Bronze for Calypso Des Joanins Z in the CSI2* Grand Prix of Nîmes

While back home we were able to enjoy the third and final week of the Easter Tour at Opglabbeek's Sentower Park, there were also busy days on French soil last weekend, where two-star level show jumping took place in both Nancy and Nîmes. At both competitions, the CSI2* Grand Prix was part of the Sunday afternoon programme and in Nîmes we saw a Z-horse shine on the Grand Prix podium.

That honour fell to the 11-year-old grey gelding Calypso Des Joanins Z, a son of Clearway and Chellano bred by Stephane Monier. Calypso Des Joanins Z forms a combination with French rider Olivier Perreau and together on Sunday they were one of nine combinations that managed to advance to the jump-off. Perreau and Calypso Des Joanins Z, who were already winners of the 1.45m Longines Ranking class on Friday, also kept it neatly clear in the decisive jump-off and finally secured third place after they managed to stop the clock in 40.29 seconds.

Another notable combination in Nîmes was Perreau's compatriot Veronique Garin with the 10-year-old mare Vitamine du Dieu d'Arras Z, a daughter of Vigo d'Arsouilles and Hurlevent de Breka from the breeding farm of Jeremy Vanhoutte. During both the 1.35m class on Wednesday and the 1.40m class on Thursday, they did not have a fault and this earned them a nice ^4th place in the ranking twice.

In addition to his good performance with Calypso Des Joanins Z, Olivier Perreau also managed to jump into the picture last weekend with the 7-year-old mare Celeana Des Joanins Z, a daughter of Chacco Blue and Bamako de Muze also bred by Stephane Monier. Perreau and Celeana Des Joanins Z won the final for the 7-year-old horses on Saturday, in which they were just under half a second ahead of the competition with a clear jump-off in 41.53 seconds.