Akarad Tivolo Z confirms its good form with another top ranking

Following last week’s five-star show jumping competition in the beautiful Hudson Valley, another Major League Show Jumping event was on the programme this past weekend. This time, the international show jumping circuit headed to the Tryon International Equestrian Centre in Mill Spring, where the fifth round of the season took place. There, too, our blue and yellow colours were well represented, with Olympic champion Christian Kukuk and his horse Akarad Tivoli Z securing another top placing in the CSI5* Grand Prix.

The CSI5* Grand Prix at Mill Spring on Saturday evening was the highlight of the weekend and, as is traditional, drew a large crowd. For the occasion, American course designer Nick Granat had drawn up a challenging course, consisting of thirteen obstacles and seventeen jumps. Of the thirty-seven combinations that took to the start, only six ultimately managed to complete the basic round clear of faults and thus qualify for the jump-off. One of them was the German rider Christian Kukuk on the 10-year-old gelding Akarad Tivoli Z, a son of our stallion Akarad Hero Z and Landwind II B, bred by the Zwartjens family in the Netherlands. Kukuk and Akarad Tivoli Z, who have already posted strong results on several occasions in recent weeks, were the first pair to take to the arena in the jump-off and kept all the bars in place there too. They crossed the finish line in 44.30 seconds, securing a brilliant^second place in the final.

Christian Kukuk: “I have high hopes for this horse. I think he’ll be my best horse in the coming years, so I’m delighted with what he’s shown here.”

In addition to this ^second place for Christian Kukuk and Akarad Tivoli, the Israeli rider Daniel Bluman also achieved another fine result with his 11-year-old grey mare Corbie V.V. Z, the daughter of Cornet Obolensky and Chacco Blue, bred by Evelyne and Colin Van Vreckom. Bluman and Corbie V.V. Z also clocked a finishing time of 45.80 seconds, which would have secured them a podium place, but a small fault along the way ultimately saw them finish in^5th place.

Earlier on Saturday, there was also a 1.45m class for the riders in the five-star competition, in which it was a Z-class horse that took the top prize. That honour went to the American rider Alessandra Volpi and the 11-year-old mare Candy Luck Z, a daughter of Comme Il Faut and Canturo bred by Dirk Geerinckx. Volpi and Candy Luck Z, who had already kicked off their competition week on Wednesday with a^5th place in the 1.45mclass, rode flawlessly in both the first round and the ‘Winning Round’; with a finishing time of 41.60 seconds, they were just under one and a half seconds ahead of the competition.

The bronze in this class went to Volpi’s compatriot Nicholas Dello Joio and the 9-year-old chestnut stallion Elvis De L’Othain Z, a son of Elvis Ter Putte and Quidam de Rêve who was born in France at the stud of breeder Christian Morel. They, too, rode two clear rounds, but took 43.10 seconds to complete their ‘Winning Round’.

With two top-10 placings, it was also a successful competition in Tryon for the American rider Hallie Grimes and the equally 9-year-old gelding Ashton DVO Z, a horse bred by Marc Devolder, combining the bloodlines of Aganix du Seigneur Z with those of Bisquet Balou van de Mispelaere. Grimes and Ashton DVO Z got off to a good start on Wednesday with a^3rd place in the 1.45m class and secured^10th place in Saturday’s 1.45m class.

Finally, during Thursday’s 1.55m Grand Prix Qualifier, British rider Jessica Mendoza made her mark with her 10-year-old mare Ascadina Z, the daughter of Asca Z and Ginus, bred by Stal Poppelaars BV in the Netherlands. Two faultless rounds earned them^4th place in the rankings.