The unstoppable Boyd Exell has won the FEI World Cup Driving Final for the fourth consecutive time, making his name in history.

Fierce competition

Boyd pulled off an amazingly fast round with his team of four horses, against fierce competition from Dutch drivers Ijsbrand Chardon and Koos de Ronde. He already had an 8sec lead after the first competition, and his final round on Saturday consolidated his win in front of a supportive Bordeaux crowd.

But it was far from a done deal for the Australian-born competitor, as his most experienced horse, a 17-year-old called Spitfire, failed the first inspection due to a minor injury to his foot. As a result Boyd was forced to put his spare ‘wheeler’ horse (which normally runs closest to the carriage) at the lead.

Fight or steer

Boyd did have the advantage of going late in the class, however, which gave him the opportunity to watch the competition. “My tactics were to first monitor what the other drivers did,” says Boyd.

“I went steady until the fourth gate and I picked it up after that. In the winning round my team got faster on me and I had to decide whether to fight them or steer them. I decided to let them run but I did not want to make any careless mistakes so I held them back in the very last part of the course. I am very thrilled about my performance, which I owe very much to my team of horses and the team of people who have been with me all season.”

Despite this advantage, according to second-placed Chardon, the best man definitely won. “Boyd was just better than me. I drove safely today in the winning round as I knew I was too far behind," he said.

Aussie turned Pom

Boyd has been carriage driving since the age of eight and he came to the UK when he was 21 to improve his horsemanship – and it certainly seems to have paid off.

Now based in Leicestershire, he has been the British National Champion six times, and in 2010 he won both the World Cup Indoor Driving Championships and the World Four in Hand Championships at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.