Casual DV Z helps colour the Grand Prix podium in Basel

Now that the new year is well under way and the holidays are a while behind us, it was time last weekend to turn our eyes once again to international show jumping. Especially at the very highest level, it immediately became a busy and exciting weekend, with no fewer than three five-star competitions spread around the world. One of these was the prestigious Longines CHI Classics in Basel, where there was an immediate top performance for one of the Zangersheide horses.

The Longines CHI Classics in Basel was booked as the eighth World Cup stage within the Western European League, which naturally attracted a lot of big names to the Swiss metropolis. Besides the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup, Basel also hosted the Longines Grand Prix, in which Belgian rider Pieter Devos ensured a podium ranking with his 11-year-old top mare Casual DV Z, the daughter of Cornet Obolensky and Cicero Z who was born and raised in the Devos family home. On Friday evening, Devos and Casual DV Z were one of the six combinations that managed to finish the 1.60m high basic round ridden by course designers Gérard Lachat and Grégory Bodo, thus advancing to the decisive jump-off. In it, the duo was keen to compete for the top prize, but in their haste they unfortunately saw a bar roll out of the scoops on the way... The clock then stopped in 34.50 seconds, finally securing ^3rd place.

Earlier on Friday, the riders of the five-star competition in Basel were also in action in a 1.45m class, and in that class, too, there was success for one of the Z-horses competing. For that, Swiss home rider Niklaus Rutschi and the 13-year-old gelding Amar des Brimbelles Z, a son of Amadeus Brimbelles Z and Russel II who was bred in France at Haras des Brimbelles. Rutschi and Amar des Brimbelles provided a flawless round in this speed class, finishing in ^6th place.

Furthermore, Rutschi's compatriot Gaëtan Joliat also had a successful weekend in Basel with the 13-year-old chestnut gelding Chelsea Z, the son of Chellano Alpha Z and Cicero Z from the breeding farm of Dutchman Willy Sijbers. Indeed, during both the 1.50m class on Thursday and the 1.55m main class on Saturday, Joliat and Chelsea Z jumped to a ^9th place in the rankings.