For the second year in a row KWPN gelding Bilion van de Linthorst won the East Coast Young Jumper Championship in Bridgehampton, NY. The son of Emilion x Amethist is sold by BWG Stables, Alan Waldman and Mario Everse when he was 4-year-old. He won the 3rd prize in the Dutch championships for young KWPN show jumpers.

As a 5-year-old he won his first American title during the Hampton Classic Horse Show. Last Saturday he was the best of the 6-year-olds with co-owner Jeffery Welles.

Welles, 50, was the final starter in the 6-year-old jump-off, so the two-time winner of the $250,000 FTI Grand Prix knew what he had to do to beat Deslauriers, also an international veteran.
“I watched Mario’s round, and I knew that his horse is a bit slower across the ground than mine, so I thought I could beat him if I stayed fast and smooth. And then I made a tighter turn from fence 1 to fence 2 than he did,” said Welles. Bilion won the 5-year-old championship at the Hampton Classic in 2011.

Welles and co-owners Sharon Gunthel and Gareth Gair found Bilion in the Netherlands at age 4. “We thought we had to have him. He’s careful, he’s scopey, and he’s fast, and he likes to clear the jumps,” said Welles. “Anything can happen as he grows up, but he suits me really well, and I think he’s just a super horse.”