Ackila DV Z and Cristaline Debriand Z triumph in Cabourg

With two competitions on the programme, the international calendar on French soil was again particularly well filled last weekend. One of those competitions was the four-star Cabourg Classic, which has been part of the famous Grand Prix Events for several years now. Throughout the weekend, a lot of Z-horses of course appeared in the ring, which produced some great performances.

One of the horses that jumped into the picture was the 12-year-old chestnut mare Ackila DV Z, a daughter of Aktion Pur Z and Gotspe Z from the Devos family breeding farm. Ackila DV Z has been one of Belgian rider Tim Prouvé's top horses for some time now and in Cabourg they proved once again that they are a rock-solid combination. They did so by taking victory in the 1.45m morning class on Sunday afternoon. In a jump-off for which eight combinations qualified, they sped to the finish line in 38.79 seconds, putting them over three-quarters of a second ahead of the competition.

A second blue/yellow victory went to home rider Jean François Filatriau and the 10-year-old mare Cristaline Debriand Z, a daughter of Cristallo I and Winninmood van de Arenberg bred by Aline Prevel. They became the final laureates of the 1.40m class on Saturday, where, with a clear^2nd phase in 24.79 seconds, they outclassed the competition by four hundredths of a second.

Also in this class, Swedish rider Petronella Andersson was among the prize winners with the 10-year-old mare Elegance Bleue VDM Z (Elvis Ter Putte x Canturo - breeder: VDM / Fam. Bruggeman). They finished in the^2nd phase in 25.64 seconds, which then finished ^4th.

In the 1.50m class on Friday, Belgian rider Gudrun Patteet scored a podium finish with the 11-year-old mare Sea Coast Chica V.V. Z (Comme Il Faut x Chaccho), from the breeding farm of Evelyne and Colin Van Vreckom. Patteet and Sea Coast Chica V.V. Z were one of sixteen combinations to stay clear in the basic round, thus qualifying for the jump-off. There they managed to repeat that flawless performance and with a finishing time of 35.25 seconds they secured^2nd place.

The day before, Patteet had also produced a fine performance with the 9-year-old gelding Baron - RR Z (Bamako de Muze x Diamant de Semilly), a breeding product of Raf Van De Perre and Robin Denijs. In another 1.50-level class, the duo produced a flawless performance, finishing in ^5th place.

Finally, Belgian rider Jules Van Hoydonck also secured another top ranking with the 8-year-old gelding Calgary van 't Hageland T&L Z (Corydon van T&L x Denzel van 't Meulenhof - breeder: Sonja Seels, Lieven Roete & T&L). In the 1.40m class on Thursday, they signed for ^4th place.