Belgian Ludo Philippaerts won the first class of the very first edition of Jumping Indoor Maastricht in 1988. It was also his most special memory of JIM. "It was difficult to get a starting place so I was on the reserve list. Frank Kemperman said that if a rider dropped out that I would be next. On the morning the first edition was to start, Frank called me 'a rider dropped out, you can come now, you have to be in before the veterinary inspection starts'. I loaded up the horses and drove off immediately."

Ludo has enjoyed countless successes with his legendary stallion Darco. In April 2015, he announced that he had decided to stop competing and focus more on coaching his sons and his company Stal Philippaerts. But blood is thicker than water and in January 2021 he rode into the competition ring again for the first time in Oliva, Spain. Major championships are not his goal. "I am enjoying going to the races again and am having a good time. World championships I leave to my sons, but when I meet them in the ring I fight for what I am worth for." There is now also enough time left to ride competitions again. "It's also good to combine it now with coaching Olivier, Nicola, Thibault and Anthony. They are a bit older and can mostly manage without me now." Both Nicola and Olivier have managed to win the Maastricht Grand Prix before. Nicola in 2016 with H&M Zilverstar T and Olivier a year later with H&M Legend of Love.

The 59-year-old rider from Gruitrode has several good horses at his disposal, but his biggest asset at the moment is the 10-year-old BWP stallion Mr Idol S. "This horse, whose sire is the famous Plot Blue, has already achieved good results in big classes. If everything goes the way it should, he will also be in Maastricht."

(Photo: hippofoto.be)