories in Paris and New York and podium places in Rome and Shanghai.

Dreams thanks to Jumping Mechelen

At the end of the year, Gilles invariably looks forward to an event that has held a special place in his heart since his childhood. Gilles took his first steps in the Nekkerhal as a supporter, later as a participant, and gradually grew to become a fixture at the highest level. Gilles: ‘From an early age, I used to go to the Nekkerhal, initially to support my uncle, Marc Van Dijck.’ He first set foot in the iconic arena as a participant in the mini steeplechase. ‘That led to the youth series and culminated in a podium place at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup, presented by BMW in 2024. At Jumping Mechelen, I saw how great our sport can be. That was one of the reasons why I wanted to become a professional rider.’

CSI5*, stallion trials and Battle of the European Champions

Gilles Thomas has a whole stable of horses. In the five-star competition, he is counting on Qalista DN, Chuck Marienshof Z and Qiara de Kalvarie. He will also be presenting several stallions in the breeding classes on 27 December. The six-year-old stallion, The Lewis van het Dennehof, and the seven-year-old stallions: Saladin and Scotch vh Dennehof. Happy Landais is his trump card for The Sires of the World.

On Friday 26 December at 9.30 p.m., Jumping Mechelen will be hosting an absolute first. For the first time, a five-star horse change will be held in the Nekkerhal, a rare and particularly spectacular event in which our Belgian European Championship stars (The Red Musketeers) – Gilles Thomas, Thibeau Spits, Nicola Philippaerts and Pieter Devos – will swap their trusted horses for those of their colleagues. Gilles will be riding Riviera vh Dennehof for this event.

The concept is simple: each rider first rides a course on his own horse, after which the riders change horses. With only two jumps to get a feel for the course, the entire course is immediately repeated at a height of 1.45 metres. Ultimately, everyone rides all the horses, and in the event of a tie, a jump-off decides the winner.

For Gilles Thomas, the horse swap is a unique opportunity. ‘I used to love watching the Final Four at the World Championships. It's a shame that event no longer exists, so I think it's great that we can now do this in Mechelen. It's a very interesting event to follow,’ adds Gilles. ‘I am really looking forward to participating.’ When asked who has the best chance of winning, Gilles does not immediately venture a prediction. ‘I think all four of us can adapt well to different types of horses. Thibeau perhaps stands out for me, because he has a lot of experience with both young and more experienced horses. He can adapt very quickly, so maybe I'll give him a slight advantage in this test.’