Cupcake Z wins the CSI4* Grand Prix of Opglabbeek

For the second week in a row, people could enjoy an international show on Belgian soil last weekend at Opglabbeek's Sentower Park, where the second week of the STP Riders Series was on the programme. Throughout the weekend, quite a few Z-horses managed to jump into the limelight with victories and places of honour, and victory also coloured blue and yellow at the concluding CSI4* Grand Prix.

The Sentower Park was quite full on Sunday afternoon for this CSI4* Grand Prix, in which the obstacles were set at a height of 1.55m and for which British course designer Rafael Suarez and his team had mapped out a beautiful course. Of the 50 combinations who took their chances at this closing round of the weekend, ten managed to complete the basic round successfully, securing a place for the decisive jump-off. One of those ten combinations that managed to advance to the jump-off was Dutch rider Sanne Thijssen and the 12-year-old mare Cupcake Z, the daughter of Chacco Blue and Caretano Z, bred in the Netherlands by Sandra Wilmes and with whom Thijssen also managed to win a class in Hickstead at the end of last month. Thijssen and Cupcake Z showed again in Opglabbeek that they are in top form, as their whirlwind round at the bar in 34.17 seconds put them more than a full second ahead of the rest of the field.

Besides her Grand Prix victory with Cupcake Z, Thijssen also had a strong weekend in Opglabbeek with the 8-year-old chestnut mare Farah Z, a daughter of For Pleasure and Caretano Z bred by Freek Hoogenboom. So on Friday, Thijssen and Farah Z were the winners of the second 1.40m class of the day. In both the^1st and^2nd phases they did not allow themselves to be caught out on any faults and with a finishing time of 27.87 seconds they were just under a full second ahead of the competition. A day later, Thijssen and Farah Z also confirmed this performance when they secured another^2nd place in another 1.40m class.

On Sunday morning, a 1.45m Longines Ranking class was also on the programme for the riders of the four-star competition and here too we saw a Z-horse at the top of the rankings. Victory went to German rider Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann and the 9-year-old chestnut mare Tapioca M&O Z, a breeding product of Aurelien Lejeune who combined the blood of Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve with that of Catoki. In a jump-off for which sixteen out of ninety-one combinations managed to qualify, Meyer-Zimmermann and Tapioca M&O Z galloped to the finish in 35.38 seconds, giving them a lead of fourteen hundredths of a second over the rest of the field of competitors.

Also in this class, French rider Roger Yves Bost was among the prize winners with the 15-year-old grey stallion Cassius Clay Vdv Z, a son of Calvino Z and Wolfgang from the George Van Der Velden breeding farm. Bost and Cassius Clay Vdv Z, already good for ^10th place in the 1.40m class on Friday, crossed the finish line in 35.80 seconds, taking ^4th place.

On Saturday a 1.45m Longines Ranking class also took place in Opglabbeek, in which both^1st and^2nd place was taken by a Z-horse. Thus victory went to German rider Michael Jung and the 8-year-old mare Eclaire Z, a daughter of our chestnut stallion Epleaser Van 't Heike Z and Stakkato who was born in the Netherlands to breeder W. Vestjens. Jung and Eclaire Z crossed the finish line in 25.17 seconds in the^2nd phase, giving them neg less than a full second ahead of the competition.

First in line of competition was Belgian rider Thibeau Spits with the 8-year-old stallion Gin Flip de Muze Z, a son of Gino H and Elvis Ter Putte bred by vet Jef Desmedt and service partner Lies De Backer. They too provided a double clear round, but needed 25.64 seconds to complete their^2nd phase. For Spits' compatriot Andres Vereecke, there was another ^5th place in this class with the 12-year-old mare Halima van het Bonte Hof Z (Hos d'O x Heartbreaker - Breeder: Leen Braeckmans). They too provided a double clear round.

In the 1.50m Longines Ranking Test on Friday, Liechtenstein rider Jennifer Hochstaedter managed to claim a podium place with the 15-year-old gelding Winnetou de La Hamente Z, the son of Winningmood van de Arenberg and Socrate de Chivre from the Emmanuel Wera breeding farm. Hochstaedter and Winnetou de La Hamente Z stayed clear in the basic round and were thus among the 11 combinations that managed to qualify for the jump-off. There they managed to repeat that flawless performance and with a chrono time of 36.52 seconds they secured ^3rd place.

Earlier on Friday, there was also a 1.35m class on the programme for the four-star competition and in it, too, victory was coloured blue and yellow. It was Brazilian rider Felipe Coutinho Mondonca Nagata who came out strongest with the 8-year-old stallion Coco Bambu Z (Cabrio Z x Kashmir Van Schutterhof) from the breeding farm of André Freire. In a class against the clock, they crossed the finish line in a convincing 57.43 seconds, just over two full seconds ahead of the competition. Moreover, during the opening day on Thursday, Coutinho Mondonca Nagata and Coco Bambu Z had already started their competition with a^2nd place in the first 1.35m class.

Finally, during that opening day on Thursday there was also a 1.50m class for the four-star competition, in which several Z-horses managed to jump into the limelight.^Second place went to Belgian rider Ugo Berrittella with the 9-year-old chestnut gelding Devino van 't Langeveld Z, a son of Dayton Sitte and For Pleasure out of Bert Thienpond's breeding. They crossed the finish line in 65.17 seconds in this class against the clock, just under half a second short of writing this class on their record. For Michael Jung and the 8-year-old gelding Fischerheros Z (ex Heros Vd Windelsteen Z - Hotspot x Odermus R - Breeder Peter Hofman) there was a ^6th place in this class. They crossed the finish line in 66.61 seconds.