Calasto Z impresses again at Oliva

Not only at the Winter Equestrian Festival of Wellington International last weekend was the final chord of the event, the third leg of the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour in Oliva, Spain, also came to an end over the past few days. In this, there was once again an important role for Michel Robert and Calasto Z, who clearly confirmed their good performance of the previous week.

Under a radiant spring sun, the third and final week of MET III in Oliva had many beautiful and especially exciting moments over the past few days. One of those moments was provided by French rider Michel Robert and his 12-year-old chestnut gelding Calasto Z (Calvaro F.C. x Stakkato - Hans Schipper), who was sold as a foal at our Zangersheide Quality Auction in 2014. Robert and Calasto Z already made themselves heard last week by jumping three top 10 placings and effortlessly continued that good line last weekend. After starting their competition week with a ^10th place in the Gold 1.45m class on Thursday, they secured a win in the 1.50m Grand Prix Qualifier on Friday. In a class against the clock, Robert and Calasto Z crossed the finish line in 66.82 seconds, outclassing the competition by more than half a second.

With two podium finishes throughout the weekend, it was also a successful competition for young Belgian rider Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele and the 11-year-old chestnut stallion Kadée Van De Renthoeve Z (Kannan x Baloubet du Rouet), who was born to breeder Bart Sips. Vandecasteele and Kadée Van De Renthoeve Z were immediately good for a^2nd place in the Gold 1.45m class on Thursday, and they also managed to claim a top ranking in the 1.45m Longines Ranking Test on Sunday morning. In both the^1st and^2nd phases, they did not make a mistake and a finishing time of 28.41 seconds earned them a nice ^3rd place this time.

Furthermore, Colombian rider Ruben Arroyave also had another successful weekend with the 14-year-old mare Valeska Z (Van Gogh x Balou du Rouet), bred in Germany by Nadine Resche. Arroyave and Valeska Z were immediately on target on Thursday with a ^3rd place during the Gold 1.45m class and also jumped into the prizes twice the following days. In the Gold 1.45m class on Saturday they were good for ^8th place, while in the Gold 1.45m class on Sunday they were ^9th.

Finally Dutch rider Lars Kersten also made sure of a great result with the 10-year-old chestnut mare Carmen H Z (Cicero Z x Air Jordan Z - breeder: Harrie Kolen). During the CSI3* Grand Prix they managed to stay nicely clear in both the basic round and the jump-off and this with a ^7th place as final result.