They are two of the best under-25 riders in the world, and last year they stood first and second in the King George V Gold Cup. Victoria Goff caught up with Gilles Thomas and Harry Charles
It’s a huge honour for any young rider to make their first senior Nations Cup appearance for their country. For that to be a winning debut must be pretty extraordinary – but that was the case for young Belgian star Gilles Thomas last summer. He began the 2022 Longines FEI Nations Cup series with a brilliant victory in Falsterbo, delivering a crucial second round clear to help clinch the win.
It was to be the start of what can only be described as a phenomenal run of success for Gilles. Two weeks after winning in Falsterbo, he won the five-star Longines King George V Gold Cup here on what was his first ever appearance at Hickstead. Then, just a few months after making his Nations Cup debut, Gilles was part of the winning Belgian team at the Longines FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona. From a first Nations Cup appearance to claiming the overall series championship, all within the space of a few months.
Yet Gilles, who is based at his uncle Marc Van Dijck’s yard, Stal Nieuwenhof in Nieuwenrode, had already marked himself as one to watch early in his career. As a double Junior European Champion, plus a team silver medallist at the FEI European Young Riders Championships in 2019, it was of little surprise that he would go on to make a winning transition to Senior teams. He was the Under-25 rider on Valkenswaard United, the Global Champions League winners of 2021.
The career of Britain’s Harry Charles – who stood next to Gilles in the prizegiving for the Longines King George V Gold Cup, having finished runner-up – follows a very similar trajectory. They are similar ages, with Gilles now 25 and Harry 24. Charles won team silver and team bronze at Junior European level, and team silver as a Young Rider, before making a successful switch to senior level – he was selected for the team for the Tokyo Olympics, and helped the Brits clinch team bronze at the World Championships in Herning last summer.
Harry currently stands number one in the FEI under-25 rankings, with Gilles close behind in number two. While Gilles counts his uncle Marc Van Dijck as the biggest influence in his career, Harry cites his father Peter – a three-time Hickstead Derby champion and a Team Gold medallist at London 2012 – as his.
Last summer was the first time either rider had been part of their nation’s squads for Hickstead. “Aretino 13 is very good in big grass arenas - he’d had a good show at the GCT in Madrid, and with his previous rider he’d had some good results on grass, so I asked the chef d-equipe if I could go to Hickstead, even as fifth rider. Luckily he gave me the trust to go, but it was a long week of waiting until the Grand Prix!” says Gilles.
His Belgian teammates put up a solid performance in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup, finishing on 12 faults to finish fourth behind France, Germany and Brazil, who all picked up eight faults and had to jump-off for the title. Great Britain finished sixth, also on 12 faults, with the placings coming down to time.
The stand-out performance from the Brits was undoubtedly that of Harry Charles, who produced an amazing double clear on Casquo Blue. “It was beyond words, especially being at home in front of the crowd at Hickstead,” recalls Harry. It’s been quite a while since the Brits last won their home Nations Cup, and Harry’s dad Peter was on the last team to do so back in 2010. “Being able to go one better - double clear and winning the Nations Cup – would be a dream achieved,” Harry adds.
Competing as the fifth man for Belgium did end up playing in Gilles’ favour, as he was able to focus attentions on Sunday’s Grand Prix. “I think it was only our third or fourth show together. But Aretino 13 is an experienced horse, and with his previous rider Andre Thieme he’d already competed in Aachen and Calgary. He hadn’t been to Hickstead, but I thought it would be a perfect match for him,” adds Gilles.
They were the final one of eight combinations to jump clear in the opening round in the King George, giving them the coveted final draw in the jump-off. Harry had gone into the lead with Borsato, in a time of 51.22sec, but Gilles took an impressive 3sec off the time to take the title. “The Grand Prix win at Hickstead was one of the highlights of the year. It was my first five-star Grand Prix win so that’s always very special.”
Aretino 13 is owned by You Zhang, who had campaigned the horse during 2020-21 before returning to China to study, when he asked Gilles to take over the ride. “He is very nice, a big horse but he has a lot of blood, that's why we were also so quick in the jump-off. He is so brave and not spooky at all. The bigger the jumps are, the more he likes it,” Thomas says.
Harry describes his King George performance as ‘incredible – one of the best feelings I’ve had on a horse’. “I didn’t have the luck of the draw on my side, but it gave me glimpse of what it might be like to win – I’m going to do everything in my power to do it this year!” he adds.
Charles might have just missed out at Hickstead but he’s no stranger to five-star success on British soil – he won both the World Cup and the Grand Prix at the London International Horse Show in 2021. This year, he became British number one for the first time. “It was a lifelong goal achieved, something I never would have believed if you told me three or four years ago,” he says, crediting his Dad, his support team, his horses and his owners Ann Thompson and Stallzet for helping him get to the top.
Last year’s King George really did showcase two of the brightest talents in showjumping. Expect Harry Charles to be a mainstay of the British team for years to come, and Gilles to do likewise for Belgium. “We have competed against each other for many years, from Junior and Young Rider classes,” says Gilles. Jostling for the number one position in the FEI under-25 rankings is something that drives them both to ever greater success. “We both push each other to a higher level, I think,” he says.
In return, Harry describes Gilles as a ‘sensational young rider’. “He’s already one of the best riders around, and I look forward to competing against him at the top of our sport for many years to come,” he says. They’ll enjoy riding against each other; we’ll continue to enjoy watching them, and revelling in the skills and talent of these fast-rising superstars.
This article was first published in July 2023
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