LeMieux Nationals 25: KBIS Young Horse Championships

This year, the crowd favourite KBIS Young Dressage Horse Championships saw returning winners step up in age category with success, alongside some bright new stars showing their talent. 

Sunday at the LeMieux National Championships sees the top three horses step forward for final assessment as the ride judging takes place to decide the five and six-year-old horses; the KBIS Young Horse Championships are always a highlight in the calendar, and despite deluges on the day, 2025 didn’t disappoint.  

This year, international judges Sascha Schulz and Eva-Maria Vint-Warmington were joined by trainer judge and Olympic medallist Spencer Wilton, alongside British-born Dutch-based rider Phoebe Peters, who made her debut appearance as a guest rider at the National Championships.  

KBIS Five-Year-Old Championship 

Winner: Jezz Palmer and MS Broadway M

The five-year-olds were first into the arena for final judging, Sadie Smith’s Prelim Gold Champion River Rise Pizzazz, Jezz Palmer on board the Prelim Silver Champion MS Broadway M and Sarah Millis with her own Kilimandjaro de Massa.  

River Rise Pizzazz (Valverde x Lord Leatherdale), who topped the preliminary round with a score of 82, was first to step forward for rider judging. Owned and bred by Sarah Tyler-Evans, thebay British gelding earned high points of 8.5 for trot, way of going and general impression on Saturday in front of Sascha Schulz and Spencer Wilton.  

Rider judge Phoebe Peters commented on River Rise Pizzazz’s way of going, “I really enjoyed this horse. He’s got a nice balance in the canter and he’s super responsive. Sadie said he was a little tired today and I would say the same; with this in mind I would like him to swing and push a little more from behind.”  

Second to be presented for rider judging was Adrienne and Amy Ward’s tall, powerful gelding MS Broadway M (Bon Courage x Royal Classic). Earlier in the week, the gelding won the Prelim Silver under his owner Amy, who shares the ride with her trainer Jezz. Speaking about her time on board Broadway, Phoebe commented: “The walk and the canter with this horse were super; he has so much scope in the canter, he can go forward and he carries on the hindleg well. I liked the feeling of how much he adapted to my riding. In the trot, I could go forward and back, and the sideways/lateral bending was really nice.”  

The final horse - Kilimandjara de Massa - is owned and ridden by Sarah Millis, and presents an interesting combination of bloodlines, bred by Sylvain Massa. The gelding is sired by Special Agent Amour (San Amour x Polidiktus Van De Helle) and out of the pure-bred Lusitano Turquoise de Massa by Maestro. Phoebe enjoyed her time on the punchy black: “This was a completely different horse, this age group has been interesting with three different types of bloodlines. This one is going to be a real Grand Prix horse; he’s really adjustable, especially in the canter. He’s nice and light in the contact, I’d like him a little more open in the frame. In the trot he has a big active hindleg, which makes closing him a little difficult at the moment – but this will be a really great horse for the future.” 

Following deliberation from the judges panel, MS Broadway M was announced as the KBIS Champion, to the delight of his proud owner Amy. The final placings saw River Rise Pizzazz take the runner-up spot in second and Kilimandjaro de Massa in third.  

International young horse judge Sascha Schulz reflected on the class, saying: “We saw three very good horses and as Phoebe said, three very different types of horse. In the first day we only saw them ride a test with set exercises and it was interesting to see a different perspective today and to see how much the horses changed. It was important today to see the rideability of the horses, as this is most important for the future” 

Jezz Palmer, the winning rider on board MS Broadway M, said: “He felt better today than yesterday, going round in that arena he lit up a bit more, and showed off more. But what is really good with him is as soon as I drop the rein and walk he has a huge walk, so he just powered around.”   

“He has the most amazing walk. Phoebe said we are really looking for a walk and a canter, and he has those two, as well as a very trainable trot. His hind legs are so powerful and always underneath him. The walk got a higher mark yesterday but the canter is far more fun to ride!” 

He concluded by talking about how he and Amy work together for success: “He is now so fun to ride everyday and gives you a great feeling to ride even at home. I ride him a lot and teach Amy when she is here. He is just a horse that fits in, some of the horses on the yard like it to be all about them but he is happy in his corner! He loves being groomed, he is very chill and easy. Anyone can hack him, we are so lucky with his temperament.”    

KBIS Six-Year-Old Championship 

Winner: Nicola Mahoney and Game On II

The Six-Year-Old Championship proved immensely competitive, with three top quality horses coming forward to the final. In the pre-judging, Noora Bint Hamad Al Khalifa’s Veto and Tom Goode, and Nicola Mahoney’s home-bred Game On II both scored equal points with 88.2 - setting up a fascinating showdown for the title.  

Sadie Smith presented Sarah Tyler Evans’ beautiful grey mare River Rise Onassis for 79.4 points in the first round, and has a superb record in BD competitions – including winning the Winter Novice Freestyle Gold title. The mare looked a picture under both Sadie and guest rider Phoebe Peters, who reviewed her after her ride: “This was a really nice ride for the first of the six-year-olds, they’re a year older so we’re looking for more balance on the hindleg and more ability to collect. This was a nice feeling on this mare, she was really workable in the trot, you could go forward and close her. In the lateral work, you could feel a really nice swing through her body. In the canter she had a super ability to go forward but equally to sit on the hindleg.” 

When asked about her similarity to her sire Glamourdale, Phoebe – who worked at Van Olst Horses for two and half years, and has knowledge of working with his offspring - commented: “It’s know that the offspring have super canters, and you can feel the scope in her canter just as he shows.” 

Trainer judge Spencer Wilton also commented, saying, “Sadie’s horse has a very good attitude and super powerful canter. There’s very clear rideability here.” 

The first of the 88.2 horses to step forward was Nicola Mahoney’s Game On II – owned, bred and ridden by Nicola herself. This horse, sired by Governor and out of Stella by Sir Donnerhall, has an immense record in these championships, formerly winning both the four and five-year-old championships with Ashley Jenkins in the saddle. The attractive chestnut was a nice match for the guest rider in size and stature, showing some beautiful work: “This second horse is much more compact, he has great natural swing in all three paces and gave a really nice feeling. He’s naturally goes in a light contact, he was very equal on the left and the right rein.”  

When asked what she would do if this horse was in her stable, Phoebe laughed, “I wish this horse was in my stable! Nicola has done a great job with him; going forward, it’s about making him stronger and developing his ability to work on the hindleg. You’d be looking to work on the flying changes, which I think he already has, so it’s just a case of carrying on as he’s been trained.” 

Under the expert tutelage of Emile Faurie and with Tom Goode in the saddle, Veto (Vivaldi x Sir Donnerhall) has all the support to become a great horse, and showed this during his time in the final round. It was clear that Phoebe enjoyed her time in the saddle, as she reviewed after her test ride: “The last horse is much bigger than the other two, what I liked about him is that for such a big horse his reactions were really good. I could close him, activate the hindleg – and also in the canter you could sit him back on the hindleg into the walk transition really easily. He’s a really super prospect for the future.” 

Reviewing the class, she concluded: “All three horses in this age group were so nice and light and equal in the contact. It’s so important in training young horses that they have nice contacts and you can ride them with an easy hand. All three riders have done an amazing job with that, they were super nice to ride.” 

At the end of the class, Sasha Schulz reviewed Veto, commenting on his ability in the lateral work: “When you see this horse making a shoulder in and a half pass you get really excited to watch him.” 

After a tough deliberation from the judges panel, the title would go to a shocked and delighted Nicola Mahoney, with her beautiful Game On II taking his third consecutive KBIS win.  

Eva-Maria Vint-Warmington reviewing the final results, saying, “At this moment, the winner is the most complete horse. This doesn’t mean that it’ll be the same in a month or two. At this point also we were convinced by his fabulous walk, but it was a very tight race!” 

Spencer Wilton agreed with his fellow judge, commenting, “we saw three very different horses today, but it was still a close race, and I think all three of them have a very exciting future ahead of them.” 

After a rainy, but joyous prize giving, Nicola Mahoney spoke about what it felt like to ride her horse to the win: “It was the most incredible feeling in the whole world, I felt loads more pressure riding him this year after he’s done so well winning the 4YO and 5YO championships here so I put myself under so much pressure to deliver and that’s often the case when it goes wrong.   

“I knew he could do it because he’s just the best horse in the world, I was glad he did a nice job today.”  

Nicola’s achievement is even more special having bred her winner, “It’s so rewarding having bred him myself, I’d like to say there was a lot of science behind my breeding program but I think it’s just a lot of luck breeding such a phenomenal horse, how lucky am I!” 

Nicola trains with Serena Pincus and hopes to bring her superstar back to Somerford Park next year to have a go at the quadruple-crown, with the seven-year-old class in her future aspirations.  

The KBIS Four and Seven-Year-Old classes took place earlier in the show, with only one round to decide the titles.  

KBIS Four-Year-Old Championship  

Winner: Becky Moody and Raver TC, 84.6  

An array of promising four-year-olds put on a show in the KBIS Four-Year-Old Championship this morning. Becky Moody and Raver TC owned by Andree Buxton were crowned champions by judges Sascha Schulz and Spencer Wilton. The four-year-old gelding is certainly a promising star of the future.  

“He is a four-year-old by First Date out of a Spinoza mare. We’ve had him since earlier this year, he came from Holland. He belongs to a lady called Andree Buxton who his a new owner to me but she is a brilliant part of the team already, he’s (Raver TC) also proved himself today to also be a brilliant part of the team. He is a really exciting horse for the future, super talented but also super lovely, a really nice person.”  

Tom Goode and Ravenna II (Kaiman x Impressario) came second on a score of 82.4 and following closely behind in third place was Jezz Palmer and Viktorious Anmore, scoring 80. 

KBIS Seven-Year-Old Championship  

Winner: Amy Woodhead and MSJ Viva Dannebrog, 79.467%   

It was home-bred victory for the Mount St John in the KBIS Seven-Year-Old class, as Amy Woodhead rode MSJ Viva Dannebrog to 79.467% in front of Sascha Schulz, Spencer Wilton and Eva-Maria Vint-Warmington.   

Emma Blundell’s stunning mare Viva Dannebrog (Vitalis x Blue Hors Don Schufro) has now notched up three out of four of the age category titles at the LeMieux Nationals, winning as a four, five and seven-year-old. “It feels super special,” said Amy, “she’s been ridden by my sister and me since she was a four-year-old. She won the four-year-old title with Holly and now the five and seven-year-old title with me. She missed the six-year-olds because she was breeding, but she’s got some amazing foals.” 

“She’s been so confident in the work this week. She really tries and I can feel it when she’s trying but she’s not quite confident – but she grows in confidence all the time. When she’s really secure, she’s fantastic and she’s great in an atmosphere too.” 

Dannie Morgan and the successful Foundation-sired gelding Fever Tree were our second place combination with a score of 78.767% followed by the 2024 six-year-old champions, Alicia Lee and Della Ballerina, scoring 76.617%.