International investor Gilberto Sayão Da Silva is not just a man with vision but with a thirst for success. In 2014, Silva launched Bonne Chance Farm in Normandie, France, which would become just the beginning of his breeding and racing empire. Relocating the Thoroughbred operation to Versailles, Ky., a few years later, the Bonne Chance name has been linked to grade/group 1 winners Ivar, In Love, Arabian Lion , Cambier Parc, and King of Steel.
Despite Bonne Chance's lofty achievements on the racetrack, da Silva raised the bar even higher this July when his sport horse Ilex qualified for the Paris Olympics as part of Team U.S.A.
Ilex is not the horse most American racing fans are accustomed to, being an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood, but the gelding pays homage to Bonne Chance's growing influence in the sport of show jumping.
"(Da Silva is) a very ambitious person," said Alexandre Gadelha, manager of Bonne Chance's show jumping division. "He loves projects. He likes to develop projects and has big goals for his projects. I think he used a lot of his experience with racehorses to develop his operation for the jumpers."
Da Silva began the Bonne Chance show jumping branch in 2017, fostered by his love of the sport. Gadelha was hired to run the division.
"(Da Silva) just wanted to get more involved in the sport," Gadelha said. "To achieve this level after just a few years is very amazing."
The operation, which is located in Maaseik, Germany, currently has 11 horses competing around the globe. Originally started in the United States, da Silva moved the division to Europe because of the abundance of opportunities there for show jumpers to compete at the elite level. Although there are no Thoroughbreds in the European stable, Gadelha mentioned the importance Bonne Chance places on finding new homes retraining their Thoroughbreds for new careers after their racing days are completed.
Gadelha found Bonne Chance's Olympian when Ilex was 6 years old at VDL Stud, one of the most prominent sport horse breeding farms in Europe. With time and patience, the gelding transformed into the best jumper the fledging Bonne Chance division has ever produced.
One of four human/equine pairs to qualify for the U.S.A team, Ilex and six-time Olympian rider McLain Ward, who co-owns the horse with Bonne Chance, will participate in the team and individual show jumping event next week in Paris. It will be the first Olympics for Ilex, who enters the international showcase following a second-place effort with Ward in the prestigious Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen CSIO5* in Germany.
"It's not easy to develop this kind of horse. He is a once-in-a-lifetime horse," Gadelha said.
Ilex has had four riders in his career since joining Team Bonne Chance—Gadelha himself, Bruno Martins Costa, Fabio Leivas da Costa, who was twice double-clear with the gelding in the Nations Cup in Wellington and Hickstead, and finally Ward.
"When Ilex had proven himself to be a special horse in the beginning of 2024, we made an agreement with McLain so that he could ride and continue to develop Ilex to see what he could do at the high level," Gadelha said. "McLain has done an amazing job with Ilex, achieving great results with Ilex and qualifying for the Olympic games. I hope this is just the beginning."
Ilex and Ward's first event will be the team show jumping qualifier Aug. 1 at the Château de Versailles. If Ilex and Ward pass the qualifier, along with the remaining three horse and rider pairs representing the U.S., they will move forward to compete in the team show jumping final Aug. 2.
The team show jumping qualifier takes place at 5 p.m. local time and the team show jumping final will be staged at 8 p.m. the following day.
Ilex and Ward will then get the chance to perform for an individual Olympic medal Aug 5. when they line up for the show jumping individual qualifier. Should Ilex progress past the qualifier, he will compete for Olympic gold in the show jumping final.
The individual show jumping final is also held at the Château de Versailles stadium, with the qualifier going off at 8 p.m. local time and the final being held at 4 p.m. the following day.
"I think they have a chance to go clear rounds (where the horse successfully jumps every obstacle without touching or knocking down poles) in their events, which is very important for the results in the Olympic games," Gadelha said. "He's a very special horse. It's in destiny's hands now but let's see what we can do. Hopefully, we can bring home a medal for the U.S."
