Diana du Plevau Z confirms absolute class in Riyadh's CSI5* World Cup

For the second week in a row, the mare Diana du Plevau Z has once again shown her class in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh! Following their impressive victory in last week's four-star World Cup, Diana du Plevau Z and her Saudi rider Khaled Almobty competed at the CSI5* World Cup over the past few days, where they confirmed excellent form once again with an absolute top ranking.

Like the week before during the CSI4* World Cup, the CSI5* World Cup was also on the programme on Friday evening, in which a total of 14 combinations made their appearance in the ring. Italian course designer Uliano Vezzani and his team had again mapped out a nice round and of these fourteen contenders, four managed to finish the basic round without any faults. These included Khaled Almobty and the 10-year-old mare Diana du Plevau Z, a daughter of our stallion Dieu Merci by T&L Z and Kashmir van 't Schuttershof bred by Marc Palm. In the decisive round, Almobty and Diana du Plevau Z again managed to keep their cool and with a finishing time of 43.96 seconds they jumped to a brilliant ^2nd place this time.

However, there was also another blue/yellow victory to note in Riyadh thanks to Canadian rider Lily Elliot and 11-year-old chestnut gelding Pesgo Adelheid Z, a son of Priamus Z and Chardonnay Z bred by J.I. and J.J. Remijnse. Elliot and Pesgo Adelheid Z, also good for ^3rd place the week before, were the winners of the 1.50m accumulator class on Saturday, where with a whirlwind round in 53.07 seconds they were just over a second and a half ahead of the competition.

But^2nd place in this class was also taken by a Z-horse thanks to Spanish rider Pilar Lucrecia Cordon and the 12-year-old mare Pica Pica Z, a daughter of Pilgrim II and Abeltus Z bred in Argentina by Haras Rio Bravo. Cordon and Pica Pica Z also showed no faults, but needed 54.60 seconds to finish their round successfully. On Thursday during the opening day they had also secured ^eighth place in the 1.50m speed class.

Finally, Jordanian Ra'ad Nasser also managed to secure a top 5 ranking with the 9-year-old gelding Esforzado Tilly Z (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x Numero Uno - breeder: Wim Ten Pas and Ery Rosendal). During the 1.45m class on Friday, they ensured a flawless round, with a ^5th place as final result.